Division One

John W. "Jack" McFadden has served as a director of Coachella Valley Water District since 1990 when he was appointed to serve out the term of John Powell. He was elected to continue to fill the seat in 1994 and served as board president from 2001 to 2004. McFadden is a retired district manager for Southern California Edison. His commitment to public service includes formerly serving on the Rancho Mirage City Council, Palm Springs Cemetery District board of trustees and College of the Desert board of trustees. He represents CVWD on the Colorado River Bureau of California since being appointed by Gov. Grey Davis in 2001.

Division Two

Patricia A. "Corky" Larson, vice president of the board, was elected to the board in November 2000 and re-elected in 2004. 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, CVWD board president, was appointed to the board in June 2000, won election in November 2000, and ran unopposed in 2004. 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 is a lifelong resident of the Coachella Valley. Born in Indio in 1958, he attended Coachella Valley Unified High School and was graduated in 1976. 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 then worked at Century 21 as a real estate broker, leaving that to take over the family farm, where he manages 80 acres of citrus. Kitahara and his wife, Anna, a special education aide for the Desert Sands Unified School District, have two children.