LOS ANGELES — For years, the Central Basin Municipal Water District was seen as a poster child for government dysfunction: State auditors slammed the agency for questionable contracting practices, poor leadership and violating the law. Competing lawsuits accused officials of corruption and harassment, while the district’s bond rating plummeted.
Then in 2020, as some California lawmakers sought to dissolve the district’s board of directors and place it in receivership, the Commerce-based water wholesaler hired a self-described “turnaround specialist” to reform the district, which serves almost 2 million residents in southeast Los Angeles. The troubled district was finally entering a new age, some hoped.
But those hopes have now faded as the district finds itself in yet another major scandal.
