In April, I took my mother to French Hospital Medical Center. After filling out her intake forms, I was told by staff that a bed would be available for her within the hour. The emergency room was at full capacity. Making matters worse, patients were informed that Sierra Vista, the nearest hospital in town, was also at full capacity, but they wouldn’t have beds available for several hours. While I waited in the ER waiting room, a young woman arrived, complaining of severe pain in her lower back, which she described as pain similar to giving birth without an epidural. Because no beds were available for an hour and staff were overwhelmed at triage, staff had her lie on her back on a towel in the waiting room as she cried in pain for hours.
Once Mom was moved to an available bed, we struggled to find a nurse or a doctor to speak to. A young doctor working the afternoon ER shift was hurriedly buzzing from room to room, with a nurse assistant trailing him. Both men were trying to catch their breath. I asked the nurse, “What’s going on?” He told me of the perfect storm. Not enough doctors were available for patients to receive basic or preventative care. There was a doctor and nursing shortage at all nearby hospitals. Then, the nurse told me with whispered exasperation, “And many of us are unable to live here. Too expensive.”
Recently, we’ve learned about the various exploits of San Luis Obispo doctor David Levin, whose medical license was suspended. In a lawsuit filed against him, one of his former employees alleged Levin did meth in the office and engaged in sexual misconduct. More patients stepped forward to say they had similar encounters with Levin, with one patient begrudgingly admitting they came back to him because he was one of the only ear, nose, and throat doctors available for an appointment. This is part of an ongoing problem with health care in SLO County. Because there are few care providers, it can take months or even years to see one. Clearly there is a scarcity of quality providers residing here.
Our housing shortage in SLO County has serious real-world consequences.
Many with valuable skills and resources for residents are unable to secure housing. These are hard-working people with families looking to substantially contribute to our community in ways that will help us remain sustainable for generations to come. But they’re unable to get their foot in the door. Why is that? Housing supply is low, demand is high, and property owners are leveraging these circumstances by charging rent that’s more than 35 percent higher than the national average. And residents currently living in San Luis Obispo County are grappling with unfavorable economic conditions: high inflation, a lethargic job market, and increased fees and taxes.
So when we see elected officials like 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding showcasing a hyper fixation on killing the Dana Reserve project, a comprehensive and affordable housing project in Nipomo, that should give us all serious pause. It wasn’t enough for him to cast a vote against the project (“Unity must prevail,” May 23). Since then, Paulding has made it abundantly clear in op-eds and newsletters that he is staunchly opposed to a critical opportunity for families and seniors to find a place they can call home—all to appease donors and special interest groups. We still remember a former county supervisor who demonstrated similar tendencies.
Elected officials like Paulding shouldn’t prioritize job security over public safety. It shouldn’t take an act of political courage to support long-term housing solutions that will sustain and likely even improve county resources for our aging population and future generations of homeowners. Perhaps SLO County needs leadership that better represents Paulding’s own millennial generation than Paulding himself. Δ
Aaron Ochs writes from Morro Bay. Respond with an opinion piece of your own by emailing it to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Education Today 2024.
Anecdotal.
It is a leap in logic to conflate Pauldings lack of support of the Dana Reserve project with the lack of housing in SLO County for medical workers. For one, Paulding had good reason to vote against the project due to its environmental impct, as well as its impact on services, etc, which would actually compound the medical shortage problem in our county. The developer was asked to make changes to lesson the negative effect on these issues, which he didn’t do. And the whole issue of Pauldings culpability is now mute since the project was approved. So why the need to blast Paulding?
It was a leap in logic to conflat Pauldings lack of support of the Dana Presere project with the lack of housing in SLO County for medical workers. For one, Paulding had good reason to vote against the project due to its environmental impct, as well as its impact on services, etc. The developer was asked to make changes to lesson the negative effect on these issues, which he didn’t do. And the whole issue of Pauldings culpability is now mute since the project was approved. So why the need to blast Paulding?
Hi Jill,
The Dana Reserve Project went through an extensive public process, which included numerous revisions to the application as proposed by SLO County Planning & Building. The conversation isn’t as simple of a construct as what the applicant did or didn’t do. For the project to have moved so far along in the process, the applicant had to meet spec with County staff.
Every time any sort of housing development is proposed, there will always undoubtedly be environmental impacts, which the applicant is required to mitigate as much as they possibly can. No housing development will please everyone across the board, and that’s a fact. Some of us may wish we could have housing developments in the clouds like The Jetsons to avoid environmental impacts on land, but that’s not reality.
