Year in Review: SLO County is still recovering from 2023, starting with the historic damage wrought by January's storms 

[{
    "name": "Newsletter Promo",
    "id": "NewsletterPromo",
    "class": "inlineCenter",
    "insertPoint": "4",
    "component": "15264767",
    "requiredCountToDisplay": "0"
    },{
    "name": "Ad - Medium Rectangle CC01 - 300x250",
    "id": "AdMediumRectangleCC01300x250",
    "class": "inlineCenter",
    "insertPoint": "8",
    "component": "2963441",
    "requiredCountToDisplay": "12"
    },{
    "name": "Ad - Medium Rectangle LC01 - 300x250",
    "id": "AdMediumRectangleCC01300x250",
    "class": "inlineCenter",
    "insertPoint": "18",
    "component": "2963441",
    "requiredCountToDisplay": "22"
    },{
    "name": "Ad - Medium Rectangle LC09 - 300x250",
    "id": "AdMediumRectangleLC09300x250",
    "class": "inlineCenter",
    "insertPoint": "28",
    "component": "3252660",
    "requiredCountToDisplay": "32"
    }]

January kicked us off with a rush of floodwater, and the rain didn't stop until April. Certain areas of San Luis Obispo County are still dealing with the ramifications from all that water and concerned about what the rainy season ahead has in store. The tension that started the year continued throughout 2023, with fights over housing development, LGBTQ-plus issues, racism, clean energy storage, parking, and water. While we don't have the space to cover everything that happened in 2023, here are some of the highlights!

Record-breaking storms hit SLO County

Torrential atmospheric rivers nailed SLO County in January and March, inundating neighborhoods in the cities of San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Cambria, and Arroyo Grande, with floodwater and causing millions of dollars in damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure. A water basin above the Vista Court neighborhood in Los Osos failed on Jan. 9, sending mud and debris into about 20 homes, rendering some unlivable. The Arroyo Grande Creek Levee also failed, flooding farm fields and homes in the low-lying areas of Oceano. Water and debris wiped out several roads in the rural areas of the county, including Chimney Rock Road near Lake Nacimiento, stranding residents for weeks. A rising San Miguel Creek swept away 5-year-old Kyle Doan on Jan. 9, as his mother was attempting to rescue him from their stuck vehicle, and at least two others died in SLO County as a result of the storms. President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in SLO County and several other California counties, making residents, businesses, and governments eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance. However, recovery efforts are ongoing, not all residents received the assistance they needed to repair their homes, and county and city governments are still waiting for some repair projects to receive FEMA funding approval. In October, Kyle Doan's parents sued the county, the city of Paso Robles, and Caltrans for negligence, dangerous condition of public property, failure to warn, and wrongful death among other allegations. The lawsuit mentioned that the boy is presumed dead. Oceano residents Pat and Vicki Cardoza also filed a lawsuit against the county for general negligence and property damage stemming from the Arroyo Grande Creek levee failure. They allege that their property flooded because the county mismanaged the Arroyo Grande Creek Flood Control Channel.

—New Times staff

SLO County Board of Supervisors undoes the past

The momentous change in the makeup of the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors at the end of 2022 marked a sea change in policymaking. The liberal majority comprising 2nd, 3rd, and 4th District Supervisors Bruce Gibson, Dawn Ortiz-Legg, and Jimmy Paulding, respectively, overturned significant actions of the previous board. They authorized a court settlement between the SLO County Citizens for Good Government and the League of Women Voters which sued the county to stop the allegedly gerrymandered Patten map from being implemented. The decision repealed the Patten map—which served as the blueprint for the 2022 elections—and adopted a redistricting map similar SLO County's previous iteration. The board also turned back the clock on individual campaign contributions, reducing the cap from $25,000 to $5,000 per contributor. Supervisors also eased regulations in the county's cannabis ordinance and voted to rejoin the Integrated Waste Management Authority two years after the county pulled out to manage solid and hazardous waste programs on its own.

