Los Osos CSD splits with another general manager 

The Los Osos Community Services District (LOCSD) is about to go without a general manager after deciding to part ways with interim General Manager Peter Kampa.

Kampa’s contract expired on Sept. 30, and the district will not renew it. His contract was extended multiple times since he was hired in February on an interim basis, but an extension is not on the board’s Oct. 6 agenda.

LOCSD Board President Marshall Ochylski confirmed Kampa’s exit to New Times on Oct. 3.

“He completed the tasks we hired him to do,” Ochylski said. “We’re moving forward now.”

Kampa, whose firm Kampa Solutions manages small districts across the state, arrived after a messy break-up with prior General Manager Kathy Kivley. Kampa was tasked with getting the district’s finances in order and completing a tardy financial audit, both of which were accomplished, Ochylski said.

The LOCSD has not hired a replacement general manager. A request for qualifications is out, with some job applications submitted, but Ochylski declined to provide a timetable for the new hire. The current LOCSD staff will manage the day-to-day operations of the district in the meantime.

“We can handle it internally as we go through the interview process,” he said.

Ochylski said the district is looking for a full-time general manager with a strong background in water resources management. The LOCSD currently has a seat and financial role on the Los Osos Basin Management Committee, which is implementing a court-approved plan to stabilize the troubled Los Osos Groundwater Basin.

Kampa expressed some surprise about the timing of his departure. He said he had scheduled auditor visits in October and November to review the LOCSD operations for 2015-2016. But he said that the transition should go well given the staff’s experience running the district during previous stints without a general manager.

“They’ll be prepared to keep it on autopilot,” Kampa said. “The employees [at the LOCSD] have picked up an abnormal level of work.”