For the first time in nearly 15 years, the San Simeon Community Services District (CSD) will be forging into the future without the influence of Charles Grace and his company, Grace Environmental Services.
At its Sept. 7 meeting, the CSD board voted unanimously—4-0 with a still vacant seat—to approve an agreement with Fluid Resources Management to replace the services previously provided by Grace.
The CSD’s departure from Grace’s company marks the end of a multi-month process that began in June when Grace, who served as general manager at the time, had his contract terminated following a settlement with the SLO County District Attorney’s Office over conflict of interest allegations.
“I’d like to thank the [Grace Environmental Services] team for what they have done for our community,” business owner Michael Hanchett said during public comment at the Sept. 7 meeting. “They dealt with [many issues], and I’d like to just thank them and wish them well.”
Grace and his company also received public comment support from two former CSD members, Mary Margaret McGuire and Gwen Kellas.
“I am the last person ever to be elected to the board [instead of being appointed], and in my time here Charlie Grace has always been forthcoming and willing to give me any information I needed,” McGuire said during public comment.
Kellas echoed McGuire’s and Hanchett’s comments before the CSD board voted to officially bring an end to the Grace era and wished the board luck.
“If you trace this back to 2007 when Charlie took over, [you will find] that he paid out of his pocket to make sure everything stayed running,” Kellas said. “Moving forward, you will see a discrepancy. … If you had been involved since Day One, you would know there has been nothing wrong and they have kept this community running.”
The transition between the two service providers is expected to begin on or before Sept. 30, but there are some roadblocks to be addressed before that process can begin, according to Interim General Manager Patrick Faverty.
“I was informed this afternoon that [Grace Environmental] is not interested in any overlap as we transition to the new service provider,” Faverty said at the Sept. 7 meeting.
The lack of cooperation means that Grace Environmental’s internal operational procedures on how to run the CSD’s water and wastewater plant could not be available to the new team. However, a representative of Fluid Resources Management said they could work past it.
“It shouldn’t be an issue, as we are used to running municipalities in the area—specifically this one in San Simeon, as one of our higher-ups has experience in running it from the past,” the representative said at the meeting. “The only thing we need to work on right now is establishing a plan to transition our services with Patrick Faverty.” Δ
This article appears in Sep 21 – Oct 1, 2023.