SLO County District Attorney Dan Dow’s late budget request asking for five more full-time positions isn’t moving ahead after the Board of Supervisors denied it during the June 8 budget presentation.
“Each of the 26 departments is being asked to live within their means because of the budget challenges that this board faces,” 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding said during the discussion. “With limited funds, we really do have to make strategic decisions.”
During a hearing in May, Dow accused the board of not complying with the law if his department didn’t receive the funding necessary to add the positions. He reiterated that sentiment during the June 8 meeting, pointing to two things as proof—the state Constitution’s statement that “public safety is the first responsibility of local government” and voter passage of Proposition 172, a half-cent sales tax to fund local public safety.
“I’m informing you so that you can make an informed decision of does this align with your priorities,” he said. “This is really your legal obligation.”
Some of the supervisors pushed back, saying that multiple county departments perform public safety functions and their needs have to be balanced with those of the District Attorney’s Office. Those agencies also compete for access to Proposition 172 funds, 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said.
For instance, the county has committed to staffing three firefighters to each county Fire engine. While that promise isn’t fully funded yet, figuring out how to pay for it is something that’s part of the board’s strategic planning process.
“That’s a promise that I’ve made, and I can’t break that promise,” Ortiz-Legg said. “What it really comes down to at this point in time is really that public trust.”
Paulding said ensuring that the new Nipomo Sheriff’s Office substation is fully staffed is another public safety commitment the county needs to figure out how to pay for. It’s scheduled for completion in 2028, but he said Proposition 172 funds could also be used to help fund that need.
Dow suggested using $244,000 in Proposition 172 reserve funds to pay for a new paralegal and restore a victim witness advocate to his office for the 2026-27 fiscal year. In addition, he said the county could use $267,000 in opioid settlement funding to restore a deputy district attorney position to prosecute under Proposition 36, which voters passed in 2024 to increase penalties for repeated drug and theft crimes.
That could fund three of the five positions.
“We have an unprecedented workload with unchanged staffing,” Dow said. “We need your support to fully fund so that we can bring justice and safety back to our community.”
County CEO Matt Pontes said the budget was finalized in March and that his office tries to get the departments to have discussion like this before the budget process closes. As part of the proposed budget for next year, the DA’s Office did receive $1.3 million in “add-back requests” to fund positions that were initially cut for next fiscal year, bringing Dow’s total budget allocation to more than $19 million.
After that process closed, county staff said, the DA’s Office asked for additional positions, which would cost approximately $850,000. On June 8, staff presented the option of funding three of those with non-general fund revenue, similar to what Dow also presented that day.
“It’s not part of the recommended budget, but it is something for the board to consider,” Pontes said. “I’m giving you the options.”
While 1st and 5th District Supervisors John Peschong and Heather Moreno, respectively, supported the DA’s request, 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson was particularly critical of Dow and the way he handles his department. He accused Dow’s office of threatening the board, having a low conviction rate, and needing to participate in a county management audit to become more efficient with its resources.
With Peschong abstaining, the board moved the recommended budget to a final discussion on June 16 and asked that the discussion about how to spend opioid settlement and Proposition 172 public safety funds be incorporated into strategic planning discussions.
“We need to have a strategic discussion about what some of the gaps are,” Paulding said. “I think we need to have a more global discussion before we can move forward with a one-off request.” ∆
This article appears in June 11-18, 2026.
DA Dan Dow still did threaten to sue the County though.
As reported in the Tribune, when Dan Dow said “But I believe it’s my duty as your district attorney and the head of the District Attorney’s Office to advocate not for me, not for Dan Dow, but”… the backstory is that Dan Dow was trying to wield his self-righteous Power over the BOS; that is what church boy Dan Dow really meant.
If he is such a great Manager of the District Attorney’s Office, why didn’t he make that request for more money in a timely manner, by the deadlines of the formal budget submittal process; as CEO Matt Pontes had said that Dow had neglected to do, that all of the other departments and agencies had done.
Dow may be the reason he has empty job positions. I had a neighbor who worked for the DA’s Office before and during 2020 during the George Floyd Protests; who left that job because Dan Dow based most of his prosecutions on his white nationalist right-wing religion.
Dow had many cases that were thrown out following that year, because of his white nationalist and prejudiced religious zealotry, as the basis of his prosecutions. I would guess that those thrown out cases cost the County into the millions of dollars.
And of course he brought out his puppy dog, aka, Elder Abuse, and threatened it with his proverbial hammer; until the BOS finally said “No.”
Dan Dow really needs to grow up. He is also a bad manager of the DA’s Office, and has a very low success rate in his prosecutions. About half what ethical rule of law DA’s Offices have, in similar counties to SLO County.
With all of DA Dan Dow’s deficiencies, bad prosecutions and threatening to sue SLO County, he should be disbarred and sanctioned.
Then he could take his white nationalist bigotry and study at some white nationalist seminary in a welcoming confederate state, thereby saving us taxpayer money, and freeing us from his shenanigans.