San Simeon Community Services District: The zombie organization

June 24, 2026

Henry Krzciuk

OPINION by HANK KRZCIUK

San Simeon Community Services District perfectly fits the definition of a “zombie” organization. As of mid-2025, the San Simeon district has effectively been functioning as a shell entity, kept alive by external support, while it awaits formal dissolution.

This assessment matches the current reality in three specific ways:

It is on life support – county operation

Since mid- 2025, the district has effectively ceased to function as an independent body.

●   Who runs it: San Luis Obispo County Public Works has taken over day-to-day operations under a “CalWARN” emergency agreement.

●   The zombie factor: The district exists on paper, but it cannot perform its basic functions (water and wastewater management) without this external county intervention. It is currently in a holding pattern until it can be legally dissolved and converted into a County Service Area.

It has no head – leadership vacuum

The district lacks the executive leadership required to be a functional organization.

●   No general manager: Following mass resignations in July 2025, the district has been operating without a general manager. The remaining board members are forced to collectively “act” as the GM to approve basic expenditures.

●   Skeleton Crew: The Board of Directors, which should have five members, has dwindled to just three members. This is the bare minimum for a quorum; if one person is absent or resigns, the board literally cannot legally meet or vote.

It is walking dead – pending dissolution

The organization has already accepted its own end, but is stuck in the bureaucratic process of dying.

●   Vote to dissolve: The board officially voted to dissolve the district back in March 2024, admitting they could no longer operate due to financial insolvency and management failures.

●   The limbo: San Simeon is currently stuck in a long regulatory phase (LAFCO studies) to finalize the dissolution, meaning the zombie district must keep shuffling forward until the county can legally assume full ownership of the infrastructure. Zomble’s can bleed – $200,000 plus in study costs so far. LAFCO now sees it taking until the first quarter of 2028 for the San Simeon district to be put down for good – cleaning up the undead.

This zombie organization description highlights deficiencies in California’s laws. San Luis Obispo County has been doing the right thing by stepping in to assist the San Simeon community. LAFCO is mandated to perform an elaborate ritual that could rival the California Coastal Commission’s.

By the time LAFCO determines that the county can manage San Simeon services, the county will have been doing so efficiently for more than two years.

The study costs already exceed $200,000, with another year and a half to go. What happened to common business sense?