Unfortunately, Paulding’s culpability is not mute for a few reasons. The Nipomo Action Committee and the San Luis Obispo chapter of the California Native Plant Society have filed a lawsuit against the county to stop the Dana Reserve Project, based largely on comments made by Paulding when he cast his dissenting vote. A rather extensive public records request, made recently, shows that Paulding and his office have a rather cozy relationship with NAC that preceded his vote. And after his vote was taken, he has continued to publicly lambast the project, and has encouraged efforts to lobby San Luis Obispo Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) — all while there’s pending litigation against the county.
Supervisor Bruce Gibson voted against the project as well, but he left his vote on the table and moved along as elected officials should do.
This may be “anecdotal” for some people, but there are a lot of people on waiting lists for housing, according to People’s Self-Help Housing. This is a strong indicator that we’re simply not keeping up supply with increasing demand. We’re at a serious crossroads here that needs or immediate attention and commitment to resolving a crisis that has been years, if not decades, in the making. And it’s my opinion that Supervisor Paulding is simply not up to task to handle this issue.
Wow, that’s some leap from reality. The Tompkins proposal is light on affordable housing and heavy on housing for equity immigrants retiring from wealthy metropolitan areas. Supervisor Paulding supported the plan put forth by the community which would create more workforce and other housing for folks who already live and work here, and solve some of the biggest environmental issues, all while preserving enough of the highend homes for the developer to make a handsome profit. So while you accuse him of voting against workforce housing he was actually supporting more workforce housing than was proposed.
Also, I hope your mom’s doing well.
Housing affects so many sectors of our community, and medical care is one of the most pressing. I imagine many of us would be able to share a similar anecdote related to challenges in receiving primary care or accessing services. We need more housing as soon as possible.
As more projects come in front of our local city councils and the Board of Supervisors, we should all think of the rippling effects a housing shortage will have on our community.
At GenBuild, we support pro-housing politicians, and we will work actively to replace anti-housing politicians. We need five people on the dais who are willing to vote “yes” to making room for people of all income levels in SLO County.
Paulding aligned himself with the million-dollar home owning neighbors, and his vote won’t be forgotten. There was no viable alternative plan. That was a figment that Paulding tied himself to so he wouldn’t appear anti-housing. There weren’t two options on the table as another comment here would suggest: there was a choice between housing and no housing. And we know how Paulding voted.
Hi, it’s me again. I wanted to respond to Mr. Byrd’s comment as it’s inaccurate and outside of reality.
Mr. Byrd, please review the analysis released by the county on that alternative. Their plan was considered grossly infeasible, did not contain more affordability (it contained a lot less from both a total unit count and percentage of units), and cut down more trees per new home built. It was, simply put, a bad faith political smoke screen.
To say the Dana Reserve that has 156 deed restricted units, 383 multi family, 124 shared driveway starter homes, 100 adus, and 290 single family homes aimed at first time buyers WITH a down payment assistance program to be “light on affordable housing” is frustrating. To then say promoting a plan that will never be built to be “actually supporting more workforce housing than was proposed” is a perfect example of why we are in a housing crisis. It’s misinformation and disinformation and it’s a shame.
Mr. Byrd,
Not sure specifically where the leap from reality is. The reality is that the Dana Reserve Project has homes available for each income bracket, including 156 deed-restricted units for those with on low and fixed incomes. The proposed alternative plan actually has fewer homes available and fewer opportunities for families to get their foot in the door. While there are certainly highend homes as part of the project, those homes help subsidize the development of affordable homes. Housing developments should ideally have their own microeconomy where more expensive housing covers every other housing that’s being offered — because that way, fewer costs are passed down to prospective homeowners.
Sadly, my mother passed away last month. But I believe we could’ve extended her life had she gotten access to more primary care physicians and specialists that didn’t have long waitlists. If doctors and nurse practitioners are able to move here as opposed to simply being transferred over from one region to another, we’d have less of a strain on our health care system in SLO County.
Hope all is well with you.
Hi Aaron, I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. I understand how you would feel anger that overcrowding at the hospital ER led to her death because she didn’t get the treatment she needed in time. I developed sepsis two years ago and could have died if I hadn’t been treated quickly in the ER. I guess I was lucky.
Mr. Ochs, thank you for sharing this very personal experience. As the county develops a master plan on aging, it is important that decision makers understand the negative impact our housing crisis has on the medical profession and their services. My condolences to you and your family.