Jo MacKenzie 
President of the California Special Districts Association
President of the Vista Irrigation District
It’s likely that absolutely everyone in California receives at least one service by way of a special district. In rural areas, they’re likely the beneficiaries of multiple special districts. However, despite the more than 2,300 special districts in California, they remain some of the least visible government entities in the State.
Take for instance the Vista Irrigation District. They provide water to much of Northern San Diego County.
For the past 19 years, Jo MacKenzie has served on the board of the Vista Irrigation District, and in 2011 she served her fifth term as President of the District – a position she had previously held in 1993/4, 1999, 2004, and 2008. During the 2011 year, MacKenzie and the Board helped complete their Comprehensive Water Supply Response Program, which addressed the District’s water supply challenges.
With this new program, the District will be more prepared to deal with water crises such as draughts in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. That preparedness has led to an increased understanding of how to effectively manage the water that the District receives. With that confidence, the District was able to create a budget that contained costs and rates, protecting the ratepayers from increases that would have resulted from an aging infrastructure and cost of importing water.
“Jo Mackenzie has provided much needed leadership during difficult political and economic times,” wrote Vista Irrigation District General Manager Roy Coox. “Her inquisitiveness, creativity, and compassion have been hallmarks of her contributions and have led to many significant accomplishments by the organizations she has served.”
Stanely Caldwell, a member of the Mt. View Sanitary District, echoed those sentiments in a letter supporting MacKenzie’s nomination.
“Jo is the rare impartial and unbiased public official,” wrote Stanely Caldwell, a board member of the Mt. View Sanitary District, who sent PublicCEO a letter in support of Ms. MacKenzie’s nomination. “She has a well deserved reputation for being thoughtful, measured and well-read on issues of importance to the State of California, San Diego County, and the California Special Districts Association, and Vista Irrigation District.”
2011 was also a year in which MacKenzie served as the President of the CSDA. There, the organization emerged as a major player in discussions with State legislative and executive leaders, and worked to improve statewide governmental transparency, accountability, and efficiency. Their efforts extended not only to budget debates but also to the Controller’s payroll database that was launched in the wake of the Bell scandal. The CSDA member agencies were among the most-compliant governmental entities included in the massive database. In one phase, initial compliance for the CSDA members exceeded 95 percent.
The CSDA also worked effectively with the Governor and Legislature on bills, advocating from a position of “yes, let’s do this” instead of taking an adversarial position.
“Jo has great values and principles, among them, honesty, integrity, respect, open-mindedness, loyalty, and a consideration for all,” wrote Caldwell. “She has enthusiastically promoted, advocated, and supported special districts at every opportunity. She has always encouraged others to become engaged, involved, and to participate in special districts. Jo has proven leadership skills, integrity, and dedication.”
For these reasons and so many more, PublicCEO is pleased to name Jo MacKenzie as our 2011 Special District Official of the Year.
