New Times - San Luis Obispo

what's news
‘Huge financial loss’
California Valley Services District ex-manager arrested for fund misappro-

BY DANIEL BLACKBURN

Sheriff’s detectives journeyed to Bakersfield Tuesday to arrest Brad Bjork on charges alleging that he misappropriated more than $300,000 during his four-year tenure as general manager of the California Valley Community Services District.

Bjork, 42, surrendered without incident and was booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail in lieu of $200,000 bail.

Directors of the small community’s road, garbage, and sewer district terminated Bjork in October after learning about the missing money. The district’s annual budget is $146,000. Results of a district internal probe were turned over to sheriff’s investigators, who have been looking into the allegations ever since.

San Luis Obispo attorney Michael Seitz, who represents the district, said the district “is doing its best to recover from a huge financial loss. We are working with district insurers, but they will not cover legal or investigative costs.” But Seitz added that efforts will be made to seek restitution from Bjork “as part of the sentencing.”

California Valley CSD is one of two community services districts to have discovered missing funds last October.

San Miguel Community Services District officials are trying to figure out what happened to an approximate $25,000 in public funds that apparently has disappeared from district bank accounts. Sheriff’s investigators are close to making an arrest in that case, according to Capt. Gary Hoving of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department. The case is in the hands of the district attorney.

After discovery of the missing money, board member Ron Ortega said the “whole board is just devastated by all this.”

This summer, the district’s bank accounts were seized by the Internal Revenue Service after the federal agency investigated allegations of nonpayment of payroll taxes. During this period, said a source, employee paychecks bounced.

Seitz confirmed that the district has had problems with the IRS.

“But the Internal Revenue Service has indicated to us that the payroll taxes have been paid to date, and all employees will be paid for all time that has been worked,” Seitz said.

An unidentified staff employee of the Avila Beach Community Services District has been filling in for the missing Bjork.

Bjork could not be reached for comment. ³

For the record

In our “Looking back” cover last week, we overlooked the creator of the mural featuring the villain peering over his cloak. The mural, which was painted on the side of Oceano’s Great American Melodrama, was created by Pismo Beach muralist Glenn Norberg of Norberg Designs.

Norberg can be reached by phone at 550-3215 (cell), 481-6561 (home office), or by email at norbergdesigns@charter.net. A website will be going up soon, too: www.norbergdesigns.com.

Quake-ravaged school closed for repairs

A Paso Robles middle school that sustained considerable damage in the San Simeon earthquake is closed until Jan. 12 for repairs.

Structural engineers decided the entire 80-year-old main building at Flamson Middle School has been rendered unsafe by the Dec. 22 temblor. School officials have designed a plan that will allow half-day schedules in a limited area of the school where damage was superficial.

Significant cracks can be seen in the walls, ceiling, and floors of the two-story structure, where the heavily hit auditorium is located along with administrative offices, the library, and a number of classrooms.

The building, built in 1924, was retrofitted for earthquake in 1959, an action that likely prevented a total collapse, according to school officials. Classes were not in session. Students were taking their winter break at the time of the quake.

The damaged portions of the school probably cannot be salvaged. Reconstruction could take until 2006 and cost $20 million, said Paso Robles School Superintendent Patrick Sayne.

Fences will be erected around the damaged building and other unsafe areas to prevent injury to students.

The half-day schedule will continue through mid-February, at which time portable classrooms will have been erected. No make-up time will be required of students because of the nature of the emergency.

Two beach cities tab new fire chiefs

Two new chiefs have taken the
helm of San Luis Obispo County fire departments.

Jack Criswell, who has been Grover Beach’s firefighter boss for the past four years, retired quietly on New Year’s Eve.

Doug Hamp, former fire chief in Paso Robles, was named interim chief.

Criswell was the subject of a cover story in New Times (“Under fire,” Jan. 23, 2003), which described Grover Beach firefighters’ allegations of alcohol abuse in the fire station, as well as amateurism and mismanagement on Criswell’s part. Criswell vehemently denied the charges at the time.

Michael Pond, a 20-year veteran with the Morro Bay Fire Department, has been named interim chief in Morro Bay. He starts his new assignment Jan. 10.

Pond takes the reins from Jeff Jones, who has accepted a command position with the Santa Maria Fire Department. Pond has been a captain with the Morro Bay department for the past 12 years.

Pedestrian fatality victim identified

Grover Beach resident Heriberto Carrasco, 67, has been identified as the pedestrian killed Dec. 21 after he was struck by a vehicle.

Carrasco was walking in an unmarked intersection of Fifth Street and Rockaway Avenue after dark when he was hit by a car driven by Roxana Sanchez, 19, also of Grover Beach.

Lt. Brian Thomas said the incident remains under investigation because of uncertainties “as to point of impact, speed, and location of both the vehicle and the victim.”

No witnesses to the incident have been located, said Thomas.

KOTR looks to future with changes

Radio station KOTR 94.9 FM is changing format.

The station owners will shift this weekend to the format currently used by a sister station in Santa Cruz County, KPIG. No disc jockeys—a favorite element for local listeners for decades—will be used.

The FM station is owned by Mapleton Communications in Monterey and started broadcasting in 1984. KOTR is based in San Luis Obispo after originating in Cambria, where it was tiny but eclectic and drew a fervently faithful audience.

The new station format is wide-ranging and should have appeal to many isteners, said a former DJ, Janelle Younger, who was laid off last week.

Porn shop placement protested

On Monday, Jan. 5, an estimated 100 residents of Grover Beach protested proposed regulations concerning placement of adult-oriented businesses.

In response, the city proposed increasing the distance between those businesses and schools, churches, and parks.

The city’s proposed regulations would restrict adult businesses to two zones in the city, the industrial zone along Highway 1 and the commercial shopping zone east of downtown. The adult businesses would have to be at least 250 feet away from schools, churches, and parks.

But six properties have been identified as potential sites of an adult business, and residents said those were unacceptable.

Additional changes that were discussed included strengthening public review opportunities for new adult-orientated businesses, and a reduction in the amount of live entertainment activities from six to four a month. Another idea was to restrict the development of adult businesses to the industrial zone and requiring the prospective owners of such a business to a police-conducted background check.

The changes will be discussed at the council’s Jan. 20 meeting, where public comment will be invited. ³

This week’s What’s News was compiled by News Editor Daniel Blackburn and Staff Writer Matt McBride.