My how things have changed. An agency whose board meetings once bordered on civil unrest, the Los Osos Community Services District has now been honored with a prestigious award for how civilly it conducts business.
The LOCSD was recently awarded the “District Transparency Certificate of Excellence” by the Special District Leadership Foundation (SDLF).
The award is “in recognition of its outstanding efforts to promote transparency and good governance,” reads an announcement from the District.
“On behalf of the SDLF Board of Directors,” reads a letter from SDLF Board President, Sandy Raffelson, “I would like to congratulate your district on achieving this important certificate. By completing the District Transparency Certificate of Excellence Program, Los Osos Community Services District has proven its dedication to being fully transparent as well as open and accessible to the public and other stakeholders.”
The honor is a far cry from the chaos that erupted at every board meeting during the height of the town’s “sewer wars,” when the newly-formed CSD found itself under constant attack for an ill-conceived plan to build a community sewer and place the treatment plant — initially a ponding system — in the center of town.
A revamped plan was pursued to the point of actually breaking ground before a recall election flipped the board majority and upended the project, and gave rise to the battle cry, “Move the Sewer!”
That led to bankruptcy, default on a State loan and the State eventually stepping in and giving the project back to the County, which tried unsuccessfully for nearly 30 years to build it.
The project was completed in 2016, after about two years of the whole town being turned into a construction zone.
New General Manager, Greg Kwolek, who was not here when all this ugliness happened, was a little philosophical.
“During the sewer wars,” he said, “I’m told meetings were a mess and the district was disorganized.
“The District has come a long way and Ron [Munds the retiring G.M.] was a big part of that.”
Munds is wrapping up a long career in public service and has led the LOCSD since August 2019, serving as the longest tenured G.M. in the District’s history. The CSD was voted into existence in 1999 and its top spot had been a revolving door until Munds came in.
“The district is now a stable organization,” Kwolek added, “with lots of big projects coming in the next few years — the State Water intertie project, fire station renovation, Sunnyside School, and the storm water basin up in Cabrillo Estates. Pretty amazing.”
To receive the award LOCSD “demonstrated the completion of essential governance transparency requirements, including conducting ethics training for all board members, properly conducting open and public meetings, and filing financial transactions and compensation reports to the State Controller in a timely manner,” the news release said.
“This award,” Kwolek stated, “is a testament to Los Osos Community Services District’s commitment to open government. Our staff is to be commended for their contributions that empower the public with information and facilitate engagement and oversight.”
The SDLF is an independent, non-profit organization promoting good governance and best practices among California’s special districts. It has certification, accreditation, and other recognition programs.
Special districts are independent public agencies that deliver core local services to communities. Potential services include utilities, wastewater treatment, fire protection, parks and recreation, healthcare, sanitation, and mosquito abatement. They can also oversee ports, libraries, public cemeteries and more.
In Los Osos the CSD provides fire protection, water service to about half the town and maintains storm drainage and numerous other functions. It does not own or operate the community sewer that caused so much turmoil for so long. The County still handles that function.