—Bulbul Rajagopal

Racism, anti-LGBTQ sentiment

Overt racism reared its head in SLO County during 2023, most visibly in the form of antisemitic and racist fliers distributed in some residential areas from a group called the Blackshirts and masked men who held up white pride banners in random areas of the county, including along the Vineyard Drive overpass in Templeton. It sparked backlash from some county residents, who counterprotested and called for the SLO County Board of Supervisors to take action. In a 3-2 vote, with 1st District Supervisor John Peschong and 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold dissenting, the board passed a resolution condemning racism in June. A couple of weeks later, the board voted along similar lines to express support for the county's LGBTQ-plus community following growing anti-trans sentiment and clashes at government meetings across the county over Pride month and the Pride flag—including at Arroyo Grande City Council, Board of Supervisors, and Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board meetings. Moms for Liberty's local chapter clashed with LGBTQ-plus supporters over the right of an Atascadero teacher to display a Pride flag in her classroom. The local chapter's co-founder, Templeton school board member Jennifer Grinager, faced accusations that she used her board position to attempt to ban transgender students from using their preferred restrooms. Many, including LGBTQ-plus student advocate Doug Heumann, have called for increased education to provide a more welcoming environment for all people.

—Adrian Vincent Rosas

The Dana Reserve development debate

The largest proposed housing development in SLO County in 25 years had a two-day public hearing in October, receiving SLO County Planning Commission approval to head for another hearing before the Board of Supervisors. The Dana Reserve aims to develop a 288-acre community in Nipomo with up to 1,318 residential units, 203,000 square feet of recreation, a shopping center, grocery store, a South County Cuesta College campus, and parks. However, many local community members have opposed the project from the beginning, lamenting the impact it will have on the South County community as well as the environmental damage cutting down more 3,000 oak trees to make room for development will have. Project supporters say the development will bring needed affordable housing to the county. Cuesta College President Jill Stearns has been a vocal supporter of the project, announcing during the Planning Commission meeting that Cuesta College supports the housing development. However, Cuesta's staff felt differently, voting to oppose the project during their Oct. 27 academic senate meeting. The project will go in front of the Board of Supervisors in 2024.

—Samantha Herrera

The battle over Gibson's seat

Barely five days after the final 2022 election count showed incumbent 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson ahead of his opponent Bruce Jones by 13 votes last December, San Miguel resident Darcia Stebbens requested a recount. The outcome of that recount showed that the election was tallied correctly, and Stebbens is now embroiled in a trial over money she refuses to pay the SLO County-Clerk Recorder's Office for costs incurred during the recount. Gibson continues to face challenges to retaining his seat. The Committee to Support the Recall of Supervisor Bruce Gibson led by one of his former primary opponents, John Whitworth, served Gibson a notice of intention to remove him from office. The recall attempt failed once already because the committee missed a deadline, but the committee started over again, putting the recall attempt back in motion.

—Bulbul

Tension in the Paso Robles school district

The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District started the year with a special election in which ousted board member Kenney Enney beat out Angela Hollander to take his seat back on the school board. At the end of 2022, residents rallied to kick Enney off the board after he made anti-trans statements in a Facebook post. Current district Superintendent Curt Dubost is set to retire at the end of the 2023-24 school year. He said the board has struggled with political tension and indecision as it dealt with culture war issues such as student gender and Pride flag policies, right-wing talking points that impacted decisions such as whether to approved high school chemistry textbooks, and what to do in the face of declining enrollment. The board is still undecided about the fate of Georgia Brown Elementary School and its dual immersion program. After years of back-and-forth over whether to close the school, the district's attempt to renovate the campus fell through when a "seismic anomaly" was discovered beneath the school, blocking construction from moving forward. A committee will investigate all the options before recommending a path forward to the board.

—Adrian

Shelter and parking sites for the homeless

Almost two years after its rocky start, the Oklahoma Avenue safe parking site shuttered its doors to new homeless participants in 2023. Riddled with bungled communication; poor management; and safety, security, and sanitation issues, the SLO County Board of Supervisors confirmed in May that the site was on its way to permanent closure. The city of San Luis Obispo also closed its safe parking site at Railroad Square and has had trouble starting a replacement program due to neighborhood pushback. The Arroyo Grande City Council discussed a local safe parking ordinance but was unable to secure a commitment from preferred social services provider 5Cities Homeless Coalition, due to what the nonprofit said was its commitment to other programs on the South Coast. The 5Cities Homeless Coalition opened its Cabins for Change temporary housing program at the beginning of 2023 with the help of SLO County and Grover Beach. Starting with 20 shelters, the nonprofit has plans to build additional shelters on a new site in Grover Beach. The SLO County Board of Supervisors concluded its last meeting of the year by redeclaring a shelter crisis. It relaxes rules around building and health standards so that more emergency accommodations can be set up on county-owned land to meet the rising level of homelessness.

