After three terms in office, San Luis Obispo County 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold smoothly transitioned into retirement while former Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno assumed the seat as her successor.
“It was a funny feeling coming in those doors for the last time after 12 years where we worked up here … on this dais several times a week,” Arnold announced at the Jan. 7 swearing-in ceremony. “It was the honor of my lifetime.”
The longtime conservative supervisor who represented parts of North County chose not to run for reelection. Arnold’s tenure was marked by her championing of fair water use from the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin; her approval of the controversial and allegedly gerrymandered Patten map; and most recently, being the deciding vote that prevented SLO County from taking the first step of the eminent domain process to bridge the Bob Jones Trail.
Arnold’s decision to retire paved the way for Moreno and Atascadero City Council member Susan Funk to compete for the supervisorial role. Moreno clinched victory during the March primary election by grabbing 56.4 percent of the vote share.
She assumed the dais after being sworn in alongside incumbents 1st District Supervisor John Peschong and 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg who retained their positions without competition.
Moreno told the crowd watching the ceremony that she’s ready to do the “people’s work” in the face of challenges ahead.
“Whenever I’ve been asked to speak to students … I would ask them as mayor of Atascadero, ‘Who do you think my boss is?'” she said. “Maybe one of the adults in the room says, ‘Maybe, it’s us.’ It’s all of you, and you know that.”
With former Board Chair Arnold’s exit and Moreno’s entry, Ortiz-Legg assumed the rotating role of chair for the calendar year and 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding became vice chair. Meanwhile, in Atascadero, former City Council member Charles Bourbeau is the new mayor after he ran unopposed for Moreno’s vacant seat.
Second District Supervisor Bruce Gibson concluded the ceremony by contrasting the nation’s “uncertain” political climate ahead thanks to President Donald Trump’s reelection with “optimism” within county government. The swearing-in ceremonies, he added, are always a tremendously hopeful time.
“The situation at the federal level is going to be unsettled,” he said. “That’s the most polite word I can summon to describe it, and there’s going to be ripple effects into the state. But I am absolutely convinced and committed to service at the local level as being the most important level of government and also one that provides extraordinary opportunity.”
The newly formed Board of Supervisors will re-convene for its first official meeting at the Katcho Achadjian Government Center on Jan. 14 at 9 a.m. Δ
This article appears in Volunteers 2025.