Deputy neglected his duty by ignoring 911 calls at SLO County meeting, investigation found

John Lynch
·2 min read
3

A San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office commander was reassigned after an investigation found he neglected his duties by not responding to 911 calls from an October Oceano Community Services District meeting.

At the Oct. 25 Oceano CSD meeting, tensions reached a fever pitch as meeting attendees shouted over directors, who traded insults over a variety of subjects including alleged Brown Act violations, illegal water and sewer connections and the handling of an embezzlement investigation.

In an Oct. 29 email to San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson and Supervisors Jimmy Paulding and Dawn Ortiz-Legg that was shared with The Tribune, Director Charles Varni said he felt concerned for his safety after Ron Gibson, husband of Director Shirley Gibson, threatened him during public comment.

According to Varni’s email, after Rod Gibson spoke at around 6:43 p.m. and used his time to “berate and threaten” Varni, he then approached the dais while the meeting was in recess.

Varni said Ron Gibson ignored his requests to back off, so he dialed 911 at 6:45 p.m., he said at the time.

However, there was no Sheriff’s Office intervention or response to his or three other 911 calls made from the meeting because Oceano Station Commander Keith Scott had a nonpartisan civilian observer in the room, assessing whether the situation called for a response, Varni said.

In an email to The Tribune, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Tony Cipolla said the Sheriff’s Office does not have any policy regarding the use of unaffiliated civilian observers.

After receiving a civilian complaint from Los Osos resident Julie Tacker, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office Professional Standards Unit opened an investigation, Cipolla said.

“After a thorough investigation, the complaint has been sustained,” Professional Standards Unit Commander Trevor McKim wrote in a response to Tacker shared with The Tribune. “This means that the allegation of neglect of duty was found true by the Sheriff’s Office.”

In his response to Tacker, McKim said that because peace officer records are considered confidential, he could not say what disciplinary action would be taken, if any.

Scott was reassigned to another division and replaced by Commander Ian Doughty in early November, Tacker told The Tribune in an email.

Cipolla said the reassignment was unrelated to the investigation or 911 calls.

“The Sheriff’s Office does not transfer managers for disciplinary reasons,” Cipolla said. “Transfers are conducted to facilitate the needs of the Sheriff’s Office.”