Oceano CSD manager resigns amid contentious meeting

Clemens did not “attempt” to hide the embezzlement/fraud, he did hide it with the cooperation of the OCSD attorney Jeff Minnery and at least two other Directors, Karen White and Shirley Gibson, and probably Linda Austin. He hid it for almost four months claiming he needed to gather evidence. That is the job of law enforcement and the District Attorney. Why did he cover it up? Because he is the chief financial officer of the OCSD and responsible for its honesty and safety. Given the sordid history of fraud and embezzlement at OCSD over the past 40 years, Clemens left accounting practices in place that lacked checks and balances, allowed single signatures on checks, and other shortcomings that ignored generally accepted bookkeeping practices. He was covering his ass and was assisted in doing so by our law firm and other Directors.

At the Oct 25, 2023 meeting I read into the record a long list of problematic practices and behaviors of the General Manager. He is retiring because he has no valid defense and simply seeks to blame me as the cause of OCSD problems. Similarly, the ex OCSD law firm is at great risk for malpractice claims when they participated in the suppression of embezzlement facts and never informed Directors Suneson or Varni during their first nine months of service. They never provided an update of the OCSD internal investigation other than one brief mention of it at the Nov 9, 2022 closed session meeting where the old Board gave Clemson a positive Performance Evaluation, a $25,000 raise, and a $195,000 severance package if he was fired without cause before Dec 31, 2023. It wasn’t until August 23, 2023 that the Directors received an update on the embezzlement and that was because Director Suneson and I reported it to the District Attorney. The cat was finally out of the bag. In response, Director Linda Austin referred to us a “tattle tales.”

Clemson’s narrative that the law firm quit because I and Director Suneson violated the Brown Act is a lie and simply a distraction from the truth of the law firm’s major errors in dealing with the facts of corruption (i.e.,not bringing it to the Directors immediately and recommending it be reported to the District Attorney). Remember this FACT: the law firm works for the Board of Directors and is responsible for informing and protecting the Directors and District from doing the wrong thing. The law firm does NOT represent the General Manager.

I am not the cause of any of this. I wasnt on the Board in November of 2022. I am the one pointing out the fact that the emperor has no clothes. I am sick and tired of a General Manger and District law firm using the Brown Act to stifle public awareness of what has been happening. That is not what the Brown Act is for and I have not once violated it. To his credit, current attorney Daniel Cheung has done his best to navigate these troubled waters, But he did not create the storm, he was simply the last attorney left in the rowboat.

I am still on the ship, the skies will be clearing, and OCSD will have a fresh start with a new General Manager and law firm. My personal hope is that civic and civil minded Oceanoans will step forward in support of positive changes, organizational transparency, and civil discourse.