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Charles Varni is not the right fit for Oceano

September 25, 2024

 

Editor’s note: CalCoastNews erred when it put Adam Verdin’s name as the author, he did not ghost write the following opinion, written by Alyssa Hicks. A supporter of Charlie Varni’s, who was removed years ago as a commenter on our Facebook page because of posting misinformation about people who do not support Varni. She has again posted inaccurate information to help her political allies on social media about the author.

OPINION by ALYSSA HICKS

As election season approaches, political figures often tout their accomplishments while sidestepping their controversial or divisive actions. I’m writing to remind the community of Oceano about Charles Varni’s troubling record as president of the Oceano Community Services District (OCSD).

Varni was a vocal supporter of annexing Oceano to Grover Beach, one of only two OCSD board members to vote in favor of spending taxpayer dollars on a feasibility study—despite overwhelming opposition from our community.

When Oceano residents expressed their concerns at an OCSD board meeting, Varni insultingly dismissed us as “know-nothings” and “anti-democratic,” even suggesting we weren’t the “real” voice of Oceano. As a lifelong resident, I found his words deeply offensive and heartbreaking. How could someone elected to represent our community treat us with such disdain?

Sadly, this wasn’t an isolated incident. When the OCSD staff and community rallied to support then-General Manager Will Clemens, Varni stooped to name-calling again, referring to us as “dogs” who came at the behest of Director Linda Austin.

Such derogatory remarks have no place in public service, especially toward the very people who elected him.

His inappropriate behavior extends beyond the community. Varni has made baseless accusations against OCSD staff. In emails to the current General Manager, Mr. Brown, Varni accused staff members Mr. Marrichino and Ms. Casciola of lying about the electricity at the new community plaza. When asked for evidence, Varni had none and quickly backtracked.

These kinds of accusations damage trust and morale within our local government.

It’s no surprise that multiple complaints have been filed against Varni by OCSD employees with their union, SEIU. His behavior has led to speculation that several staff members may resign if he’s re-elected, which would be a significant loss for Oceano.

Oceano deserves leaders who respect their constituents and work collaboratively with their colleagues and staff. Charles Varni’s track record shows he is not that leader.


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Dagnabbit now im all fired up!! Some advice for paulding… dump varni and lose that 3ce sippy cup at ur reelection harvest booth. thats what we like to call a scam!! 3ce costs more money and you have to pay money to get out of their snake oil. also, hiding comments about varni misdeeds on your facebook aint a good look brotha, at least gotta be transparent!!!! bruh


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Paulding endorsed varni which is next level dumb cuz draping himself with the craziest elected in south county doesnt help varni and hurts paulding. No wonder paulding has started campaigning two yrs early with a little booth set up at the harvest festival this weekend! Maybe ease up on the campaigning jimmy and get our fire station back that your buddy varni made go away. Annexation was even worse!! No one even wanted it bruh, grover didnt and we sure didnt either!! Paulding tried to shove it down our throats without even asking us if we wanted it. and he used varni as his little hammer!!! very funny that paulding now says it wasnt his idea even tho he pushed it! bad idea from a green politician. Get a better hammer jimmy!!! HAAHAHAH


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I’m not a big fan of Charles Varni, but there was nothing wrong with exploring the pros and cons of annexing with Grover Beach. In fact, at the time it made a lot of sense to explore the concept. Fortunately, thanks to the tireless work of Jimmy Paulding, who consistently Works to help Oceano, more so than any other county supervisor ever has, annexation with Grover Beach it’s no longer seen as crucial and providing Oceano with proper emergency services.

On the other hand, Charles Varni’s effort to close the Oceano airport are misguided, particularly because having a local airport will likely be a huge benefit when airborne drone delivery systems ramp up throughout the country. The airport could very well end up being a very valuable drone port and staging area for delivery and arrival of drone shipments, both domestic and international. Also, the current airport location is in a floodplain, and it would be courting disaster to build either homes or businesses on that location. Ocean level rise will also will also exacerbate flooding in the area in the years to come.


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Fact: Varni DID promote the idea of annexation. He published a minimum of 6 post on his nextdoor account regarding the merger with Oceano, where many comments on his posts were against the merge. Those who commented were not only residents of Oceano but also residents of Grover Beach. He repeatedly said that Oceano would be the lead agency for this process and that he would “propose agendizing this topic for every OCSD meeting until such time it is concluded”, this is a direct quote from a comment he made in response to a News Times article.  

