Tensions flare at redo of OCSD district officers' election 

Combining two issues into one item became a lightning rod during the Oceano Community Services District's (OCSD) election of its district officers.

"The suggestion of rotating the president and the vice president on an annual basis by district was combined with the election for the officers, which further confused the situation and muddied it up to the point where one of the directors wasn't clear on what the vote was actually on, understandably so," OCSD Board member Charles Varni said at the Jan. 25 meeting.

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• Screenshot From Oceano Community Services District Meeting
• LONG-DRAWN After a district officers' election process that started last December, the Oceano Community Services District voted former Vice President Allene Villa as its new president.

The OCSD elects its district officers, or the president and the vice president, annually during the first regular meeting in December after new members are seated. The board members themselves are the sole voters, though public input is welcomed.

The OCSD was due to hold a district officer election on Dec. 14, 2022, after Varni's recent election win and Beverly Joyce-Suneson's appointment following OCSD board member Karen White's retirement. In a 3-1 vote, with board member Allene Villa absent, the OCSD voted for Linda Austin and Villa as the president and vice president, respectively. But a new feature was thrown into the mix.

Earlier during that meeting, General Manager Will Clemens suggested that board members take turns in the leadership roles through a rotation system. Like some cities around San Luis Obispo County that switched to by-district elections, the OCSD moved from at-large to by-division races last year. Theoretically, through rotation, a board member representing each division would have the chance to be president or vice president.

Austin and fellow board member Shirley Gibson agreed with the idea, and added it to the vote for district officers at the meeting. It confused Joyce-Suneson who said she thought she was only voting for rotations and not candidates. Varni called it a violation of the Brown Act.

"We had not had a closed session [prior to Dec. 14] to discuss that," Varni told New Times. "On Jan. 11, we discussed the whole thing in closed session. That's when we voted 3-2 to redo the election."

The redo took place at the Jan. 25 board meeting after Austin and Gibson dissented to voting on district officers again. Citing an OCSD bylaw stating that district officers should be elected in December, they alleged rule-breaking.

However, CSD legal counsel Jeff Minnery announced at the Jan. 25 meeting that violations—either of the Brown Act or of bylaws—didn't occur.

"I do not see any violation of the Brown Act from your actions in December," he said. "I think, generally, as part of good governance you respect your decisions and move on. However, I do think you have the authority to look at this again if you want to."

The Jan. 25 election ended in a 3-2 vote for Villa and Gibson as president and vice president, respectively, with Varni and Joyce-Suneson dissenting.

"I wanted the have the vote for president and vice president separate," Varni told New Times. "I wanted to be vice president. I was confused as to why Allene was agreeing to having Shirley Gibson as her vice president. I felt I was definitely qualified."

The president has a special power unlike other board members. Varni added that they can unilaterally put items on the agenda whereas other board members have to either consult the general manager through the president, or receive support for an item from two other members.

Austin, an OCSD board member since 2016 with frequent stints as president, said that she has never agendized an item all on her own.

"Whenever I've served as president, we've always done it as a board consensus," she said.

While Varni thought that the rotation system would eliminate district officer elections altogether, Austin said that previously new members never wanted those roles because of inexperience.

"[The rotation] is to keep it fair and nonpolitical. When the general manager brought it up, I thought that made sense," she said. "I just want to do business of the board. This was a waste of time."

The OCSD will discuss a potential rotation system and amending its bylaws at the Feb. 8 meeting. Δ