Flags Flown at Half-Staff for Corky Larson

PALM DESERT — In honor of the late Riverside County Supervisor Patricia “Corky” Larson, the American flag, the state flag and the POW/MIA flag will be flown at half-staff at all county-owned and leased facilities from June 3 to June 8, Fourth District Supervisor and Chair V. Manuel Perez said Wednesday.

Larson, was a leading force in the expansion of the courthouse in Indio, which is named the Larson Justice Center in her honor. She was 92.

“On a personal note, my mother, Virginia, worked for the Larson family for 18 years in their grape fields in Oasis,” Perez said in a prepared statement. “I have many great memories playing in these fields as a kid while helping my mother stamp boxes. Our connection goes far back, and it meant a lot to my mother when they reconnected a few years ago when I was running for Supervisor.

“Corky Larson did a lot for the Coachella Valley community and Riverside County. She was the founder of the Regional Access Project Foundation, dedicating a portion of sales tax to fund many nonprofit organizations and services in the areas of health, mental health and juvenile intervention in the Fourth District. She helped complete the 1986 Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard Habitat Plan, the first regional plan for conservation of an endangered species. She created the annual Senior Inspiration Awards event, which promotes volunteerism and community involvement. She was instrumental in the expansion of the courthouse in Indio. Corky has mentored generations of community leaders. I benefited from her support and guidance as well as the friendships formed with many members of her wonderful family.

“I, along with my family, join in sending condolences to the Larson family, and remember Corky Larson as a tough advocate for eastern Riverside County in ensuring we get our fair share.”

Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) is remembering Patricia “Corky” Larson for her visionary work during her three terms on the CVWD board and her long leadership with multiple agencies throughout the county.

“I am very saddened to hear about her death and am grateful I got to know her,” said CVWD board President John Powell Jr. “Corky was a mentor to me. She was one of the top leaders in the Valley during my lifetime.”

At the time of her departure from the CVWD board in 2012, Larson was hailed in a board resolution as “a pillar of strength, stability and common sense.”

The resolutions also noted these accomplishments by CVWD during her tenure including her leadership as board president from 2008-2010:

• Meaningful use of State Water Project Water for groundwater replenishment as CVWD’s entitlement increased significantly;
• Effective expansion of full-scale aquifer replenishment facilities from one to three;
• Dramatically increased domestic water conservation efforts, including tiered rates, incentive-based landscape conversions and irrigation equipment upgrades;
• Promising expansion in the use of recycled and other alternative sources instead of groundwater for golf course and other large scale irrigation;
• Quantifiable agricultural irrigation water conservation through scientific scheduling and salinity control;
• Completion of complex water management plans;
• Construction of capital improvements that enhanced the ability of the valley to preserve and protect the quantity and quality of its groundwater
• Larson was known for her ability to craft innovative approaches to issues and for her commitment to the environment and to disadvantaged communities.

“Corky was a very dynamic individual and provided her guidance and leadership to a number of agencies within the Coachella Valley including being elected to successive terms on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, the Palm Springs Unified School District and the Coachella Valley Water District,”  Jim Barrett, General Manager of CVWD, said in a prepared statement. “She was a founding member of the California Women for Agriculture, a candidate for the US House of Representatives in 1994 and a former Executive Director at the Coachella Valley Association of Governments.”

During her tenure on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, she helped complete the first regional plan for conservation of an endangered species, the 1986 Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard Habitat Plan. It was only the second of its kind in the nation and put the Coachella Valley at the forefront of species and habitat conservation.

Concerned about meeting the needs of communities in eastern Riverside County, she created the Regional Access Project Foundation. To do this, she brought to the Board of Supervisors and the Palm Desert City Council an innovative agreement to provide a portion of sales tax generated in a development then being annexed into Palm Desert to fund needs in the areas of health, mental health and juvenile intervention services.

While serving as supervisor, Larson found time to pursue her longtime dream of law school. In 1990, she earned her law degree from Citrus Belt Law School in Riverside and was admitted to the State Bar of California.

Following her service as supervisor, Larson was the executive director of the Coachella Valley Association of Governments for eight years and briefly served as the interim city attorney and interim city manager for Desert Hot Springs.

Larson was a founding member of the Salton Sea Authority and served on numerous boards and commissions including the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy Board.