Paavo Ogren resigns from managing the Oceano CSD after less than six months 

The Oceano Community Services District (OCSD) no longer has a leader after the interim general manager it hired in January resigned.

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• File Photo By Jayson Mellom
• ON THE HUNT The Oceano Community Services District will begin interviewing for a new general manager the first week of May after Paavo Ogren resigned earlier than expected.

Paavo Ogren joined the OCSD on Jan. 1 after previous General Manager Will Clemens announced his retirement from public service during an Oct. 25, 2023, district board meeting.

According to previous New Times reporting, Ogren said he knew his time at the OCSD was limited to a year of service and planned to focus on finding the best future general manager while overseeing district projects.

OCSD board President Charles Varni told New Times that Ogren was a great general manager who provided guidance on important issues like fire services, water and sewer system upgrades, groundwater management, and day-to-day district operations.

"He was hired as a temporary general manager, and, you know, it was intended to end relatively soon; we had full discussions about that. We had anticipated that it would probably be around the end of April or certainly by the end of May," he said. "Our goal was to have a new general manager in place, and that was the No. 1 job for Paavo when he came on board."

Ogren announced his resignation in an email to Varni on April 19, claiming that the OCSD had a good set of candidates for the general manager position and that he had some personal commitments he would like to return to.

"I do believe that we have been productive in 2024 during this transitional period, and with my departure at this time, staff will have the benefit of some opportunity to operate independently prior to the start of the new general manager," his email reads. "They are a good team, and I have no reservations in their abilities."

Varni said the board will discuss the top candidates at its April 24 board meeting and hopes to get the ball rolling on beginning interviews the first week of May.

"We have some strong applicants and a number of very positive candidates with a depth of experience. They have been in the public sector, many of them, and county government, city government, in community services districts, so they come to the job ready to perform and don't have much of a learning curve at all," he said. "We're a small but busy community services district, and there are a number of significant issues that we're dealing with."

One of the most important issues is that in 23 years Oceano will need a new wastewater treatment plant that's not next the ocean, Varni said.

"That will definitely be part of their job, and we also have an interim attorney, so we're in search of a new attorney," he said. "We'll be looking for someone that has water expertise because sewer and water are kind of core functions of the district, and it's important that we have people that have experience in that."

The OCSD will begin accepting applications for a new legal counsel later in May to give the new general manager a chance to settle into the role and become an active part of the decision-making process, Varni said. Δ