Vote Set to Disband Mosquito District

With a chorus of critics calling for an end to the Moorpark Mosquito Abatement District, the City Council on Wednesday may formally ask that the district be dissolved.

Council members are scheduled to vote on a resolution petitioning the Local Agency Formation Commission to disband the district administration, transfer its tax revenue to the city and require the city to provide the pest-control services the district now supplies.

Such a move would not immediately shut down the district. The city would first have to prepare a report detailing any environmental impacts caused by the change.

Council members asked city staff to draft the ordinance two weeks ago, saying it was time for the city to press for an end to the district. The abatement district, formed in the 1960s to combat insect pests in the Moorpark area, has lately come under fire for stockpiling a $1.4-million reserve and, critics contend, outliving its usefulness.

Petitioning the commission is one of several ways the district could be dissolved. Moorpark-area residents could vote in a referendum to dismantle the district. Former City Councilwoman Eloise Brown is currently circulating a petition calling for such a referendum.

Or the district board of trustees could vote to dissolve the organization. Brown, who was appointed to the district board by the City Council two weeks ago, has also said she will try to persuade fellow board members to vote themselves out of a job.