The truth about emergency services in Oceano 

A recent letter in New Times by Alyssa Hicks sought to tarnish Charles Varni as someone who, single handedly, was responsible for the failure of the Five Cities Fire Authority (FCFA) in Oceano ("Charles Varni is no good for Oceano," Sept. 12). Ridiculous on its face, most reasonable people saw through the manipulative rhetoric. Here are the facts:

The Five Cities Fire Authority (FCFA) was formed in 2010 between Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, and the Oceano Community Services District (OCSD). The promise was a new economy of scale which severely reduced administrative costs (e.g., one fire chief rather than three) and would deliver services more efficiently and cheaper. Surprise, in 2014, a mere four years into operations, the FCFA put a $66 a year tax initiative on the ballot for all three member agencies. Voters in the three cities rejected the tax with a 60 percent "no" vote, with even a higher percentage in Oceano.

Under Chief Steve Lieberman's leadership, the costs kept going up and up. The cities were able to keep up because they have general funds from which to pull more resources, which Oceano does not. OCSD's board started taking money from the district's facilities fund, using rental income generated by leasing the sheriff's substation to the county. That practice has stopped. However, the problem of a money shortfall was not solved, and OCSD went forward with its own poorly designed fire tax proposal.

Hundreds of voters opposed the regressive flat 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 inequitable tax but, with then board Directors Karen White, Linda Austin, and Shirley Gibson's leadership, the tax failed twice.

In February 2023, OCSD General Manager Will Clemens recommended that the OCSD divest its fire power because it could no longer pay the FCFA bills. He proposed the county take over responsibility. All OCSD directors (including Austin and Gibson) voted to support this approach. Thus, the divestiture process from the FCFA began and dragged on for months. Finally, in June 2024, after literally hundreds of hours of staff, attorney, and elected officials' work, a draft agreement was unanimously approved by the OCSD, the SLO County Board of Supervisors, the Grover Beach City Council, Arroyo Grande City Council, and the Five Cities Fire Authority board.

Shortly after that, Gibson proposed to abandon the agreement and put a new Oceano fire tax on the November 2024 ballot. This "Gibson Tax" would have torpedoed the entire divestiture process, created a fiscal disaster, wreaked havoc on emergency medical and fire services in Oceano, and solidified OCSD's image as a very troubled agency. In response to waves of criticism, Gibson finally dropped her dangerously flawed idea.

Director Varni helped create a fair and equitable emergency services agreement which, when divestiture is complete, will result in the county being responsible for emergency services in Oceano. To be sure, they will continue to take 96 percent of our property taxes, as has always been allocated to emergency services, to help pay for it, but we will no longer be responsible for the escalating costs ($1.8 million this year vs. $1.1 million last year) nor the skyrocketing retirement, health care, and other incidental costs associated with this service. Finally, the commonly expressed goal of all parties is to have the Oceano fire station operating full time in the near future. This would be a good thing for Oceano taxpayers. Δ

Beverly Joyce-Suneson is a member of the OCSD's board of directors. Email a response to [email protected].