Still counting

With pink nails, pink hair extensions, and a pink shirt, Grover Beach Mayor Kassi Dee was glowing on Nov. 3, during the election night watch party at her spot on Grand Avenue—Nan’s Books and Crystals. 

She was leading in the race against her challenger, David Swift, that night. And her fellow party people were also leading in their Grover Beach City Council races: incumbent Jules Tuggle over challenger Allen Thompson, and newcomer Shilo Terek over upstart Kelvin Coveduck. 

Everyone was smiling. The upstarts aiming to challenge the city’s “status quo” were losing! Losers! The counts aren’t over yet, so things could change. But let them revel, even if it’s short lived! 

But the vote counts a little farther down on the election summary report show a different side of the election in that combative South County city. The two voter initiatives were also winning: curbing building heights and electing the city clerk. 

So Grover Beach voters are torn. They want to spank the City Council for being bad but not too much? 

I’m not sure former Mayor Debbie Peterson was exactly correct when she said, “The people of Grover Beach have sent an undeniable message and remit to the City Council about their wishes for their community, similar to that sent across the nation.” 

The blue tidal wave crashing over the top of the Republicans’ heads and attempting to drown President Donald “I’m Still Your President” Trump is not the same as keeping incumbents in office! 

The only thing that’s super clear to me is that Grover Beach loves a good ballot measure. As Peterson pointed out, the city’s voters have passed four citizen initiatives in the last two years—well, not quite yet, actually (tallies won’t be official until all the votes are counted and certified). 

The beachside berg’s future will continue to be rocky if the building heights initiative does actually pass, which it looks like it might. California’s already warned Grover Beach that the measure doesn’t pass muster with state housing law. 

What voters did make clear is that views of the ocean are important, Coveduck said. So, perhaps the next council will take note and prevent “tall buildings from blocking views from roadways.” 

And who knows what inexperienced wacko will put their hat in the ring to try and take City Clerk Wendi Sims’ spot if the clerk position becomes an elected rather than appointed one. Be careful, Grover Beach, or you’ll reap the chaos you’ve been sowing. 

Hopefully the chaos will simmer down at future Lucia Mar Unified School District board meetings with the newest batch of board members to get elected. Could it be a blue wave that kicks the most conservative curmudgeons off the dais? Now that would be akin to that “sent across the nation.”

No more conversations about banning books? I hope so. 

In all four races, a candidate endorsed by the local Dems stood in the lead. Anna Cordero in Trustee Area 3 was cautious about her early lead: “I’m grateful for the early results and for the support … but every ballot deserves to be counted, and I’ll wait for the final tally,” she said.

Hear! Hear! 

But that doesn’t mean everyone who’s on the winning side (so far) is gracious. Twenty-year incumbent and conflict instigator Colleen Martin is already posting some nice things on her candidate Facebook page. 

“Looks like all 4 religious maga book burners are going to lose for lmusd!” a screen shot of a text message Martin posted read. “Big win for children in our community.” 

Martin’s always ready for a fight and always ready with some choice words for those who support causes she doesn’t. And I get it. Things have been rough at Lucia Mar since the pandemic, but at least we can all forget about Shannon “I’m Saving Girls Sports” Kessler for a while. 

She’s losing her challenge to Assemblymember Dawn Addis, and she won’t win. So hopefully she takes her brand of MAGA mayhem and just disappears into a hole for a little while. 

And maybe Chris Bausch in Paso Robles can do the same. Paso’s problem child made his last stand by running for reelection after costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation fees due to his lack of transparency. 

He was losing his race to retain his Paso City Council seat on Nov. 4, with Generation Build founded Michael Massey in the lead by 75 votes over Bausch and Robert Simoni bringing up the rear, trailing Bausch by just nine votes. It’s a nail-biter, folks! 

Bausch isn’t giving up. Not with his 50/50 shot to get back his spot on top. 

“It’s still early,” he said. “I believe that being transparent and trying to be mindful of the people’s voice … was a very, very positive message.” 

Hmm. I guess transparency is only in the eye of the beholder, huh? I hope that if Bausch loses, I will never have to read his name in The Tribune again. 

Now, that would be nice. 

I feel the same way about Trump. I don’t want to see his face, hear his name, write about it, or talk about it ever again. Twelve years is 12 years too long. 

But I’m going to have to wait. Hopefully the blue wave makes the next two years better than the last two. ∆

The Shredder isn’t counting chickens. Send eggs to shredder@newtimesslo.com.

This article appears in Nov 5-12, 2026.