After years of ignoring Oceano, State Parks Off-Highway Vehicle Division is distributing a flyer to Oceano homeowners with their water bills from the Oceano Community Services District. It advertises a survey about the Public Works Plan for the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (ODSVRA.) State Parks Director Armando Quintero and Deputy Secretary for Ocean and Coastal Policy Mark Gold promised a final draft of the Public Works Plan for the middle of December 2020. This survey was due three years ago, not a week before the deadline of the Public Works Plan. Clearly, State Parks again has no intention of completing any plan. Besides, the survey is highly flawed. Renters in Oceano do not receive water bills. How will they be notified of the survey? People with multiple email addresses can complete the survey multiple times. Residents of Chicago and Beijing using a local ZIP code can complete the survey, too. Some questions are openly biased: “What community do you live in?” Options include Santa Maria but not Nipomo. Obviously State Parks doesn’t want to hear Nipomo residents complain about the air pollution it causes. Other questions combine the State Vehicular Recreation Area and Pismo Beach so that people who visit only the vehicle-free beach and not the OHV end up supporting State Parks’ claim that millions of people visit the ODSVRA. This survey is unscientific and unreliable. We request a survey be conducted by a reputable, independent agency.
Lucia Casalinuovo
president
Oceano Beach Community Association
Note: This letter was edited to correct Mr. Gold’s official title.
This article appears in Dec 17-27, 2020.
The internet is not a reliable method of surveying anything. To get an unbiased opinion of residents of Oceano You need a random selection of everyone including those who do not have easy access to the internet. This would cost money and would improve reliability. Since those on the Nipomo Mesa are unduly impacted by the actions of OHV, they must be represented. Also, we need more scientific studies of airborne pollutants and their effect on various populations in the area. Without proof, many believe the businesses in the area would suffer from a loss of business. Many from the Valley bring their own food and gas up in the Valley where fuel prices are lower. Those who have to use our emergency services leave us with their bills. In the time of COVID is not an opportune time for any research.