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Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men. The former SLO County Board of Supervisors' conservative majority thought they were so smart using their power to vote in the so-called Patten map, a radical redistricting that partisan-gerrymandered our county to favor conservatives by guaranteeing them three of the five districts for the next decade.
But along came Jimmy "The Kid" Paulding, who blasted former 4th District Supervisor Lynn Compton right out of her dais seat. The new map also failed to account for 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson's slender 13-vote popularity over Bruce Jones. Oops! Lucky 13!
Now there's a new sheriff in town with a three-seat liberal majority, and one of their first orders of business is to undo the redrawn district map that gave them the majority. Is this a good idea? We'll see! The other possibility is exercising good governance for your new constituents so they vote you back in office, amirite? I know! Crazy talk!
Paulding, Gibson, and fellow liberal Dawn Ortiz-Legg of the 3rd District exercised their first power flex over minority members John Peschong of the 1st District and Debbie Arnold of the 5th District by voting to direct SLO County Counsel Rita Neal to engage in settlement talks with SLO Citizens for Good Government, who filed a lawsuit after the Patten map was voted in.
Whiplash much? Election codes say you can only redraw elections maps after a census ... except when there's a legal claim, so here we are. What will the new map do? Revert to the old map? Will some communities have to go another two years without representation as is currently happening in Los Osos, Oceano, Morro Bay, and parts of SLO Town? Will it impact the new board majority? More uncertainty is on tap for the county, and probably a new map for the 2024 elections. Will it be gerrymandered all to heck? Probably! Will a new group called Conservative Citizens for Really Great Government sue? Probably! Ah, democrazy!
And that's not all! Paulding took some time to outline his priorities as the newest member of the board at their Jan. 24 meeting, taking a page out of Compton's book to speak ad nauseum during the board meeting. Sometimes new sheriffs should let their actions, not their words, do the talking, but he had some important suggestions, such as lowering the county's campaign donation maximum from $25,000 to $4,900. Guess who voted for the 25K max back in 2020? Yes, the former conservative majority, who likes rich people to lavish their campaigns with loads of cash. In fact, Paulding and the new majority outlined a whole list of reversals, including taking one of Arnold's top budget priorities—road maintenance from discretionary spending—off the list.
"I'm so sad and sorry we're doing this," Arnold lamented. Oh, Debbie is sad. Frowny face.
The new board's list was so long, it agreed to have a special meeting on Sunday, Jan. 29. Peschong, whose head pretty much spun 360 degrees during Paulding's dissertation, promised to come after church. Bless his heart. Out, demons! Out!
And speaking of demons, it's time to contact the next of kin, Kin Coffee Bar that is. After years of rape and sexual assault allegations, former Kin owner Julian Contreras appears to be on the run. Hmm. That doesn't seem like the actions of an innocent man. If you know of his whereabouts, contact the SLO County Sheriff's Office.
His alleged partner in crime, Nathan Daniel Abate of Atascadero's Nate's Barber Shop, was arrested on Jan. 19 on charges of drugging and raping an intoxicated person and in another case of oral copulation with a minor. Sheesh, these two seem ripe for justice.
One of the women who accused the pair was Ashley Riddell, who told New Times, "For 10 years, it used to be incredibly frustrating. When I would tell people what happened, they'd be all, 'Yeah, I've heard this before.' I was new in town when I met them. Now, it's finally happening. There's a collective feeling, and I'm happy it will change. At least in the San Luis community, I don't think they [Abate and Contreras] can continue operating the way they have been."
Riddell's case may be too stale for the Sheriff and SLO County District Attorney to pursue. She believes, "They're focused on crimes against minors because the statute of limitations hasn't expired yet, I think. If anything comes up [in the court case] and they need me in court, I'm fully prepared to come through now that I'm an adult, and I've gone to therapy. I'd like to be there for the sentencing if it comes to that."
I admire her strength.
Meanwhile, Contreras is the in the wind, but a Sheriff's Office press release made clear, "Detectives also obtained an arrest warrant for Julian Contreras who is also accused of sexual assault charges stemming from the same investigation [as Abate's]. Detectives are actively attempting to locate Contreras."
When contacted by New Times regarding where they were searching and whether the warrant can expire, Sheriff's Office spokesperson Tony Cipolla said,
"We aren't able to comment at this time since that information is part of the investigative process. As far as the warrant itself, there is no expiration date."
You can't run forever.
The Shredder is watching! Sends tips to [email protected].
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