SLO County’s “love him or hate him,” Don Quixote-esque battler of the powers-that-be has gone to the big junk-strewn soberish ranch in the sky. Dan DeVaul—the founder of Sunny Acres, a controversial sober-living facility that has battled its neighbors, county government, and sometimes its own clients—reportedly passed away in a Virginia assisted care facility in March at the age of 82.
DeVaul’s legacy, and the ranch he left behind, remain mired in complications. When DeVaul started inviting SLO County’s unhoused and addicted community members to come sober up, live on his ranch, and work in exchange for room, board, and AA and NA meetings, neighbors in the upscale homes abutting his ranch grew concerned and started complaining to the county. The ranch was in an unincorporated area and not technically part of the city of San Luis Obispo. One vocal neighbor was then SLO City Councilmember Christine Mulholland, a relation of William Mulholland, the engineer who brought water to Los Angeles. She has a front-row view of Sunny Acres from her window.
The neighbors in this posh enclave watched the steady stream of new Sunny Acres residents—many, as it turned out, with criminal records—head onto the ranch, which was an eyesore, littered with DeVaul’s collection of rusted-out cars and other junk.
It was the Wild West next door! People were living in cars, tents, derelict RVs, a barn—none of it up to code for human habitation. SLO County Code Enforcement tried to force DeVaul to follow the rules, but he kept finding ways to circumvent them. He’d make some progress—eventually he hauled some junk away, for instance—but problems persisted and DeVaul continued to flout the law.
At one point, DeVaul got a local church college youth group to build a bunch of 8-by-10-foot garden sheds, bypassing the need for building permits since the structures were smaller than 10 by 12 feet. Then DeVaul “housed” two residents in each. Code Enforcement repeatedly warned DeVaul he was in violation and threatened fines and legal action, but in DeVaul’s mind, he was helping people the county had let slip through the cracks, so he shouldn’t have to follow the rules.
His “fuck yous” to the county were covered in both the Los Angeles Times and New York Times. He was something of a folk hero, but his eschewing of the law led to overcrowding and unpermitted septic and power systems that violated code. Evidence also suggested that the clean and sober facility was neither. It’s hard to keep that many addicts in check. And to top it off, DeVaul allegedly mistreated some residents.
I don’t know if that history of outlaw behavior is why Sunny Acres is now having such difficulty securing the $7 million Homekey+ grant managed by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) that it applied for to create a “health campus,” but it sounds like the messiness continues. DeVaul meant to help those in need, but the Sunny Acres facility he left behind seems unable to help itself.
Speaking of flouting the law, SLO County clerk-recorder candidate Vanessa Rozo has been accused of mixing business with politics. Hence, a county resident has filed an FPPC complaint against her saying she’s been promoting her Oceano business, N-Hance Wood Refinishing, on her election campaign Facebook account “Vanessa Rozo For SLO County Clerk-Recorder.”
“These posts appear to function as advertisements for a private business rather than campaign-related communications,” the March 27 complaint read. “Under California law, campaign funds and resources may not be used for personal purposes.”
I saw some screenshots of the alleged ads, and they’re clearly advertising her business’s services from her campaign page. The FPPC declined to comment on open cases. Until New Times reached out to Rozo for comments, she was unaware of the complaint and has since removed the posts. Oopsy daisy!
Is this a big deal? Well, one might hope that someone seeking to be in charge of local elections would know elections law. The complaint also named the SLO County Republican Party that endorses Rozo. Its chair, Randall Jordan, didn’t respond to New Times’ request for comment. Seeing as how tRump is trying to fiddle with the midterms and disenfranchise voters and undermine mail-in ballots, having a clerk-recorder we can trust seems pretty important.
Still, Rozo’s missteps seem small potatoes compared to Templeton scofflaw David Leader, who appears to be fully engaged in psychological warfare against his neighbors over a shared road easement. If the allegations are true, this dude is totally unhinged!
A little background: Leader—the recently appointed chair of the muckraking Templeton Area Advisory Group—was charged with 24 misdemeanor violations for vandalism, petty theft (he apparently swiped a neighbor’s surveillance camera), and violation of civil court restraining orders and criminal protective orders due to his alleged intimidation and harassment of said neighbors.
Gee, he seems nice. Leader was taken into custody on April 3 after a judge found he’d violated the restraining orders against him. He must be well-heeled because he posted $270,000 bail and was released that same evening around 8 p.m. According to neighbors, he immediately returned to his harassing behavior.
Dude! You’re a 70-year-old. Grow up! ∆
The Shredder is committed to the rule of law. Give it a gold star at shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in April 9-16, 2026.