Former Assemblyman, Community Leader and Water District Representative Willard R. Murray Passes Away
December 23, 2021
LAWT News Service
Elected to the WRD Board of Directors in 1998, Director Willard H. Murray, Jr. has spent over two decades as a member of the governing body of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California.
Director Murray has served as WRD Board President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. He currently serves as the Chair of the External Affairs Committee.
Director Murray proudly represents WRD’s Division One, which includes the cities of Hawthorne, Inglewood, and portions of Los Angeles. Director Murray also served as a member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Board of Directors.
His commitment to the people he serves is evident in everything he has done while with WRD – supporting innovative, cost-effective projects and programs to ensure a reliable source of clean, safe, affordable water for residents in the region.
He was an early adopter and champion of WRD’s Water Independence Now program (WIN) to make south Los Angeles County independent of water imported from Northern California and the Colorado River.
A veteran public servant, Director Murray was a four-term Assemblymember for the 52nd Assembly District. During his tenure in the Assembly, he was a member of the Committees on Budget, Local Government, Utilities & Commerce and Education.
He served on the Budget Subcommittee on Education, Finance, Select Committees on California-Africa and California-Mexico Affairs, and the Joint Committee on the Arts.
He also chaired the Budget Subcommittee on State Administration. Director Murray’s lifelong dedication to public service was preceded by his active involvement in the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s and 1960s, and as a pioneer with his state legislation requiring literacy programs for incarcerated adults and youth to curb recidivism.
To honor his work dedicated to the Water Replenishment District and the over 4 million residents the agency serves, the WRD Board of Directors named Director Willard H. Murray Jr. WRD Board President Emeritus.
Please check LAWT and LASentinel website for more information.