—Bulbul

Oceano Community Services District dysfunction

Starting off the year with two new board members, Charles Varni and Beverly Joyce-Suneson, tensions immediately began to rise on the Oceano Community Services District (OCSD) board after General Manager Will Clemens said board members should take turns in leadership roles through a rotation system. Shortly after, directors Varni, Joyce-Suneson, and Allene Villa requested $19,500 from the OCSD general fund reserve to create a Parks and Recreation Committee. Directors Shirley Gibson and Linda Austin disapproved due to the fact the OCSD still didn't have the money to pay for fire services because the OCSD's voters opted out of paying more taxes to fund fire services. While the district parted ways with Five Cities Fire Authority in June, it continued to provide emergency services to residents in the area through the end of the year, but what agency will provide emergency services in the future is uncertain. After a blow up over alleged embezzlement by a former OCSD employee, the district's legal counsel quit and Clemens announced he was going to retire at the end of the year "because this new board direction lacks clarity." During an October board meeting, community members blamed Varni for ruining the OCSD and creating a toxic environment that prompted both the general manager and legal counsel to resign. Varni felt physically threatened by one community member and called 911, however the sheriff never arrived to answer his call. The year ended with a change in board leadership—Varni as board president—and an interim general manager with a familiar face—former OCSD General Manager Paavo Ogren.

—Samantha

SLO increases cost for parking

The city of SLO doubled its downtown parking rates in July to $4 an hour to raise enough revenue to cover a $47 million loan that's expected to build a fourth parking garage in the area. The move prompted several community members—both residents and store owners—to speak out, claiming that rising parking fees were pushing out downtown businesses and visitors. By November, the SLO City Council partially relieved parking costs. Now, the first hour of parking in structures is free and so is parking in structures on Sundays through June 30, 2025.

—Bulbul

Morro Bay battles over battery storage

Morro Bay will vote on a ballot measure in 2024 that could impact a future battery storage facility, thanks to the Citizens for Estero Bay Preservation. The group of city residents rallied against the development of a battery storage facility slated for land currently occupied by the city's decommissioned power plant. Concerned over what group members say is the risk of lithium-ion battery fires that could threaten nearby residents and Morro Bay High School attendees, they gathered signatures for an initiative that aims to prevent City Council from making development decisions in the area without putting it before the city's registered voters. If it passes in the next election, the initiative would effectively block any construction on the decommissioned power plant property without a public vote.

—Adrian

Central Coast Blue

The Central Coast Blue water recycling project began finalizing plans in 2023, after spending many years in the planning stages, and met pushback from some residents. The project, a cost-sharing agreement with Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, and Arroyo Grande, aims to protect the Santa Maria Valley Groundwater Basin from seawater intrusion and drought by injecting it with treated wastewater. Among the three cities, Pismo Beach is considered the lead agency. Pismo City Manager Jorge Garcia said that the cities want to ensure that their communities have a reliable water source to draw from in future years. However, some Grover Beach residents criticized the project due to city water and wastewater rates that will rise 20 percent to help fund it after the originally proposed cost of $55 million shot up to $93 million. Central Coast Blue Regional Water Authority project General Manager Geoff English said the project cost increased due to inflation. Thus far, about $32 million of the project will be covered by grants with the three cities splitting the remaining costs based on how much of the project's output they will use.

—Samantha

Trials and tribulations

In March, more than two decades after 19-year-old Kristen Smart went missing from Cal Poly, convicted prime suspect Paul Flores was sentenced to serve 25 years to life in a state prison. In April, a 22-year-old murder case came to a close when a jury unanimously found Morro Strand State Beach visitor Stephen Deflaun guilty of killing neighboring campground tourist Stephen Wells and his nephew Jerry Rios, Jr. in 2001. By the end of the year, a former SLO County supervisor who committed suicide in 2020 again returned to the public view in connection with corruption. The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Ryan Wright, formerly Ryan Petetit, for bribing former 3rd District Supervisor Adam Hill with money and gifts totaling more than $95,000 in exchange for the county official easing the way for his development projects. Wright faces 35 years behind federal bars if convicted. Δ

—Bulbul