Capparelli asked to step down from CSA 36 Advisory Committee

In a surprise announcement at the Thursday Jan. 14 Idyllwild Community Recreation Council's meeting, ICRC Director Vic Sirkin stated that Riverside County 3rd District Supervisor Jeff Stone’s office asked longtime County Service Area (CSA) 36 member Pete Capparelli to step down from the CSA 36 Advisory Committee. Opal Hellweg of Stone’s staff confirmed Sirkin’s announcement, citing Board of Supervisor board policy A-21 that appears to limit board service to 8 years. Section 5f of A-21 states: “To encourage varied citizen participation in advisory groups, the Board of Supervisors shall generally seek new appointees to replace individuals who have served for eight consecutive years. Board members retain the discretion to reappoint individuals regardless of the length of time served on any advisory group.”

CSA committee members are appointed by the Board of Supervisors to be the “eyes and ears” of the district supervisor and have no policy-making authority. CSA 36 is responsible for supervising recreation and street lighting. ICRC is the independent recreation contractor, over which CSA 36 conducts ongoing review.

In a statement released to the Crier, Capparelli,said, “Over the last nine years it has been gratifying and a pleasure to work with CSA board members to help with recreation on the Hill. I have been recently disappointed with the county administrator’s [Bill Brown, CSA operations manager] lack of responsiveness to the Idyllwild Community Recreation Council’s attempts to get clarification on many questions in order to improve their organization in the manner required by the County. When I was first appointed to CSA 36, the county administrator at that time could not do enough to help us. Recently, it’s felt like an uphill battle to make any progress in achieving a better quality of recreation for the community. This is very unfortunate for all of us. I hope better relations can be achieved in the near future.”

Capparelli’s departure is effective immediately leaving two current board vacancies. Interested applicants can contact Opal Hellweg at (951) 955-1030.