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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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Another example of how messed up our county is run. I appreciate the work Cal Coast News does to expose poor leadership and corruption in local government. Hopefully it will clean up, and stay cleaned up.


8

Another 30,000 foot carpet bomb from Julie.


It is the difference between knowing the facility is being run poorly and assuming it is.

I don’t think she made the case that it is, only that she thinks he is overpaid.

Call me when the poop particles per million rise to unhealthy levels. Then we’ll know he isn’t doing the job.


-6

Koon was a very integral lead with the entire planning and build process for the new wastewater facility. This included but was not limited to working with multiple agencies, contractors, City of MB, and the board to save rate payers millions of dollars as evidenced by how the process in MB and other municipalities has unfolded. The land acquisitions/dealing with Chevron + Cal Trans, ocean outfall line rebuild, Land Conservancy, solar component, plant construction, and many other things would have been botched and/or had huge over runs with many other managers. This is not to say the district should ever be on auto pilot, but he has proven to be an effective asset, shouldn’t be kicked to the curb, and any future replacement should not only be well vetted but not be a cast off from the “industry” of “managers” as is so often seen in these sort of positions.


-3

So many people in their feeling down voting this comment lol. Logic and reason is out for the general public; feelings!!!!


4

Yes, there’s a big difference between still employing someone who did great work and hiring a random remote worker for a high salary. Koon was from the private sector which is why he excelled . Where is that MB city manager guy now who jumped on the aggressive band wagon to give Cayucos the shaft with the whole shared waste water project LMAO? He probably landed a similar job like the SLO Chief who left her glock on the toilet ….. There could easily come a day when a cheaper replacement could do the job, but IMO that should depend on what capital projects are on the table-


3

Having done it myself and having staff also doing it, there is a price that is paid for remote working. TEAMS no longer exist. That camaraderie that comes from one on one discussions in the hallway, lunching together, drinks after work..etc .it’s all lost!

Instead you have a group of individuals that can’t find a way to “buy in”.

Argue all you want but is a known fact that much is lost!


13

Julie thanks for exposing this abuse of taxpayer money. This overpaid bureaucrat is laughing his ass off. He belongs in the office DAILY!


15

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?


21

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.


24

Better yet, how about replacing the position with a laptop computer with access to AI? Much cheaper, no retirement plan to pay for, and would make better decisions. It’s getting to the point where bean counters are easier to replace than the people actually performing the work.


14

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.


31