I’m not 100 percent sure why neither 4th District Supervisor Lynn Compton nor 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold chose to speak out against one of their people asking whether SLO County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong was a member of the Chinese Communist Party.
And that is literally the absolute least they could do in the situation SLO County currently finds itself in—losing a trustworthy, unbiased election official in part because of the accusations their party’s members made against him. People accused him of being corrupt, fraudulent, and more at a May Board of Supervisors meeting. And now he’s leaving crazy-town. Can I come, too?
Do Arnold and Compton believe the accusations? Or are they scared of the conspiracist crazies who make up the North County wing of the party they love? If elections are so fraudulent, why haven’t we been able to get rid of these two yet?
Compton, who won her last election by the length of exactly one of her long blond hairs, didn’t have anything terrible to say about Gong or his staff after a carefully observed, highly publicized count of the votes in the 2018 election put her ahead of Jimmy Paulding by just 60 votes. Seems like a pretty transparent and fair election process to me. Seems like she should definitely support an elections official for a job well done—at least enough to tell someone accusing him of being a communist to shove it.
But she’s got nothing. For someone who can speak 10,000 words per minute when she really gets going, Compton is unusually quiet when it comes to pushing back against her people when they step out of line. Just like when her Planning Commissioner and Nipomo “Citizen of the Year” Jim Harrison resigned from his appointed post after being called out for Facebook posts where he compared Democrats to Nazis and said Islam should be banned in the U.S. Compton said Zip. Zilch. Nada.
And Arnold is just as wishy-washy as ever when it comes to pushing back against the allegations conservatives made against Gong. Have you ever noticed when she feels stuck she tries to tiptoe around an issue? It’s mumble bumble time. She told The Tribune she “didn’t want to speak against concerns expressed at the meeting.”
Why?! What bright-line are you tiptoeing around by not saying, “No, actually, Gong isn’t a member of the Chinese Communist Party”?
Now, we have to watch as the Board of Supervisors appoints Gong’s replacement. Something the conservative majority is going to manhandle like they always do, turning a position that’s supposed to be fair and unbiased into a politically charged nightmare.
Which is exactly what the Arroyo Grande City Council did with the Central Coast Blue water project. Like a bunch of children throwing a temper-tantrum, the council pulled out of the project because the other two cities that have been involved in the project—Grover Beach and Pismo Beach—didn’t immediately acquiesce to its demands.
Instead, like adults, Grover and Pismo wanted to have a public meeting to discuss those demands, which included renegotiating a shared operating agreement for the $85 million wastewater treatment project that would supplement the region’s water supply. The two cities also proposed that two city council members from each city work together in ongoing discussions about the project.
Arroyo Grande isn’t interested in having adult discussions! And council members decided not to allocate another cent to the project until the city gets its way.
“I feel like they haven’t heard us at all,” Mayor Caren Ray Russom said at the June 8 Arroyo Grande City Council meeting. “It underscored that we don’t get input.”
I feel like the whole interaction just underscores that the Arroyo Grande City Council isn’t interested in figuring out how to come to some sort of amenable solution. Council members have turned something that’s been in the works for years and is meant to ensure water security into a political project.
Unsurprisingly, Pismo Beach Mayor Ed Waage was not happy.
“Our request for a public meeting of all three councils to work through issues in a transparent manner was denied,” Waage said. “The water security of our region should not be an exercise in political debate.”
What he really meant was: “Grow up!”
You know who else needs to grow up? Oceano. For such a little town, it’s got so much drama! And guess who’s comfortably stuck in the middle of it? Compton, who I assure you had plenty to say about Oceano apparently needing two advisory committees.
For an unincorporated town of around 7,500 people, it sure has a lot of advising needs. Now, the little town that can’t stay out of trouble has a conservative advising committee and a liberal advising committee—both of which are supposed to “advise” Compton on the town’s needs and wants.
Businesses and pro-off-roading enthusiasts in the community didn’t feel represented on the existing advisory committee, so they formed their own—even though the existing committee had openings and was inviting people to join. I guess these underrepresented folks weren’t interested in having open discussions with people who disagree with them, so they formed their own committee!
That’s the answer: If you can’t agree with them, separate from them! At least that’s Arroyo Grande’s motto. Must be a South County thing? Δ
The Shredder never wants to grow up. Send comments to shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Food & Drink 2021.
There is no need for you or this publication to reiterate hate. Shame on you. Instead of repeating hate generated by others, why not simply raise a glass to thank Mr. Gong for his years of terrific service.
I agree with the Shredder that the Arroyo Grande City Councili has lost its way. Under Alt Left liberals Caren Ray Rossum and Jimmy Paulding, the AG City Council has veered to the dangerous far left, and now we see the city residents hurt by their overly-idealogical decisions. We are in another drought, and the Central Coast Blue Water project deserved their support.
