MSWD Board Member Selected as Chairman of Oversight Board by Mission Springs Water District Nov 24, 2025 Member Submitted News Mission Springs Water District is proud to announce that Board Member Russ Martin has been selected to Chair the Riverside Countywide Oversight Board. Martin, who has served on the MSWD Board of Directors since 2010, was elected to serve on the oversight board in 2023 as the Independent Special District Representative. Prior to this, he served as an alternate on the Oversight Board since 2018. “Throughout my tenure as a public servant, I have remained dedicated to upholding transparency, accountability, and community trust,” said Martin. “I am honored to serve as the chair of the board and remain committed to positively impacting our community’s governance.” As part of the dissolution of redevelopment agencies (RDAs), oversight boards were established for each of the redevelopment successor agencies charged with winding down the affairs of the former RDAs. In September 2015, Governor Brown signed SB 107, a bill that required the consolidation of RDA oversight boards. SB 107 mandated the consolidation of these boards by July 1, 2018, with a single new countywide board in each county. In Riverside County, 25 oversight boards were consolidated into one Countywide Oversight Board. Martin is no stranger to public service. In 1968, he started a career in law enforcement with the Santa Monica Police Department. For the next three decades, Martin worked on a wide range of assignments, including Narcotics, Robbery-Homicide, Communications, Crime Prevention, Community Relations, and Special Enforcement. His last assignment was to command the police sub-station in the busy downtown Third Street Promenade. He retired from the Santa Monica PD in 2000 and was recognized for his service by the Governor of California and the President of the United States. Martin has previously served on the board of directors or advisory boards of more than 11 organizations, including the United Way, Westside Shelter Coalition, Claire Foundation for Substance Abuse, National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Bay Area Hotel Security Association, and the City of Desert Hot Springs Public Safety Commission. Besides serving on the Oversight Board and the MSWD Board of Directors, he is also a member of the Agua Caliente Tribal Water Authority Board, the Region 9 Board of the Association of California Water Agencies, Urban Water Institute Board, and a Member of the Priority One Coachella Valley Advisory Committee, whose efforts are focused on bringing a 4-year College Campus to the Coachella Valley.
