Records and certain artifacts belonging to the History Center of San Luis Obispo County face a dusty shelf life in storage limbo.
It’s a consequence of SLO County stripping away a third of the History Center’s funding in an effort to close a $38 million budget gap for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
“We were the only organization in the county with a trained museum science professional,” center Executive Director Thomas Kessler said. “Our collections manager had a master’s degree in museum science. This is not a program that Cal Poly provides.”
Kessler worries about the resources now blocked to visitors of the city of SLO-based History Center, like researchers and the descendants of those to whom these prized objects once belonged.
Without a collections manager, Kessler and the remaining staff aren’t prepared to pull out—and possibly damage—delicate items like government records dating back to the founding of the county, the first county-commissioned hand-drawn map of the region, and artwork that used to hang in Ah Louis’ house.
“We have probably 100,000 photographs from all eras of the county,” Kessler said. “So, working on getting those digitized and searchable and findable, you know, that kind of work is being put on hold.”
The executive director remembers learning about the almost $108,000 budget cut only when the county released the proposed budget. He said he simply hit “control F” on his keyboard and searched for the History Center.
“Central Services includes a reduction of $107,433 in general fund support by discontinuing the annual subvention agreement with the History Center of San Luis Obispo,” the budget said.
For the first time in 45 years, the History Center isn’t included as an item for county funding.
When the Carnegie City Library became the Historical Society—now known as the History Center—in 1955, its historian was a county staff member. In 1980, the historian became a direct employee of the History Center instead, and the county agreed to provide funding for the full-time position.
The History Center and the county sealed this funding in a 20-year agreement in 1980, subsequently renewing it for another two decades in 2000.
“We’ve been the only countywide organization that looks at history,” Kessler said. “There are historical societies in the county that look at specific regions. We’re the only one that has a paid staff. For example, when Paso Robles or Cayucos had questions on what’s the best practice, … our collections manager would talk to them and go through that so that they had a better concept of what they were doing.”
The second 20-year agreement was terminated a few months early due to the onset of COVID-19. For the past five years, the county funded the full-time History Center position on a year-by-year basis.
Until now.
“The county doesn’t fund us entirely,” Kessler said. “We raise our own funds and are able to get by, but that extra third has been an enormous benefit for us. So, now that it’s gone, we’ve had to make some pretty serious decisions.”
Apart from having to let go of Collections Manager Brittany Webb, the History Center also removed its weekend managers, cutting the staff size from six to three employees. Kessler’s now the only full-time employee. While the History Center used to only close on Tuesdays, now it stays closed on Wednesdays as well.
“Nobody gave me a call to give me a heads up,” Kessler said. “I did meet with several of the supervisors sort of in advance to kind of make the case. They were all very understanding. But also, I don’t know how much they really understood what we do, why it’s of value, and how devastating this cut would be.”
Third District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg told New Times she didn’t meet with Kessler about the budget slash but said it’s important to her that the History Center receives funding.
“What I’ve been told is we’re trying to find ways to improve efficiencies to reduce overhead costs,” Ortiz-Legg said. “I don’t know of county staff who uses the services of the History Center, but for me, I know that the history that is stored there about the contributions made by the citizens over the last 100 years is really important.”
SLO County Budget Director Lisa Howe said that while preparing the budget proposal, staff prioritized services that were mandated by law or were essential to public health and safety.
County-funded programs like the History Center were slated for budget reductions after scrutinizing them with these priorities in mind, according to Howe.
Public health services were also impacted by the budget cut, with programs like the mental health evaluation team and the communicable disease and immunization clinic in Grover Beach being axed, among others.
After Kessler met with County Administrative Officer Matt Pontes to discuss the funding future and significance of the History Center, Howe said the county is in talks with the museum to better understand its total budget, staffing, operational expenses, and public access to historical materials.
“Fortunately, much of the county’s information has been digitally scanned and the county is reviewing materials to better understand which items still need preservation, scanning, and access,” she said.
The county also encouraged the History Center and all its local nonprofit partners to buttress their funding with private donations and corporate grants, and through building strong relations with community supporters.
The History Center already does these things. That’s how it raises the other two-thirds—around $200,000—of its funding every year. Some of the center’s supporters are the Mellon Foundation, the Chumash Foundation, California Humanities, and South County’s Bennet-Loomis Archives.
On Sept. 12 and 13, the History Center will host its annual fundraiser that also celebrates the local wine industry. The event will take place at Dallidet Adobe and Gardens followed by the Octagon Barn. For more information, visit event.auctria.com/d72cfc5e-0957-4992-95ea-50c1ed7d1035.
The city of SLO also helps by maintaining the History Center building that it also owns.
SLO had the option to pull the center’s lease—written up as a dollar a year—when the county funding agreement ended, but Kessler said it’s unlikely the city would do that.
“The county funding agreement included proviso that if the city revoked our lease, the funding agreement could be ended. The same way around, the county lease has a provision that if the county funding goes away, the city lease can be pulled,” he said. “We are doing the best we can to prove to the city that we deserve their trust to stay.” ∆
Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at brajagopal@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Sept 4-14, 2025.