SLO County CSD board member abruptly steps down due to ‘toxic atmosphere’

A long-simmering feud between San Simeon Services District board members and the district’s general manager came to a head April 3 when one of the directors suddenly stepped down.

Gwen Kellas, a current board member and past board president, left the post because of an environment she found “toxic, harassing and demeaning,” she said in her letter of resignation.

Kellas’s departure, effective immediately, leaves the board with a potential 2-2 vote split and a host of important decisions to make about water quality, the location of the San Simeon wastewater treatment plant and other issues.

She’s not the only person to step down from a prominent district position recently.

San Simeon CSD director Daniel de la Rosa has resigned April 4 from the district’s budget committee.

His resignation letter was originally posted in the board’s April 11 meeting agenda, but was later removed because it was a “confidential personnel matter,” according to board member Michael Donahue.

De la Rosa, who works pro bono as a director rather than taking the monthly stipend, said by phone Tuesday that he, too, is on the verge of resigning from the board and that he wants the community to know why.

In his resignation letter, De La Rosa accused the district of lack of due process and “discriminatory and exclusionary practices” against Latino committee members.

“I don’t think I can work there any more, and will probably resign in the next day or two,” he told The Tribune. “(I) find myself just fighting now, no purpose in that. That’s why I’m going to bail.”

Citizen volunteer Miguel Sandoval resigned from the CSD budget committee on April 3.

“The committee is not transparent, and (I) cannot work with that environment,” Sandoval said in his resignation letter, which was also removed from the agenda packet.

Kathy Fry, the bookkeeper for the San Simeon CSD, resigned from that post in late March, effective April 27.

San Simeon CSD to seek new director

Kellas was appointed to the board to fill a vacancy in October 2017, serving the community she found five years earlier and describes as her “piece of paradise.”

Her resignation was to have been discussed during the San Simeon CSD board’s meeting on Tuesday evening.

However, that meeting was canceled about three hours before it was scheduled to start.

According to an email sent at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, the meeting was canceled “at the direction of the chairperson,” although no specific reason was given.

According to a district staff report, the board must notify San Luis Obispo County elections officials of the vacancy by April 8, and then either appoint someone to the post by June 2 or by call for an election.

Finding a candidate to fill the position may be difficult.

The tiny seaside community of San Simeon, which staddles Highway 1, has slightly more than 400 residents, about 185 voters and five separate voting areas. A candidate or director must live in an area to represent it.

In 2022, only three candidates ran in the San Simeon CSD race, meaning that Michael Donahue, Jacqueline Diamond and Karina K. Tiwana secured their seats on the board months ahead of the November election.

Why is district board member resigning?

In her letter of resignation, Kellas said that her decision to step down was motivated by the environment surrounding the board.

“For several years now, being on the board means surviving in a toxic, harassing and demeaning atmosphere all perpetuated by a local resident, a non-resident and their few followers,” Kellas wrote in the letter, although she did not name those people directly.

“It is why there has been such a high turnover of district directors,” she continued. “As it has become evident, and as was pointed out to me by other residents, this toxic atmosphere now appears to be supported by other board members, too.”

“I cannot continue to support my community by being on this CSD board,” Kellas added. “My time and effort supporting my community will be better used elsewhere.”

Kellas stopped short of identifying her critics.

However, two people — Los Osos resident Julie Tacke and San Simeon resident Henry Krzcuik — have been at the forefront of expressing their concerns about the actions of Kellas and the other board members directly to agencies such as the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office and the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

The Fair Political Practices Commission has investigated possible conflicts of interest by Kellas when discussing or voting on a project with an aspect that’s within about 200 feet from her home.

The state commission told Kellas that she may not take part in those discussions.

The district has also seen the cancellation of grants, the filing of civil charges and the levying of fines.