Division One

Franz De Klotz was appointed to the board in January 2010. Born in Oregon, he grew up in Fresno, California, and moved to the desert in 1983 after graduating from California State University Fresno with a Bachelor of Science degree in Plant Science/Viticulture.  De Klotz is the Vice-President of Marketing for Richard Bagdasarian Inc. in Mecca, which specializes in citrus and table grapes. At Bagdasarian, he is responsible for global sales of all harvested products. In addition to his work at Bagdasarian, De Klotz also owns Pasha Marketing, a local agribusiness firm that grows and markets fresh vegetables on more than 600 acres in Mecca. De Klotz maintains close ties to the San Joaquin Valley where he was raised; he farms almonds and pistachios in Madera, California, and also is owner of De Klotz Capital Partners, an investment group handling real estate acquisitions in the San Joaquin Valley. De Klotz and wife Judy live with their three sons and daughter in Rancho Mirage.

Division Two

Patricia A. "Corky" Larson, Board President, was elected to the board in November 2000 and re-elected in 2004 and in 2008. She has been a Coachella Valley resident for over 52 years and was self-employed in the family farming business for 35 years. She has a Bachelors degree from UCLA, a JD degree from Citrus Belt College, and is an attorney. She previously served as a school board member for 2 terms and a Riverside County Supervisor for 3 terms. She was the Executive Director of the Coachella Valley Association of Governments for 8 years.

Division Three

Tellis Codekas has been a director of the Coachella Valley Water District since 1976 and served as president of the board from 1988 to 2000. Codekas is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Portland. He spent 35 years as a date, grape and citrus farmer in the Coachella Valley and retired as a vice president of Tenneco West, Inc., in 1985. He is a former chairman of the California Date Administrative Committee and chairman of the California Date Packers Council. He was appointed by Gov. Wilson to the Colorado River Board of California. He and his wife, Elvera, a founding member of the California Women for Agriculture, live on the family farm in Thermal and have three adult daughters.

Division Four

Peter Nelson, Board Vice President, was appointed to the board in June 2000, won election in November 2000, ran unopposed in 2004 and in 2008". Nelson grows about 2,000 acres of dates, grapes and citrus for a number of firms. He previously was general manager of agricultural operations for J & P Properties of Thermal producing citrus, dates, and grapes. He is a graduate of California State University, Fresno with a degree in Agricultural economics. Nelson, elected as president in 2004, serves as vice-president of the Salton Sea Authority, director of the California Farm Water Coalition, and director of the California Desert Grape Administrative Committee. As a resident of the Coachella Valley since 1987, Nelson, his wife, Darlene, and three sons live in La Quinta. He has been involved in youth sports, youth music programs, and church activities.

Division Five

Russell Kitahara was elected to the board of directors in 1998. A lifelong resident of the Coachella Valley, Russell was born in Indio and is a graduate of Coachella Valley High School. He attended the University of California, Irvine, where he studied biology and transferred to California State University, Fresno, where he studied agricultural economics. Following college, he was employed at the Coachella Valley Water District in the district resources division from 1985 to 1990. He currently manages 80 acres of citrus on the family farm. Kitahara and his wife, Anna, have two children.