Fact: 85% of the community that showed up to the meeting, got up and clearly said “no” as well as three directors voted no. That is not an anti-democratic process if residents came and spoke out and asked that the district not spend funds to pursue any merger with Grover beach. Also the direct quote from the Dave Congilton show is, “Linda’s bully posse that she can blow her dog whistle and call them up to come out of the woodwork”. You are literally referring to the people as dogs, who comes for a dog whistle Charles? DOGS! In any matter, you are an elected official who should never speak about the residents of a town they represent in such a way. This was not a heat of the moment but a planned out radio show.

Fact: There are multiple emails, one of which is up on nextdoor where he basically calls the two mentioned staff liars, when the General manager asked him to provide proof, do backtracked and then said he had no physical proof. In the email up on nextdoor, he tells general manager Peter brown that “Tony does not make policy, and I think he is carrying some water”. When looking up what carrying some water means, it means “someone occupies a subservient position, to do the bidding, the menial tasks, and frequently the dirty work of a more powerful person.” I am sorry but that is not a very great thing to say about someone.

Fact: Yes, there were atleast 2 complaints regarding Varni last year. It was even mentioned in a meeting by April Dury who brought up that staff had a meeting with previous President Villa, staff and their union rep regarding Varni. There was also a complaint filed when Varni tried to put the Social Media policy through on a board meeting when there was no general manager. This was done with no notification to the union regarding the staff policy change. The union only found out when contacted by staff.

Also there are meetings with proof of this, nextdoor postings, article comments and many many emails from his official director email address. 


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Someone should check on the OCSD staff and perhaps inquire with them about how they feel about their current work environment and job satisfaction. A staffer leaving in less than two years could mean a variety of things, but it wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that the turmoil of the Board and ever-changing legal counsel and general managers have to be a challenge and may be the reason others follow suit. And, if you’re paying close enough, you’ll recall that staff, with SEIU support, did sit down with the former Board President to share their concerns and complaints regarding Director Varni. Watch the Board Meeting replays, folks…you’ll glean a lot, even fast-forwarding to any time Mr. Varni is speaking. The touting of civility, yet the blatant refusal to silence the distractions from attendees. Banging his fist on the dais, silencing other Directors, proclaiming that staff is there to serve him, and more. Wow. There are a lot of layers to peel away on that onion, and we’ve not even gotten to actual OCSD business. Hopefully, OCSD can secure new legal counsel, fill their staff vacancy, and come out ok on the other side. Good luck.


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Alyssa Hicks is a political propagandist who has little regard for actual facts and is repeatedly shown to be wrong, but yet she and ghost write Adam Verdin persist in spreading their big lies and mudslinging, desperately hoping some sticks.


FACT: I never promoted Oceano being annexed into Grover Beach but rather suggested that maybe it was time to look at the concept again, as it had been in previous years. This was because Oceano could not pay for its emergency and fire services nor was its basic infrastructure needs being addressed by the County (that is now changing with Supervisor Paulding). I made a motion to have the OCSD GM have an informal discussion with Grover Beach’s Administrator and report back to the Directors. I specifically stated I did not have an opinion on the idea but was interested in gathering more information. No feasibility study was ever proposed. Hicks is wrong again.


FACT: A Nextdoor survey showed approximately 70% of respondents wanted to get more information on the topic. The public commenters at the OCSD meeting were 85% against getting any information or having further discussion and did not represent a cross section of the community. Many of the participants were aggressive, interrupting, personally attacking Directors, and intimidating anyone who did not agree with them. I was deeply offended by the lack of basic civility demonstrated by members of the audience the lack of order in the meeting. The climate was definitely “anti-democratic” which was of major concern to me. I never referred to members of the public as “dogs.” I did use the term “dog whistle” which was my mistake in a heated moment.


FACT: I treat staff with courtesy and civility and have never experienced one complaint about my behavior. Hicks combs through hundreds of my personal emails to try and find something she can spin into some grievous criticism. When she can’t find any, she makes it up. I never referred to any staff as liars and the email was simply reporting my memory of past conversations about the topic electricity in the new plaza.


FACT: There has never been one complaint about me from any employee, whether in the Union or not, as verified to me by our attorney. NEVER! Hicks and Verdin are simply lying.


I don’t enjoy getting into the mud with liars and manipulators but these are egregious allegations that require a truthful challenge. Hicks has no credibility among those for whom the truth still matters.


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He also wants to shut down a private airport because he thinks it’s racist towards Latinos.


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Not a total surprise then after reading this article that the OCSD is going to be down an employee and is in the process of looking for a new one. Employment – Oceano Community Services District (specialdistrict.org). I am shocked that more of the employees have not given notice. I cannot see how anyone could vote for a person who has said things like this about his own community members as well as the staff that work for the agency they are supposed to represent. This is very concerning and disgusting behavior for an elected official.


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