Is next year the year that transportation dreams come true for you, San Luis Obispo County?
The eight ball is in front of us, and we haven’t been able to catch it, thanks to a minority of voters who didn’t support a half-cent sales tax measure in 2016 and cities that wanted to put their own tax measures on the 2024 ballot.
In 2023, the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments found that the county was $2 billion short when it comes to the road, highway, multi-modal, and public transportation projects it wanted to complete by 2045. James Worthley, who was then SLOCOG’s planning director and is now the organization’s deputy director, said that some projects are delayed by decades “because there’s not enough money.”
There’s never enough money, amirite?
“Local governments must … either generate revenues to expand our system and maintain our investments or watch the system degrade and endanger the health, economy, welfare, and safety of all San Luis Obispo County residents,” the committee that put together the transportation plan said in 2023. “A new funding stream for transportation is needed that is not controlled by the state or federal government and is not tied to the antiquated gas tax.”
In 2016, Worthley argued that the county’s often outcompeted for grants by other counties that have self-help tax measures in place—and he’s still making that argument today.
But, 10 years ago, the Central Coast Taxpayer’s Association, led by Jordan Cunningham (who won his Assembly campaign that year) and then Andrea Seastrand (who was and still is a former Assembly member and U.S. Rep.) had something to say about a half-cent sales tax. The association blamed a lack of transportation funding on the state Legislature and a “failed bureaucracy.”
“The solution is not more taxes,” Seastrand said in 2016. “It’s putting rigorous state safeguards in place to ensure the money collected for transportation goes to fix our roads.”
Turns out, we lost out on at least $225 million in revenue that could have been used to better SLO County’s transportation infrastructure and leverage state transportation funds into paying for gigantic projects—such as fixing the snarl of cars that fills Highway 101 at the Route 46 exit. And I don’t see any “safeguards” in place other than a requirement that if we want state transportation dollars, we need to prove we’re willing to pitch in and prioritize those kinds of projects.
Measure J needed two-thirds of voters to support it in 2016 and received just shy of that number. And in the last 10 years, the counties that surround us have capitalized on state dollars while we’ve been twiddling our thumbs.
Turns out, in order to get help, we need to help ourselves.
At least, that’s the familiar refrain that Worthley is singing as SLOCOG mulls over the potential of placing a half-cent sales tax measure on the 2026 ballot.
Santa Cruz County brings in $25 million a year with its transportation tax. Monterey brings in $35 million. Santa Barbara, nearly $50 million. It could be $35 million here, but no dice!
If the proposed tax measure makes it through all the hoops and approvals, gets placed on the ballot, and passes, that 101/46 interchange is a high priority, Worthley said.
If not: The “status quo” would get worse, he said.
The status quo in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District is definitely getting worse. In mid-December, the district’s school board had to make a decision that hurt and cut $5 million from next year’s school budget.
That includes cuts to the music budget that so many were so upset about. And earlier this year, so many were upset about other cuts the district was trying to decide upon—including reducing the number of school counselors and cutting the transitional kindergarten program.
In addition to being upset about the $100,000 getting sliced out of the music budget, residents voiced concerns about dicing up hours for school librarians and impacts to English-learner programs. All of the cuts suck. And all of the programs are important, but the district’s in a budget bind and it doesn’t have that many options.
While I do feel for the district, I don’t feel sorry for district board member Marilyn Rodger. She took issue with the outpouring of letters from students who will be impacted by the music budget cuts.
Students complained about broken instruments being held together with hair ties.
“It’s hard for me to conceive that a large group of students came to the same decision about verbiage,” she said at the Dec. 16 meeting. “I think there was an effort to try to frighten kids into thinking we weren’t going to have band.”
Attendees responded with the requisite boos and by calling her a liar. Nice!
“You feel that I’m disrespectful, pardon me? I’ve sat her for four hours and listened,” Rodger said.
Pardon me!
You were elected to sit there and listen for four hours, ma’am. Nobody forced you to run for office. It’s your job to hear the people.
And that’s quite an accusation to make against students. Is it so hard to believe that hair ties are being used to keep instruments together when repairs cost so much money and the program is on a shoestring budget?
