With Grover Beach poised to make critical decisions on development and water supply, expertise in those avenues won San Luis Obispo County Senior Planner Claire Momberger a seat on the City Council.
“I’m an environmental scientist that spent most of my time looking into water resource management and water resource planning,” Momberger told City Council members on Oct. 13. “I’ve built a geophysics model representing a groundwater basin in our county and most of my adult life has been spent exploring, and researching, and thinking about these topics.”
The Grover Beach City Council was short one person after 3rd District Councilmember Kathy McCorry-Driscoll resigned in August because she moved away.
The remaining council members opted to fill her seat by appointment rather than going through a special election in March 2027, which would have cost around $330,000 and left the seat empty until then.
Momberger was one of three Grover Beach residents who appeared before the City Council on Oct. 13 for a public interview.
Council members posed the same three questions before Momberger, Santa Barbara County programming analyst Mark Moyes, and Realtor Bruce Carson—asking them to give an introduction, provide reasons for applying, and identify the most important issues facing the city.
Momberger named water resource resiliency and housing policy as top issues to tackle, while Moyes pointed to working on affordable housing, public safety, police and fire engagement, and infrastructure.
“Something more unique about me, … I drive for Uber at nights. I’ve driven thousands of people who either live here or visit the area,” Moyes said. “So, we talk a lot about road conditions, new construction, places to go and see, restaurants. … I’m very proud of our city and try to promote it as much as I can.”
Carson said fighting drought and managing civil discourse were top priorities.
“I feel there is a lack of communication between community and staff and the council,” Carson said. “I would like to bridge that gap.”
After the interviews, one resident urged the City Council to pick a candidate who would help Grover Beach move forward and not one who’s “under any undue influence of other groups.”
Ultimately, the council unanimously voted to appoint Momberger to the council, though Moyes was City Councilmember Clint Weirick’s top choice.
Mayor Kassi Dee encouraged Moyes and Carson to remain involved with the city and to apply to fill the vacant seat on the Citizen’s Oversight Commission.
Momberger is the fifth City Council member to be appointed in three years, after Zach Zimmerman, McCorry-Driscoll, Weirick, and most recently, Jules Tuggle. Momberger’s term runs through December 2028.
“I know it took me a solid year to come up to speed on housing and development code and all of that to be able to really feel effective in the conversation; I think that Claire brings with her that background and that makes her the strongest candidate at this point in time in our story,” Tuggle said at the meeting.
This article appears in Oct 15-22, 2026.
