A yr of disruption: From politics to power, 2022 pushed for change in SLO County | Information | San Luis Obispo

The battle for management of the SLO County Board of Supervisors is arguably the most important story of 2022. New district traces, allegations of voter fraud, poll recounts, and a fiercely contested 2nd District race all play a job in that struggle, which is now winding its method into 2023. However it’s not the one large story of the yr. Paul Flores was lastly convicted for the homicide of Kristin Good, Diablo Canyon is not closing anytime quickly, and Paso Robles voters rebelled towards their faculty board. Oceano misplaced one in all its advisory councils, secure parking websites abound, and Nipomo oak bushes may need to make method for 1,400 housing models. We cowl that and far more on this yr’s look again on the 12 months of reports that made up 2022.

—Camillia Lanham

An action-packed and transformative yr for San Luis Obispo County politics ended appropriately this month with one of many closest supervisor elections in county historical past—which, pending a recount, will lead to a brand new majority on the Board of Supervisors come 2023. The yr began off with a citizen group submitting a lawsuit towards SLO County alleging gerrymandering throughout its redistricting course of—claiming that supervisors shifted district traces in favor of Republicans. A movement to sideline the map for the 2022 elections was denied in February by an area decide after which the California Supreme Court docket. Regardless of the purported electoral benefit for conservatives, in June, left-leaning Arroyo Grande Metropolis Councilmember Jimmy Paulding defeated right-leaning incumbent Lynn Compton for the 4th District seat. Then, in November, veteran progressive Supervisor Bruce Gibson edged out conservative retired surgeon Bruce Jones for the 2nd District seat by a mere 13 votes. Following the liberal victories, one North County resident referred to as for consecutive recounts, its backers alleging potential fraud and demanding modifications to election processes. Getting into 2023, the Board of Supervisors’ new majority of Paulding, Gibson, and third District Supervisor Daybreak Ortiz-Legg is anticipated to steer the county and its insurance policies in a brand new course.

—Peter Johnson

Twenty-six years after Cal Poly scholar Kristin Good went lacking, a Salinas jury declared Paul Flores—reportedly the final individual to see Good—responsible of murdering her. Following a preliminary listening to final yr that took months to finish, the trial began this July in Monterey County with separate juries for Flores and his father, Ruben. New Instances spoke with Your Personal Yard podcaster Chris Lambert whose 2019 collection uncovered pivotal data beforehand unseen by the SLO County Sheriff’s Workplace. Lambert continued updating his podcast because the trial progressed. Within the ultimate verdict issued Oct. 18, Flores was convicted however Ruben wasn’t. The SLO County District Lawyer’s Workplace alleged that Ruben helped his son bury Good’s physique beneath his deck in Arroyo Grande the place it remained for years earlier than being relocated to an unknown location. Good’s stays are nonetheless lacking. Flores’ sentencing was postponed to March 10, 2023, however he is going through 25-years-to-life with out the potential for parole.

—Bulbul Rajagopal

Almost on the eve of its decommission, California lawmakers determined this yr that the state was really not able to give up Diablo Canyon Energy Plant. A late-hour push by Gov. Gavin Newsom and pro-nuclear leaders, like former native Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, resulted within the Legislature passing a legislation in September that lays the groundwork for extending operations at Diablo till 2030. Initially set to shut in 2024 and 2025, Newsom and others made the case that California shouldn’t be far sufficient alongside in growing renewable power sources to energy down its final nuclear plant and likewise hold the lights on. Report warmth waves over this yr’s Labor Day weekend underscored that concern, because the state got here near activating rolling brownouts for the second time in three summers. Per the Diablo laws, PG&E obtained a $1.4 billion forgivable mortgage from the state to bear preparations to maintain the Avila Seashore plant working one other 5 years, together with making use of with the federal authorities for license renewals. The extension shouldn’t be a finished deal, and what occurs in 2023 will probably decide the controversial plant’s destiny.

—Peter

The plan to position wind generators 34 miles off the coast of Morro Bay made regular progress in 2022, culminating with a federal lease sale that concluded in December. The sale auctioned off three areas close to Morro Bay and two close to Humboldt for offshore wind farms. Three corporations secured bids for the lease areas off the coast of Morro Bay, totaling round $425.6 million. Whereas many hope that the offshore wind power tasks might be one renewable power answer for California, not everybody views the undertaking via rose-colored glasses. Morro Bay fishermen really feel disenfranchised attributable to a lack of fishing grounds and what they see as a scarcity of ample compensation from the federal authorities. Environmentalists and members of the whale-watching business are fearful about what the massive floating generators may imply for whale migration within the space. Firms are nonetheless within the technique of negotiating their leases with the U.S. authorities, which ought to embody one thing referred to as a group advantages settlement—which may assist native residents and industries take care of the modifications an offshore wind farm may carry.

—Shwetha Sundarrajan

Protected parking websites for the homeless on Oklahoma Avenue and in Railroad Sq. confronted a laundry listing of issues in 2022. In February, Oklahoma Avenue witnessed a hearth that broke out in a parked RV, which killed a homeless girl. In April, a number of residents who parked on the SLO County-run web site instructed New Instances that they have been dissatisfied with the way in which this system was run. They complained about overcrowding, duplicated providers, lack of safety, insufficient psychological well being care, and the final absence of inexpensive housing within the county. In September, town of SLO declined to make the Railroad Sq. parking web site everlasting but attributable to complaints from companies within the space, property managers, and the county transportation company. Following a Homelessness Level in Time Depend and Survey that confirmed a 2 p.c lower in transiency in comparison with the earlier 2019 tally, the county adopted a five-year plan that goals to cut back homelessness by half. Now, the county is addressing the low variety of inexpensive housing choices by determining plans for a tiny home group close to the Oklahoma secure parking web site.

