A bad idea 

The July 4 story in New Times about Oceano's fire services ("OCSD discusses opposition to transferring Oceano's fire services to county") contains a disastrous new tax proposal that I disagree with so wholeheartedly that it's hard to know where to start.

Director Shirley Gibson's proposal to abandon the negotiated agreement for emergency medical and fire services between SLO County and the OCSD would be an absolute disaster. The "Gibson tax" would torpedo an agreement negotiated by myself, Director Linda Austin, and previous interim General Manager Paavo Ogren. This agreement was approved by all the OCSD's board directors, including Gibson; the county Board of Supervisors, the Grover Beach City Council, Arroyo Grande City Council, and the Five Cities Fire Authority (FCFA). Hundreds of staff hours went into this process, and Supervisor Jimmy Paulding worked hard with his fellow supervisors to make it happen.

The consequence of OCSD bailing from the contract would be an immediate loss of emergency medical and fire services in Oceano. The county would have no option but to rely on the Nipomo Mesa Cal Fire station to fill the gap in services, if Cal Fire would even agree to a contract. In the meantime, the OCSD would be required to pay monthly fees to FCFA for services, and these funds would be quickly depleted.

The two previous tax measures to fund firefighting failed because they were poorly designed and lacked sufficient public support. Hundreds of voters opposed the tax because it was demonstratively unfair, taxing every property owner $180 whether they owned a small single-family home, a 20-unit apartment complex, or a 10,000-square-foot business. Many members of the public warned the OCSD's board not to proceed with such an unfair tax but, with then Director Karen White and Gibson's "leadership," they marched down the same road twice and failed both times.

For Karen White to claim I am responsible for the fire tax defeat is clearly her search for someone to scapegoat for her own failures, which cost Oceano residents hundreds of thousands of dollars. The irony is that, even if these tax measures passed, it still wouldn't have generated enough money.

With the OCSD emergency medical and fire services divestiture, local residents can continue to receive the level of service they have for the past many years, and the county will be responsible.

White's claim that we "lost" the fire station makes no sense. With the county and FCFA responsible for these services, they of course want ownership of the fire station. White ignores the fact that FCFA's goal is to upgrade and fully staff the Oceano station for full-time service in our community. She also omits that the county is doing a new master plan for emergency medical and fire services which will include South County.

The Gibson tax totally ignores the above, as well as the fact that the county, just as it has for decades, will continue to fund local fire services with our property taxes, public facility taxes, tourist taxes, airport fees, and the more than $2 million it gets from county RV campgrounds it operates in Oceano. Gibson's statement that, "We will also lose over 96 percent of our property taxes that will all go to the county to cover our fire protection" is simply wrong. The county has taken those tax monies for decades. Nothing has changed. I am surprised the New Times reporter did not include my comments in response to Gibson's prevarication or, in the least, fact check her assertion.

Finally, there is no time to put such a tax measure on the ballot for November, and it would need a majority vote of the OCSD board to do so, which is very unlikely. To call a special election would cost the district more than $100,000 plus more thousands for our staff to do the organizational work necessary. It would be a bad faith insult to everyone who worked hard and compromised to create an agreement that everyone could live with. Director Gibson's tax proposal for Oceano residents is a very bad idea for locals and the entire South County. Δ

Charles Varni writes to New Times from Oceano. Write a response for publication by emailing it to [email protected].