San Simeon CSD perfectly fits the definition of a “zombie” organization. As of mid-2025, the San Simeon Community Services District (CSD) has effectively been functioning as a shell entity, kept alive by external support, while it awaits formal dissolution.
This assessment matches the current reality in three specific ways:
1) It is on “life support.”
Since mid- 2025, the district has effectively ceased to function as an independent body.
• Who runs it: San Luis Obispo County Public Works has taken over day-to-day operations under a CalWARN emergency agreement.
• The “zombie” factor: The district exists on paper, but it cannot perform its basic functions (water/wastewater management) without this external county intervention. It is currently in a holding pattern until it can be legally dissolved and converted into a county service area (CSA).
2) It has no “head.”
The district lacks the executive leadership required to be a functional organization.
• No general manager: Following mass resignations in July 2025, the district has been operating without a general manager. The remaining board members are forced to collectively “act” as the GM to approve basic expenditures.
By the time LAFCO determines that the county can manage San Simeon services, the county will have been doing so efficiently for more than two years.
• Skeleton crew: The board of directors, which should have five members, has dwindled to just three members. This is the bare minimum for a quorum; if one person is absent or resigns, the board literally cannot legally meet or vote.
3) It is the “walking dead.”
The organization has already accepted its own end but is stuck in the bureaucratic process of dying.
• Vote to dissolve: The board officially voted to dissolve the district in March 2024, admitting they could no longer operate due to financial insolvency and management failures.
• The limbo: San Simeon is currently stuck in a long regulatory phase to finalize the dissolution, meaning the zombie district must keep shuffling forward until the county can legally assume full ownership of the infrastructure. Zombies can bleed—$200,000-plus in study costs so far. The county Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) now sees it taking until 2028 for the San Simeon CSD to be put down for good, cleaning up the undead.
This zombie organization description highlights deficiencies in California’s laws. The county has been doing the right thing by stepping in to assist the San Simeon community. LAFCO is mandated to perform an elaborate ritual that could rival the California Coastal Commission’s.
By the time LAFCO determines that the county can manage San Simeon services, the county will have been doing so efficiently for more than two years. The study costs already exceed $200,000, with another year and a half to go. What happened to common business sense? ∆
Hank Krzciuik writes to New Times from San Simeon. Send a response for publication to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in July 9-16, 2026.