—Bulbul

Over the previous yr, the Paso Robles Joint Unified Faculty District’s board of trustees angered the group with choices that typically stemmed from nationwide politics. From passing a decision that might shield gender particular titles to requiring college students current dad or mum permission slips to hitch golf equipment, faculty board conferences this yr have been stuffed with indignant college students, dad and mom, and choices. Georgia Brown and Glen Speck elementaries are nonetheless enjoying musical colleges with college students and academics transferring from faculty campuses to short-term websites and vice versa. When election time rolled round, controversial board members Chris Arend, Frank Triggs, and Peter Byrne have been ousted from their positions by Jim Cogan, Sondra Williams, and Laurene McCoy. Residents additionally efficiently filed a petition to take away the varsity board member appointed to fill the remainder of Chris Bausch’s time period, Kenny Enney, after he posted transphobic and anti-LGBTQ statements on social media.

—Shwetha

As soon as on the high of the Central Coast hashish business, Helios Dayspring hit all-time low this yr, checking into federal jail for bribery and tax evasion. The founding father of Pure Therapeutic Middle obtained a 22-month sentence in Might, which he began in August at a correctional establishment in Mendota. Dayspring pleaded responsible in 2021 to bribing late SLO County Supervisor Adam Hill on a number of events throughout a number of years and defrauding the IRS out of tens of millions of {dollars} in earnings taxes. Fallout from the corruption scandal spilled into 2022. Dayspring’s girlfriend, Valnette Garcia, took the helm of Pure Therapeutic Middle, and the corporate sued town of SLO for rescinding its dispensary allow. A decide declined to reinstate the allow. As a part of that litigation, Dayspring claimed to have bankrolled SLO’s two present dispensaries, Megan’s Natural Market and SLOCal Roots. He alleged that these corporations didn’t correctly disclose that financing to town—a cost that SLO officers dismissed.

—Peter

The SLO County Board of Supervisors made historical past after they voted to “unrecognize” the Oceano Advisory Council in December. Established by a decision in 1991, the advisory council obtained recognition from then-supervisors in 1996. It is the primary time that the board has withdrawn certification from an advisory council. One in every of Oceano’s two advisory councils nonetheless has county recognition. The Oceano Advisory Council drew 4th District Supervisor Lynn Compton’s ire after she obtained a community-driven petition opposing the council’s method to a trip rental ordinance. Beforehand this yr, the advisory council additionally weighed in on renovating the Oceano airport. Its now-former chair, Charles Varni, efficiently ran within the common election for an Oceano Group Providers District (CSD) seat. The CSD additionally had an eventful yr, changing former board director Cynthia Replogle with Steve Montes and grappling with the way forward for hearth providers after space residents once more voted towards a tax to pay for it.

—Bulbul

A heated debate over housing and development erupted in Nipomo this yr because the Dana Reserve undertaking and its practically 1,300 housing models moved via the SLO County planning course of. Whereas proponents argued that the 10-neighborhood improvement represents a much-needed enhance in housing provide, skeptics pointed to a draft environmental influence report (EIR) launched in June that discovered main impacts, together with the destruction of hundreds of oak bushes and an exacerbated housing/jobs imbalance in Nipomo. Opposition to the undertaking constructed over the yr, with greater than 2,000 folks signing a petition to cease it. Developer Nick Tompkins promised he would construct moderately priced housing and improve the group’s infrastructure. SLO County has but to launch a ultimate EIR for the undertaking.

—Peter

Dan DeVaul’s Los Osos Valley Street nonprofit restoration program referred to as Sunny Acres has threaded SLO County’s cloth since 2002. However during the last decade, DeVaul’s relations with the county soured following myriad code violation notices that have been slapped on the property attributable to mismanagement. With a brand new set of notices in place, Sunny Acres is now break up in two, with DeVaul on one aspect and program individuals on the opposite working the restoration area on leased land. Whereas the 2 teams spar for management over each the property and administration of this system, the county eyes the property for potential receivership. DeVaul can also be battling a labor lawsuit filed by some individuals who allege improper pay and insufficient relaxation.

—Bulbul

With a fresh-faced Metropolis Council to face the brand new yr, Morro Bay residents modified out their decision-makers in 2022 following issues over a proposed lithium ion battery storage facility and debate about learn how to greatest pay for wanted harbor infrastructure enhancements. Information of a hearth on the Moss Touchdown lithium battery storage facility earlier this yr put Morro Bay residents on edge over plans to place one thing just like place of town’s iconic smokestacks. Proposed by Texas-based power firm Vistra, proponents of the battery storage facility say that it might be essential in sustaining {the electrical} grid as soon as Diablo Canyon Energy Plant shuts down. In November’s election, residents voted down a tax measure that might have paid to refurbished battered seawalls and deteriorating pilings and changed incumbent mayor John Headding with native enterprise proprietor Carla Wixom. The town now has an all feminine metropolis council, that includes new council members Cyndee Edwards and Robin “Zara” Landrum.

—Shwetha

Turning its airport right into a spaceport and permitting leisure marijuana inside metropolis limits are methods Paso Robles may diversify town’s present wine and tourism industries. This yr, metropolis officers pushed to make the Paso Robles Municipal Airport a spot the place area jets may take off horizontally, Cal Poly college students may launch their miniature satellites, and a technological enterprise park may accompany the brand new business. The town is working with college students to submit its Federal Aviation Administration Spaceport license by Aug. 23, 2023. Paso Robles can also be debating a change to its hashish rules, which at present solely enable a restricted variety of medical marijuana supply dispensaries to exist inside metropolis limits. Leisure hashish storefronts have the potential to herald practically 1,000,000 {dollars} in income yearly for town. Δ

—Shwetha