How rude. ∆
The Shredder is paid to be rude! Send zingers to shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Dec 25, 2025 – Jan 1, 2026.
The dollar declined 11% in 2025 against a basket of currencies.
Gold is exploding.
2026 will be much worse.
Fly
“Yes, the U.S. dollar significantly declined in the first half of 2025, losing nearly 11% against a basket of major currencies, its worst performance in decades due to policy uncertainty, fiscal concerns, and shifting global investment flows away from dollar-denominated assets. Factors included concerns about U.S. debt, tariffs, and the Federal Reserve’s policy direction, though the dollar saw some recovery in July but remained under pressure. ”
Wow, DECADES? No jobs created since Cheeto’s “liberation day” ,I think maybe Cheeto is a “good businessman”?
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Donald Trump’s personal wealth has increased significantly, primarily driven by cryptocurrency ventures and a rebound in his business holdings.
While exact figures vary by source, the following estimates have been reported for 2025:
Total Net Worth Increase: Trump’s net worth reportedly rose by approximately $3 billion over the past year, reaching an estimated $7.3 billion by September 2025.
WELL AT LEAST HIS GRIFTING IS WORKING FOR HIM, EVEN IF NOT US
The dollar is collapsing, the US is toast. Global depression incoming. I’m spending every last dollar I have on actual, physical commodities and storing them in my storage locker. You can get 16oz containers of Folgers instant coffee for $10.99 until January 7. Costco has 1.75 liter jugs of Kirkland tequila for about $23. Alcohol as an infinite shelf life and freeze dried coffee can last decades. During a Depression, cigarettes, alcohol, and coffee are worth their weight in gold. Each one of these items, I’m guessing, within the next 2 years will go up at least 4x or 5x. The whole economy is about to go under. If I were you, stockpile as much as you can. You might make a hefty profit. I don’t even drink alcohol.
Jon:
While you point fingers at one man, your wasting the time you should be using to prep for collapse. Debt is driving national policy, not the other way around. I scored (another) killer Panasonic bread machine on Craigslist for a measly $5.00 the other day. Stoked.
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
We’ll see who gets the last laugh. Speaking of analogies, I think the “3 Little Pigs” is more accurate. All of you laughing at me have built your houses out of straw. I just stacked 12 more, 16oz jars of instant coffee today. It’s an insane deal at Costco for $10.99 each. Each jar makes between 360 to 420 cups of coffee. If we just call it 380 cups, at $2.00 each, that’s close to 6 grand per jar. When hyperinflation hits (soon), $2.00 for a good cup of coffee will seem like a deal. Next, I’m loading up on 1.75 liter bottles of Costco tequila for $23.00 each. Why tequila? Because it’s imported. Vodka is made from potatoes, which entire US states produce at scale. Tequila is made a Mexican cactus and relatively limited. It will be worth it’s weight in gold. I’m going to fill my storage locker with all of it while it’s still cheap.
$9,120 for all the 12 jars of coffee, per cup. Not bad for a $100 investment.
Defense spending is accelerating economic collapse, as well as foreign central banks dumping their Treasury notes and our central bank having to raise the yield on Treasuries it wants to sell, as well as CRE needing to be refinanced in 2026 for CRE that has collapsed in value due to working from home and corporate bankruptcies or downsizing, and the dollar being printed into oblivion. China has a trillion dollar trade surplus, lol.
The US is done for, we are going nowhere but down.
Not really sure why more people aren’t prepping, unlike the Great Depression, we can see this coming. The people at the top certainly see it coming. The CEOs of the top companies are selling tens of billions of dollars of shares in their own companiesand hoarding cash. Foreign central banks are buying gold instead of treasuries. We are toast in 2026. I’m doing what I can, and I’m poor by American standards. I’m buying things that can be sold for 4x or 5x and just building a small war chest by stacking them in my storage locker. A small investment now could save you very shortly. There will be mass unemployment and or underemployment. I’m not panicking, I’m being prudent. The Treasury can’t sell T Bills other than to the Fed, lol.
The United States is in a debt spiral, prove me wrong.