“A new year and a new you” was the vibe at the Jan. 7 SLO County Board of Supervisors meeting as one new and two reelected board members were sworn in. It was all hugs and smiles and kumbaya, baby! It’s also like the board members collectively had their minds erased of all the vitriol, contentiousness, and rancor of their past battles over how to do the people’s business. Did y’all forget you fight like honey badgers sewn into a rucksack?
Outgoing 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold was grinning like a Cheshire cat knowing she was finally washing her hands of this shit show after three terms of service.
“It was a funny feeling coming in those doors for the last time after 12 years,” she noted, adding that her time in office “was the honor of my lifetime. I feel good about retiring and having this board take over all the county business. I know they’ll do a good job.”
Really? It’s still a liberal-leaning board, you know? But, hey, enjoy your retirement! At least you don’t have to get pilloried by yours truly anymore.
Third District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg presented Arnold with a fancy-schmancy commemorative plaque with a mounted gavel—then before Arnold was even off the dais with her goodbye bouquet of flowers, Ortiz-Legg swapped out Arnold’s nameplate with her own and took the center position as the new chair of the board. Incoming 5th District Supervisor Heather Moreno took Ortiz-Legg’s old seat, and the reshuffle was complete. Say hello to the new board, same as the old board.
“I want to welcome Heather Moreno to our board,” 4th District Supervisor and new Vice Chair Jimmy Paulding said. “I’m really excited to be working with you this year. I think there’re a lot of good things in store for SLO County.”
Kumbaya, my Lord. Kumbaya.
“I want to thank my colleagues for their vote of confidence and to work together,” Ortiz-Legg intoned solemnly. “It’s humbling and sobering to be an elected representative of the people in your own community. Of course, I want to acknowledge that this is the land of the Chumash—the original descendants of this incredible land where we live. I want to thank the citizens who entrusted their vote in me. I remain in the perpetual candidate mode of listening. District 3, that I represent, hosts some of the most magnificent assets, the most popular beach in the county, beautiful Avila Beach … .”
Blah, blah, blah, something about Edna Valley and the SLO County Airport yada-yada. Then the former PG&E employee brought up Diablo Canyon Power Plant, which she called “the lifeblood of our state’s clean energy” and characterized as “the robust, 24/7, safely operating plant sitting on our pristine and well-managed coastline.”
The supervisors might be all olive branches and open hands right now, but the county still faces all its same persistent problems from whether Diablo can operate safely into the future to homelessness to the cost of living to the environment to health care services and on and on.
But everything’s going to be just fine because Ortiz-Legg said she’s going to run the board with sweetness and light: “Disagree constructively and debate the policy, not the person. I hope we all work together, and we can help you achieve your dreams together.”
All our dreams are going to come true, people! Woo hoo!
Moreno was all-in on the cheerleading routine: “I commit to listening, to collaborating with my colleagues, to doing the people’s work, doing what you sent us here for, and we have a lot of challenges ahead. I look forward to tackling those.”
Realist 1st District Supervisor John Peschong thanked his constituents for putting up with him for another four years. He’s starting to grow on me. Very succinct.
Then it was 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson‘s turn to comment. Talk about a buzzkill!
“What’s ahead of us is uncertain,” he lectured. “We face unprecedented times … challenging. To me, I want to maintain an optimism—a positive outlook. The situation at the federal level is going to be … unsettled. That’s the most polite word that 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 being the most important level of government.”
Yep, there are a lot of gente quaking in their botas about what’s going to happen when you-know-who returns to the White House. Mass deportations? And you don’t even need to look Latino to be worried. More oil drilling? Tariffs raising prices? Reproductive rights? The social safety net? Who knows what’s going to “ripple” through California?
“These swearing-in ceremonies are always a tremendously hopeful time. It is the renewal of our democratic system, an expression of our democratic values. We celebrate here the peaceful transfer of authority. We’re early in the year,” Gibson quipped about the 15-minute-old board, “but so far things are going pretty well.”
Moreno guffawed heartily. Maybe her years as Atascadero mayor gave her the wisdom to recognize the board in its honeymoon phase. Δ
The Shredder is optimistic that the SLO County Board of Supervisors will offer plenty to shred this year. Tell it to sharpen its gears at shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Volunteers 2025.