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Should the Cayucos Sanitary District manager live in California?

December 17, 2024

Julie Tacker

OPINION by JULIE TACKER

As we close out 2024 and look ahead to 2025, Cayucos Sanitary District is planning to renew its employment contract with District Manager Rick Koon. Not only is Koon the highest paid special district manager in San Luis Obispo County, he is the only district administrator working remotely because he lives outside of California.

Cayucos Sanitary District provides just wastewater service and has a garbage franchise for approximately 3,000 homes in the tiny seaside town.

Originally, Koon worked as a contractor for the district, but when California began requiring independent contractors to become employees, the district hired him full time at $216,000 annually, twenty days a year of vacation, plus a healthy package of fringe benefits.

At the time the position was tailored to him and tasked with two roles: district manager and capital projects manager until the $25 million wastewater treatment plant was complete, then the district would have the right to initiate negotiations to revise and adjust the salary and number of hours worked to reflect only the district manager duties and responsibilities.

The ribbon cutting for the new wastewater treatment plant was held on Sept. 14, 2021.

Even so, subsequent employee performance reviews did not reflect a change of Koon’s duties nor a commensurate reduction in salary. In fact, Koon has received several healthy bumps in pay over these last few years. The most recent number available from the State Controller’s Office pegs Koon’s salary at $241,271 with $32,526 in benefits.

Weirdly, it has come to light that Koon has built a retirement home out of state and has been working remotely for several months.

He attends work and board meetings through online meeting platforms and is “supervising” his staff from across state lines through his phone. It’s been months since he was in Cayucos. Yet, district financials reflect he receives a steady paycheck.

Kudos to the staff for holding down the fort, but shame on the board for failing to reduce Koon’s salary several years ago when the wastewater plant was deemed complete and failing to require he be available, in person, within some respectable response time.

Julie Tacker is a life-long San Luis Obispo County resident and local government watchdog.

 


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Because Employees are required to be on call, they must live within 15 minutes of the office. How many board member meetings are held? They get paid for each meeting. Does he get paid extra for those? Even if it’s a ZOOM meeting?


8

He may be on to something, setting an example for others to follow? Not only can the District Manager live outside of California, maybe one could be seated that resides in India, the Philippines or somewhere that provides excellent management and affordable cost to the ratepayers? There are many management jobs that can be funded abroad, right? The jobs we need here are purposeful ones that require a skill set that can be learned at a community college and maybe bring back the tech support jobs to our homeland.


7

A drop in the bucket of the government types who are quietly vacationing/retiring and still collecting a full paycheck. How dare we expect them to actually go into the office.


16