With a dysfunctional board and a heated race between two Oceano Community Services District (OCSD) board members who openly bickered at public meetings, all eyes were on the 5th Division race between Shirley Gibson and Charles Varni.
According to preliminary SLO County election counts, as of Nov. 6, Gibson was leading by 61 votes.
Gibson didn’t respond to New Times’ request for comment before publication.
Varni said that regardless of whether he wins, he will continue to be involved in the community.
“I’ve been active in Oceano for decades now, and I never held public office,” he said. “So, it’s not like I needed to have that position in order to do what I consider our service for the larger community of Oceano.”
Conflict climaxed during an Oct. 25, 2023, OCSD board meeting where then-OCSD General Manager Will Clemens announced that he was retiring early.
“The dysfunction of this board came to a head at our last meeting of Oct. 11 and culminated in the resignation of the legal firm representing our district. It’s clear that I’m not the person to lead this district in the direction that this board now desires to go, especially because this new board direction lacks clarity,” he said at the meeting.
Daniel Cheung, the district’s legal counsel, had resigned at that Oct. 11 meeting due to Varni repeatedly ignoring his legal advice.
Some community and district board members blamed Varni for those personnel losses, especially Gibson and OCSD board member Linda Austin, deepening the board’s divide.
“Clemens has proven himself over and over to be a competent manager,” Austin said at the time. “It has become increasingly difficult for him to perform his duties with the enormous pressure put on him by Varni and all his attempts to pull away from what the district was formed to do.”
While board meetings have since calmed, community members still feel the effects of that divide. With Gibson and Varni running against each other, that division showed up in election flyers, yard signs, emails, and letters to the editor.
Gibson said she wanted to remain focused on the OCSD’s responsibilities: water, sewer, garage, limited lighting, and a small parks and recreation department. Varni prides himself on applying for grants to upgrade Oceano’s infrastructure and begin new developments that benefit the community while being a strong supporter of community education and engagement.
Varni told New Times that he’d been under attack this election by Save Oceano, a political action committee that he said Gibson and Austin are part of and formed “basically to defeat me.”
“I think they were successful,” he said. “I was hoping that if I did win this election, that it would be a message to that kind of spirit that Save Oceano operated out of, which was just massive misinformation, manipulation, exaggerations, and it was all just very negative.
According to election filing disclosures, that committee—Save Oceano! A Committee to Support Shirley Gibson and Linda Austin, and Oppose Charles Varni, for Oceano Community Services District 2024—raised $2,880 with the donations of three people. Charles Bell gave $1,480, John Taylor donated $1,000, and Adam Verdin gave $400.
According to the organization’s website, Save Oceano was formed by longtime residents and business owners who are concerned about safety, water sanitation, and lighting services.
“Our present concern is about the chaotic and destructive behavior of the current chair of OCSD board of directors, Charles Varni,” the website states. “The information provided in this website illuminates the chaos, illegality, mismanagement, and personal and civic destruction that has characterized Varni’s brief tenure in power.”
Varni said it’s a mean-spirited approach.
“I’ve stayed positive on things that I’ve accomplished in the last two years,” he said. “I’ll just be watching to see how that goes forward.”
If Gibson wins, Varni said he hopes that the new board focuses on what’s important: updating the community’s aging water and sewage system while keeping the needs of the larger community in their sight.
“It’s important that we get grants and low-interest loans to do that, to keep our water and sewage rates down. That’s a fundamental thing that we have to be concerned with,” he said.
In the OCSD’s 1st Division race, Austin was leading in her bid for a third term against newcomer Angela Smith.
Austin held 78 percent of the votes as of Nov. 6, according to SLO County preliminary tallies.
She said she’s excited to continue the good work she’s been doing for the community, like repairing infrastructure and working through the OCSD’s fire divestiture.
“I love this community. I love this town. It’s my home until I die, and so I’m really looking forward to seeing a lot of the improvements through town,” she said. “We’ve really come a long way, and I think we’re going to go further but keep the town as is but just improve our community. Keep our character.”
Smith said she learned a lot about politics this election cycle and ultimately decided it’s just not for her.
“Too much complaining and bickering,” she said via email. “I want peace, love, and happiness to everyone … God Bless.” Δ
This article appears in Nov 7-17, 2024.
