Central Basin Rejects Fourth MV Cheng Contract Amendment, Launches Search for Finance Director

July 28, 2026

By Brian Hews

After more than two years and over $611,000 in consulting payments, the Central Basin Municipal Water District Board of Directors rejected a proposed fourth amendment to the MV Cheng & Associates contract Monday, ending one of the District’s most controversial consulting agreements and directing staff to move forward with hiring a permanent Finance Director.

The decision came after directors openly criticized the consultant’s performance, expressing frustration that the District remained without a Finance Director despite years of consulting work. During the discussion, board members voiced dissatisfaction with repeated assertions that qualified candidates would not come to work for Central Basin.

Director Juan Garza emerged as the amendment’s strongest advocate, repeatedly defending MV Cheng’s work and urging the Board to approve the additional $169,000 despite criticism from directors that the District had relied on outside consultants for too long.

The motion failed for lack of a majority, effectively ending the MV Cheng consulting agreement. Directors Art Chacon and Leticia Vasquez voted against extending the contract, while Directors Juan Garza, Joanna Moreno, and Jim Crawford voted in favor. Board President Gary Mendez abstained, and Director Nem Ochoa was absent.

The proposed amendment would have increased the consulting agreement from $611,125 to $780,125. Instead, directors chose to let the contract expire and focus on recruiting a permanent employee to oversee the District’s finances.

The MV Cheng contract has been the subject of repeated scrutiny since it was first approved in June 2024.

The first agreement, valued at just $21,125, was awarded without a competitive bidding process under then-Interim General Manager Elaine Jeng, who maintained the firm was needed to provide temporary financial expertise. At the same time, the District searched for a permanent Finance Director.

Over the next two years, however, what began as a short-term consulting assignment evolved into one of the District’s largest professional services contracts.

Three separate amendments increased the agreement from $21,125 to $611,125, while the Finance Director position remained vacant.

LCCN has chronicled the contract’s steady expansion since 2025, eliciting questions about the lack of competitive bidding, the repeated contract increases, and the District’s continued reliance on outside consultants for a position intended to be temporary.

The MV Cheng agreement was one of several consulting contracts awarded or expanded during the tenure of former Interim General Manager Elaine Jeng. Jeng was later placed on administrative leave and subsequently separated from the District. In contrast, many of the contracts and administrative decisions made during her tenure have continued to receive scrutiny from the Board.

Monday’s meeting signified a turning point.

Several directors questioned why taxpayers should continue paying outside consultants after two years without successfully recruiting a permanent Finance Director. Board members also voiced dissatisfaction with the consultant’s repeated explanation that qualified candidates were unwilling to accept employment with the District.

Rather than extending the agreement once again, the Board rejected the proposed fourth amendment and directed its attention toward hiring a permanent Finance Director.

District officials reported that multiple crucial management vacancies have already been filled, leaving the Finance Director position as the final major executive opening.

It is perhaps fitting that the MV Cheng consulting agreement ended where it began—with questions.

When LCCN first investigated the contract, the newspaper found more than a rapidly escalating price tag. The investigation uncovered what appeared to be an unprofessional company website lacking the information typically expected of a public-sector consulting firm, including a meaningful client portfolio and established California presence.

More significantly, LCCN discovered that MV Cheng Properties LLC, a Texas limited liability company that had been awarded the Central Basin contract, had been conducting business in California without registering as a foreign entity with the California Secretary of State. The company did not file its foreign registration until August 2025—approximately two months after LCCN published its investigation into the no-bid contract and its rapid expansion.

The registration raised additional questions because California generally requires foreign limited liability companies transacting business in the state to register before conducting business here. The timing of the filing became another chapter in the controversy surrounding the consulting agreement.

The Board’s decision Monday effectively closes a chapter that began with a $21,125 no-bid contract approved under Elaine Jeng and ultimately grew to more than $611,000 before directors declined to authorize any additional spending.

Now, after more than two years of relying on outside consultants, Central Basin is returning to the objective that justified the contract in the first place—hiring a permanent Finance Director to oversee the District’s finances.

Whether the District can finally fill that position remains to be seen. Still, one thing is certain: one of the most controversial consulting agreements in recent Central Basin history has finally come to an end.