If this newspaper is 40 years old, that makes me 34! I’ll always be younger than New Times, even though sometimes I sound like I’m 80.
I was just reminiscing about the first shred ever: April 16, 1992. I waxed poetic about a pro-choice rally sponsored by the National Organization for Women (NOW) looking like a Gloria-Ochoa-for-Congress rally and wondered why she was the only pro-choice candidate who spoke.
“After all, if the pro-choice abortion issue really transcends party ideology as NOW contends, you’d think they’d have invited Republican congressional candidate Michael Huffington and Democratic Assembly candidate John Ashbaugh—two widely acknowledged pro-choicers—to address the rally, too.”
Well, 30-something years later, abortion is an issue that really doesn’t transcend party ideology, and Huffington served only one term in Congress after winning that 1992 race and not seeking reelection. Although, he did try to unseat Dianne Feinstein to represent the great liberal state in the Senate. Spoiler alert: Feinstein served in the Senate until she died in 2023.
Why don’t we have age limits for elected officials?
Ashbaugh didn’t win that 1992 race, Republican anti-choice, rabble-rouser Andrea Seastrand did before moving on to serve only one term in Congress. Thank God for two-year terms, amirite?
But “former Congresswoman Andrea Seastrand” held a lot of power over Republican candidates for a lot of years—endorsing them left and right, advocating against taxes, and taking up all the limelight in this column.
She has actively campaigned against SLO County’s self-help transportation tax over the years, including in 2016 when she said, “Taxpayers need to provide tough love by saying ‘no’ on Measure J.”
They did say no and so has the state when it comes to grants that could help SLO County complete major transportation projects. Ten years later, this county still can’t get a half-cent transportation tax passed. SLO County supervisors nixed a recent effort to put it on the ballot after finding out that voters in several counties just said “no” to tax measures in the primary.
Why? The economy sucks. Thanks, Donald Trump!
“By this motion today, we continue to be a loser county,” Third District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said during an Aug. 5 meeting, “losing millions of dollars in matching funds that Santa Barbara, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Ventura … do get because they have their self-help half [cent] sales tax.”
Well, the Seastrands of the world are delighted. And the Paso Robleses of the world are left wondering how they will complete multi-million-dollar transportation projects!
The Highway 101/Highway 46 traffic situation is out of hand and getting worse. Paso’s had a $150 million project to fix the issue on the backburner for three decades.
“We’re at a crossroads,” Paso Public Works Director Leslie Frazier told the City Council on Aug. 4. “We have a very expensive project, and the project remains unfunded today.”
Boy, that self-help tax probably would have helped leverage some state and federal dollars! Instead, the city is stuck searching for alternatives, and that northbound 101 backup keeps getting longer.
Ashbaugh eventually served on the SLO Planning Commission and SLO City Council and made many Shredderific appearances in this column over the years, including for shouting during council meetings, among other things! What can he say? He gets a little, umm, passionate.
Now that dude is a regular columnist in this paper, serving alongside me in the opinion section and opining on the trials and tribulations of the second Trump administration and all of its shenanigans. The second! Thirty years ago, I never would have ever dreamed he would have been president once, let alone twice!
I also never would have dreamed that Roe v. Wade would actually be overturned.
“It’s not complicated: if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, it could be up to state legislatures to decide the issue,” I wrote in that first column.
Well, 30-something years later, the Supreme Court did exactly that.
Turns out, it’s actually very complicated.
Some states have tried to outlaw abortions completely, some states have criminalized the doctors performing the abortions, some states have criminalized the woman having the abortion, some states are running down people who get abortions in other states. The abortion pill got criminalized in some states. People in states where the pill was legal were mailing it to people in states where it wasn’t legal.
A Texas law enforcement officer even used Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader system to track a woman who had an abortion. Yes, there are now cameras surveilling public spaces across the country that all connect into one easily searchable database that law enforcement officers everywhere can gain access to.
And guess who gets to weigh in on all of it while we all wait with bated breath: The Supreme Court of the United States, now stacked with Trump appointees!
WTF happened?
Again, age limits?
I guess a lot can happen in 34 years. We’re now fighting misinformation and disinformation at every turn, short social media attention spans, and even more entrenched political ideologies. Conspiracy theories are mainstream!
Thank God news organizations like New Times still exist in small communities everywhere! They’re safe and sane, like legal fireworks, and fight for your right to hear about, understand, and talk about what’s happening. ∆
The Shredder is happy to still have a job. Send salutations and celebration to shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in 40th anniversary edition.
You can thank Democrats for pushing rational people out of their party by embracing the interests of boutique identitarians and flag burners instead of fixing our economy, and into the Republican party. Democrats have nobody but themselves to blame, lol.
The DNC won’t shame me into voting for a Dem-AIPAC; There’s nothing “lesser evil” about genocide.
The Shredder really shouldn’t be surprised to see that SLO voters are a little hesitant to entrust California governments with even more of their tax dollars to fund transportation projects. Just consider the voracious appetite of the notorious “Bullet train” which has consumed billions of dollars since it was approved in 2008 yet has failed to lay any track in 18 years. And now it looks like all we will get out of the project is a 100 mile track from Merced to Bakersfield, places few of us have any interest in visiting. This outcome was pretty predictable who knows how California “works”, and the fact that shortly after the approval in 2008, all the usual political suspects were hiring each other as “consultants” for the project.
Congratulations Shredder for 34 Years of Shredding! Great column today, taking us down memory lane. And for reminding us that we are, as Dawn Ortiz-Legg said, a loser county; because of those anti-tax cheerleaders, like Andria Seastrand. I’ve written my share of LTEs about her tactics and the SLO County GOP now maga.
And I was not aware of how John Ashbaugh was known for shouting during council meetings! That must have been fun. And it is funny you both are here covering current events at the New Times, from different angles, in 2026.
we have had five (5) economic downturns since 1992. the 1991-94 one was a doozy!
And Alan Greenspan, Ayn Rand’s star pupil, said, “We couldn’t have seen that coming” even though he, Reagan, GHW Bush, and trickledown fraud created that one. Greenspan said that again in 2009. The standard pitch from the GOP through the downturns…
And now we’re all being watched and engineered by our devices, while the narcissists who are in control keep polluting like crazy, and the rabbit holes full of conspiracies are everywhere.
Except at the Shredder’s disposal and clean up area. Keep on Shredding, Shredder!
Boy I hate complaining all the time, however, we the people are the backbone of the country state and local town. Politicians miss represent the will of the people and commonly preach….if I’m elected I will do this and that . then wham it dawns on us they are merely a receptacle for collecting large amounts of cash from their constituents as they the leaders become richer and we the people fall closer to poverty . Ask yourself …why is SLO housing and rental costs terribly high compared to other parts of this nation. okay enough ranting and on to the next issue keeping me up at night. The nice weather and close proximity to natural wonders does attract many to our special place. I am blessed to have enjoyed many a hike around our special place. