The Rossmoor Community Services District Board of Directors elected Jo Shade and longtime community activist as its President for the coming year at its Jan. 12 board meeting.
The Board elected Shade as President, Nathan Searles as First Vice President and Director Tony DeMarco will serve as 2nd Vice President.
Shade becomes the sixth female to serve as President of the Board, according to GM Sharon Landers, Clair Weeks was the first in 1989, Margaret Kendrick served in 1993, Linda Goodrich after her, Dawn Coleman-Hyman, Shannon Hough and now Shade.
Director Michael Maynard voted against the new slate of officers as they were ultimately approved 4-1.
Before the elections, outgoing Board President Nathan Searles gave his “State of the District” report to the board and the district.
“I’m proud to present the 2025 State of the District address,” said Searles, noting that the report “highlights the strengths and resilience of the Rossmoor community and the dedication of its exceptional staff.”
“The Board and staff remain united in our mission to improve facilities, safeguard our neighborhoods and deliver programs that make Rossmoor one of the most desirable places to live. Your input continues to guide our priorities, and our staff works tirelessly to turn those priorities into reality,” he said.
He cited the accomplishment of hiring GM Sharon Landers to replace the retiring former General Manager Joe Mendoza. “Our administrative staff supported this transition with professionalism and efficiency, maintaining continuity in operations and service delivery,” Searles told the Board.
Financially, Searles said the district remains in good shape, with proven reserves of more than one year’s operating expenses.
In addition, he said the district’s financial outlook remains strong.
“Thanks to the diligence of our finance team, their commitment to new accuracy and transparency earned us a clean, unmodified audit report from Rogers Anderson, Maloney and Scott. Key financial highlights for 2024 -2025 (fiscal year) were that our reserves are now approximately one year’s operating expenses. Our net position increased 2.7%, property tax revenues increased 4.6%, and our total revenues increased by 7% while our total expenses only increased by 3.1%.”
“The increased expenses were primarily due to facility maintenance and capital projects managed by our operations staff,” the outgoing president said.
“This year, our staff oversaw the completion of a re-roofing of the Rossmoor Park Community Center, installation of a shade canopy at Rossmoor Park using our proposition 68 grant funds, we added upgraded spectator benches, shade awnings and noise abatement measures at tennis and pickleball courts,” he added.
Thanks to our dedicated arborist, Mary Kingman, and the tree care team in Rossmoor, Searles said the district earned the Tree City USA designation for the 15th consecutive year, while their educational outreach has nearly eliminated tree trimming violations. “We’re (RCSD) close to achieving a parkway tree for every resident. I know that pleases the board, as it’s something we’ve been striving for over the years,” he said.
The RCSD Board also heard from Joaquin Jimenez, Operations Manager for Street Sweeping Corporation of America, who addressed some of the residential concerns about the speed of the street sweepers and about piled-up trash affecting street sweeping.
Jimenez said while some residents have expressed concern about the speed of the street sweepers, the speed of each unit is monitored, and they generally run from 6-8 miles per hour. He also addressed concerns about the buildup of leaves during fall and winter in Rossmoor that sometimes requires extra sweepers to complete the Rossmoor street sweeping schedule.
“It’s hard for us to tell if it’s just leaves, and also if branches are in there, it clogs up our system,” Jimenez said. Perhaps, said Jimenez, if residents understood more of how they could make things easier for the sweepers, “I know it would help us more.”
“I know sometimes they feel like they’re helping us out by piling it up, but it makes it harder for us to pick up,” he told the board.
DeMarco said Jimenez to help the board and the staff learn what exactly should be communicated to residents. “It’s about education,” he said, asking Jimenez to have the drivers take photos of problem areas and communicate them to Landers and the staff so residents can be informed.
Landers told the board the staff has a cooperative working relationship with the company. “They have been very cooperative,” the general manager said.
Recreation Supt. Chris Argueta reported on recreational activities for the previous quarter and gave directors an update on things being planned for later in 2026.