Ballots have dropped, early voting is underway, and Nov. 5 is just a couple of weeks away. If you are a Grover Beach registered voter, we urge you to vote no on the recall of Grover Beach City Councilmember Dan Rushing and no on Measure G-24. We are three Grover Beach mayors—one current (Karen Bright) and two former (Jeff Lee and Steve Lieberman)—representing 32 years of community service as council members, and we have always had faith that Grover Beach voters will do the right thing for our amazing community.
Here are some reminders on what has happened before:
Since its incorporation in 1959, Grover Beach has been a city of potential, a beachside community that is evolving and advancing as a city that celebrates the charm of good people, great parks and activities, access to the beach, and a growing restaurant scene.
Together we have built a city that has moved forward with street repairs, improved services, events such as the summer concert series, and city leadership that has expanded community engagement and listened to the majority of voices throughout the city.
Sadly, a group of people led by Debbie Peterson, a former mayor who sowed disruption and division during her short two-year term, has stepped forward to keep Grover Beach down. We don’t agree with their philosophy, their approach, or their tactics. Many times, they are disrespectful of the council, staff, and other members of the public. Now that their disrespect has been pointed out and noticed by the rest of the community, they claim to be hurt and misunderstood. The truth apparently hurts.
Several members of the group have been regular commenters at City Council meetings throughout the last decade and have found common angst in Grover Beach not being the community they remember. It is a form of NIMBYism that grows from being unwilling to change or to accept that well-considered change can only make a community stronger. For instance, when Measure K-14—the “Fix our Streets” initiative—was accepted and passed by the community, these people continued to rail against the progress, property value increase, and pride that repaired streets brought to the community. When it came to supporting Measure K-14, the only seated council member who didn’t support the grassroots committee with her time or money was, … you guessed it, Peterson. Instead, she chose to not play well with others and misrepresented the measure. Many will also remember that, among other things, she attempted to manipulate the Air Pollution Control District for her own devices, even stating on a local radio show that people on the Mesa are “not dying fast enough.”
Fortunately, she lost that election in 2014 and took her disruptive approach with her. But she left behind damaged relationships with several regional agencies that needed to be rebuilt and reestablished. You may remember that she damaged the South SLO County Sanitation District using a scorched earth policy rather than actually governing. While it was true that changes needed to be made, her approach created an atmosphere of distrust between Grover Beach, Arroyo Grande, and Oceano that is still being mended today.
When Peterson came back onto the council in 2016, she had lost her way and her energy and realized that the city had passed her by. So after losing the 2018 mayoral election, she quit the City Council and “ran away” to her home in Hawaii, which she still has.
That brings us back to this year’s election—this group of people is trying to take down a good person—Councilmember Dan Rushing because they want to disrupt the progress that the city is making and want to take the city backward. And they want to create the possibility of a broken water and sewer system while also slowing down the progress of street repairs through their vindictive support of the unnecessary G-24 measure. From what we have heard, Peterson was more concerned about how Central Coast Blue would impact her vacation rental than anything else.
Additionally, if you are watching recent events, Peterson is trying to make the city clerk an elected official, just the latest in a line of shortsighted attempts to distract voters, businesses, and visitors from the positive things that Grover Beach has to offer. If their current effort succeeds, it will lead to your tax dollars being used to pay for required special elections (at least $300,000 each) and again damaging relationships—all for petty vindictiveness and a bad look for someone who claims to champion the taxpayer. We, as a community, need to send a message that one person leading a group of good but somewhat misguided individuals will not be allowed to disrupt our progress.
We continue to see and believe in the fulfilled promise and the potential that is Grover Beach. We need to stand together and send a strong message that the silent majority does have a voice. Please join us in voting no on the recall, no on G-24, and no on Peterson for mayor. Δ
Jeff Lee, Karen Bright, and Steve Lieberman have all served as Grover Beach’s mayor. Send comments for publication to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 17-27, 2024.