Board of
Directors

President Melody McDonald has served on the District’s Board since November 1991.

Melody is a Broker/Associate with Century 21 Lois Lauer Realty. She has held her Brokers License in California since 1990, has a Broker’s License in the State of Arizona, and is a member of the East Valley Association of Realtors. Melody represents the District as the Director for ACWA/JPIA, has been elected to their Executive Committee, and currently chairs their Liability Program Subcommittee. She is a Board member on the Association of the San Bernardino County Special Districts Board, a member of the California Women for Agriculture (CWA), a member of ACWA’s State Legislative Committee, and a member on the Water Management Committee for ACWA. Melody is a member of the Highland Area Chamber of Commerce, the San Bernardino Chamber of Commerce, she and her husband have their Heavy Duty Lift business known as Southwest Lift & Equipment, Inc. Melody believes in a strong work ethic, has been self-employed all her life with the exception of her first job, McDonald’s at the age of 15 and believes that when you take an oath of office to serve, you do it to the very best of your ability. She has helped her agency and other water agencies throughout the State of California receive refunds in their insurance premiums of over 35 Million dollars due to training, keeping losses at a minimum, and she is well respected by her colleagues in the water industry.

In the past, Melody has been Chair for the Workers Compensation Program Subcommittee, Chair of the Property Program Subcommittee for JPIA, chaired ACWA’s Water Management Certification Subcommittee, chaired ACWA’s Region 9, and is a past member of the California Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region. She is currently the ACWA/JPIA Executive Committee Vice Chair.

Melody is a graduate of San Gorgonio High School in San Bernardino (1976), and Western Real Estate School (1989), Arizona School of Real Estate, and is a graduate of the Special Districts Board Management Institute where she received her Certificate of Completion in 1997.

She and her husband Dean have 5 children and now 11 grandchildren. They are members of Immanuel Baptist Church of Highland, Arrowhead Country Club of San Bernardino (Dean’s handicap is improving), and various other organizations. Melody has 4 other children she sponsors through World Vision and believes all kids should have access to clean, safe water.

Vice President Bob Stewart has served on the San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District Board beginning February 13, 2019. He is a lifelong resident of Loma Linda. Along with Denise, his wife, they raise their three children who graduated from Redlands High School, as well.

Additional community participation:

– Loma Linda Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors Member
– Member of the Bear Valley Mutual Water District Board of Directors
– Member of the Bear Valley Pipeline and Extension Company Board of Directors
– Past Bear Valley Mutual Water District representative at San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District Advisory Board on Water Policy

He is a graduate of California State Polytechnical University in Pomona California in Civil Engineering and holds a University of California, Riverside, Light Construction and Development Management Certificate. Bob is a Registered Civil Engineer in California and a General Contractor in California. He brings 40 years of experience of real estate, farming, entitlements, permitting, land development, and construction to the Board.

Director Longville first dealt with water issues more than three decades ago as a legislative assistant to the late Congressman George Brown, and continued to learn about water during his eighteen years as a councilmember (1978-84 & 1986-87) and then as mayor of Rialto (1987-98). He was also active in regional government organizations (including a term as president of the Southern California Association of Governments).

His water education continued during his six years in the California State Assembly (1998-2004), he wrote 32 law – including California’s first legislation addressing alluvial fan flood dangers – and one amendment to the State Constitution.

Director Longville currently teaches American Government at San Bernardino Valley College. He is a commissioner of the California Medical Assistance Commission, and has also served on the boards of many local civic and charitable organizations, including Arrowhead United Way, Inland AIDS Project, the American Cancer Society, and Option House (child and spouse-abuse shelter).

A native Californian, raised with strong mid-western values, Mark carved a noteworthy path from multi-unit retail management to community leadership. In the fast-paced world of retail, Mark led the West Coast operations for two industry giants in the dietary supplement industry. It was his entrepreneurial spirit that truly shone when, over the course of 15 years, he took a small business, with no market presence, and built it into a million-dollar enterprise. Mark recently retired in August of 2024.

As he transitioned to the latter part of his career, Mark’s focus shifted to community service. For eight years, he served on the board of directors for East Highlands Ranch Homeowners Association (2014-2022), including six years as vice president. His dedication to public service deepened in 2022 when he became a Commissioner on the Community Advisory Commission for East Valley Water District, gaining invaluable insights into the water industry’s complexities. Mark brings a unique blend of business acumen and water industry experience to the Board.

Beyond his professional pursuits, Mark is a passionate advocate for healthy living. You will find him at the gym five days a week in the early morning hours, embodying his commitment to physical fitness. His love for high-energy activities extends to visiting the gun range, physical contact sports and all forms of auto racing. Mark has lived in the city of Highland since 1993. He has one daughter and two granddaughters.

Richard Corneille has served on the District’s Board since April 2005. He was Board President from 2012 through 2020.

Director Corneille is a registered civil engineer in California and a Board Certified water and wastewater engineer by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE). He brings over 40 years of professional civil and environmental engineering and public sector management experience to the Board. For over 30 years he has worked as a water engineering consultant in the Inland Empire and Southern California on regional and local water planning, design, and construction projects. For three years he was the City of Redlands Municipal Utilities Director, and represented Redlands on the Board of several Mutual Water Companies. He was a Vice President for the international consulting engineering firm of Camp Dresser & McKee (CDM). He retired from CDM in 2012.

He and his wife, Colleen, have been residents of Redlands since 1978 and raised their 3 children in Redlands. Director Corneille is a graduate of Northeastern University with an MS in Sanitary Engineering and has a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Vermont.