In the next election, voters need to remember the poor job performance ofCaren Ray Rossum, Jimmy Paulding, and Heidi Harmon, these are alt left politicians who inject their extreme views on the rest of us, and, as we see here, working families in our communities have had their needs ignored so these three can please their partisan handlers. Arroyo Grande should immediately join the Central Coast Blue Water project for the betterment of our community!
As an aside, I think it’s a stretch to hold two elected county supervisors responsible for the resignation of another elected politician, and SLO County Clerk Recorder Tommy Gong was in discussions to resign his position long before the May board of supervisors meeting. As most people know, Tommy Gong was identified in a criminal case last year when his wife, Sherry Gong, was arrested and accused of embezzlement. She latter pled guilty to taking money belonging to a local schools music program. Guess what? It was telling that, Instead of fighting the charges, Sherry Gong pled guilty to her criminal behavior.
Although I believe that our elections, under Gong were well run and had integrity, I also believe that his wanting a fresh start after his wife pled guilty and went into the criminal justice system for punishment, is HIS choice, nobody forced him out of office, and blaming others for his decision to leave his job is just another case of scapegoating for political gain.
Blue Lives Matter/ RIP Officer Luca Benedetti
This may come as a surprise to the Shredder, and his love of incessant yammering, but sometimes the best response to craziness is just silence. Do you argue with the insane ranting of drugged-crazed homeless guys?
Not stopping to speak out against racism when it happens is like accepting it.
Fact-check: Tommy Gong was not “identified” in a criminal case involving his wife. To say he was identified implied he was involved in the commission of a crime, which he was not.
Something. The end.
Tommy Gong’s breeder wife stole thousands of dollars from a children’s booster club. Money went into family bank account – and Tommy obviously knows how to COUNT doesn’t he? The Gong family is untrustworthy. If my wife stole from children and I slept next to her every night and shared the same bank account, I would be ashamed of myself and my family. Yet there’s no shame from the Gong family, only excuses and stories of victimhood followed by crocodile tears. Their friends from the media assisted Tommy and his filthy wife out of much community rebuke when they were cornered by DA DOW in court when poor Tommy’s integrity was questioned. Mrs Gong testified in court she required funds to pay family bills. Tommy benefited from being married to a THIEF.
Bubbye Tommy Gong. Don’t let another jail cell door smack your wife in the ass before you and your criminal wife make your getaway “to help your aging Bay area parents” stretch their 401k account with your wife’s shopping therapy. The Gong Show has ended. Good riddance.
Tommy Gong’s wife is not a Chinese Communist. The Gong Family are capitalists. They steal from the poor to pay for their bloated lifestyle but kick back money to District Attorney Dan Downer in America. In China, if you are a capitalist, you must bribe every official down to their cousin to do any business in China. Nope, the Gong Family are truly first-world capitalists, not Chinese Communists. And yes, Supervisor Lynn “Marsha” Compton does “pal around” with White Supremacists and yada yada yada, and she also wrestled back Oceano from a gaggle of violent and abusive gang stalkers. Oceano battled hate and bigotry with the assistance from unlikely duo of Karen Velie and Marsha. Oceano won. Boring. Next.
Tommy Gong is a good man. Nuf Ced.
Tommy Gong may be a good man, but the whacky liberal attempt to portray his leaving our area as being caused by local moderate and conservative politicians is B-A-D, and there is no excuse for local Democrats to try to scapegoat and besmirch our local Republicans on this issue.
It must be getting close to the mid-terms, our whacky friends are starting to invent fake issues to feign outrage over. Hopefully the local dupes, who generally believe whatever the whacky liberal leaders proclaim, will not get suckered into believing the latest BS. Mr. Gong left because his wife was convicted of a serious crime, and his elderly parents are calling him home.
Nuf Ced.
Thank you for your service Mr. Gong. The white supremacist hatemongers that pollute this website are jealous of your accomplishments and fine service to our community.
Ladies & Gentlemen,
It is fitting that Tommy Gong resigned, and he was not unfairly besmirched by anyone, the local whacky
Alt Left is just trying to manufacture an issue, like they always do. Our local troll attempts to act as if nothing was wrong, but we all know Mr. Gong’s exit was imminent after his wife, Sherry Gong, pled guilty to the serious crime of embezzling public money, the schoolchildren didn’t deserve to have their money stolen.
Taxpaying citizens were never given a transparent account of this behavior by Mr. & Mrs. Gong.
The integrity of our elections is paramount, and I hope the SLO County board of supervisors will exercise their discretion to appoint a credible, ethical public servant as the SLO County Clerk-Recorder. We deserve no less.
No Voter Fraud
No Voter Suppression
Require ID when Registering & Voting
Stop Politicizing Elections
Country over Party