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October 18, 2024
In a stunning display of defiance and insubordination, Central Basin Interim General Manager Eliane Jeng has “gone rogue,” according to Board President Art Chacon, refusing to post Central Basin Municipal Water Board meeting agendas submitted by him, delaying crucial board meetings and preventing the agency from conducting essential business.
Jeng’s actions have not only raised serious governance concerns but also jeopardized the community’s water management. Her questionable decisions, including overseeing a significant drop in the agency’s cash on hand and firing two crucial employees, have put the agency at risk of legal action.
Recently, her actions have worsened. A few days ago, Jeng delayed Chacon’s request to post a special meeting agenda, added an unauthorized and misleading agenda item, and subsequently posted it online with the new item included.
Jeng’s refusal to accept Chacon’s proposed agenda and her addition of an unauthorized item blatantly violated two sections of the Central Basin’s Administrative Code, a serious breach of protocol.
Jeng first defied Chacon when she received an agenda request at 8 a.m. on October 10. The request from President Chacon read, “Please prepare a special board meeting agenda for Friday October 11, 2024, at 1 p.m. These are the only items to be placed on the agenda.”
The two items were:
“Closed Session: PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE/DISMISSAL/RELEASE (Government Code Section 54957(b)): Interim General Manager (Administrative Code: Temporary Employees 120 days).
Closed Session: CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – ANTICIPATED LITIGATION (Government Code 54956.9(d)(2) ([3 Matters: CRI Reports Review Findings and Closure, Wrongful Termination(a) and Wrongful Termination(b) ]).”
Jeng then illegally added an item that referenced a CRI at the special meeting. CRI is an audit firm that just conlcuded an examination of Central Basin’s financial records.
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THE AGENDA posted by Jeng online shows item 6. A, which Jeng added, the attempted addition is a major violation of Central Basin’s Administrative Codes.
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She then sent out an unauthorized and extremely questionable email, obtained by LCCN, to nearly 100 local water purveyors, all Central Basin employees, and Central Basin attorneys Victor Ponto and Zach Lopes:
“Good morning, all.
Earlier this week, the President of the Central Basin Board of Directors requested a special board meeting for Friday, October 11, 2024. I regret to inform you that one of the agenda items for Friday is the release of the Interim General Manager.”
Jeng went on to say in her email Jeng that Chacon’s agenda included CRI, “On Friday, the Board anticipates receiving a presentation from CRI in closed session.”
The only two items on the Friday agenda were public employee dismissal and anticipated litigation. Jeng changed Chacon’s agenda by adding the CRI presentation item, posting it online, and then sending an email – with the bogus closed session presentation from CRI – in an attempt to mislead the water purveyors and employees at Central Basin into thinking the CRI report will help her.
In doing so, Jeng violated two sections of CB’s Administrative Code:
Section 3.3, which states, “The President shall have final approval on the contents of the agendas for all regular, special and emergency meetings of the Board,” and
Section 4.5 which states, “nothing contained in the Administrative Code shall prohibit the President from calling a special meeting of the Board and placing an item or items on the agenda of the special meeting without majority approval of the Board and provided all requirements of the Brown Act, Government Code section 54950, et seq., are met.”
Upon learning Jeng made the unauthorized change to his agenda, Chacon canceled the October 11 meeting.
Just three days later, on October 14, Jeng again defied Chacon’s agenda request for an October 15 board meeting. The request from Chacon read, “Please prepare a special board meeting agenda for October 15, 2024 at 10 a.m. These are the only items to be placed on the agenda.”
“Closed Session: PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE/DISMISSAL/RELEASE (Government Code Section 54957(b)): Interim General Manager (Administrative Code: Temporary Employees 120 days).
Closed Session: CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – ANTICIPATED LITIGATION (Government Code 54956.9(d)(2) ([3 Matters: CRI Reports Review Findings and Closure, Wrongful Termination(a) and Wrongful Termination(b) ]).”
Jeng again defiantly changed the agenda, forcing Chacon to cancel the meeting.
LCCN emailed Jeng asking why she was not posting the correct agenda as ordered by President Chacon thereby illegally delaying crucial board meetings and preventing the agency from conducting essential business.
Jeng avoided the question stating, “President Art Chacon requested to hold a special board meeting on October 15, 2024, at 10 a.m. with four items. The agenda was published at 9:45 a.m. this morning to meet the noticing deadline (24 hours) per the Brown Act with the four items specified by the President.”
Instead of calling out Jeng for blatant insubordination, appointed CB Director Juan Garza, who was instrumental in the hiring of Jeng, tried to excuse her actions and blame Chacon, despite Sections 3.3 and 4.5 of CB’s Administrative Code.
Chacon has been a CB Director for over 20 years – Garza less than two years and never as president – and is well-versed in the agenda writing and submitting process, having served as president for several of those years.
Garza told LCCN, “Director Chacon is well aware of the reasons the agenda was not posted in accordance with his instructions. He’s well aware of what the multiple sections of the admin [sic] code [sic] direct on all this.”
Sources are telling LCCN that Jeng and Garza, under the direction of general counsel Victor Ponto, are refusing to properly follow the president’s agenda to prevent the return of the general manager, Dr. Alex Rojas. The duration of Rojas’s paid administrative leave, which was illegal and a violation of his employment contract, was, according to Ponto, “explicitly tied” to the duration of the CRI audit which is now complete.
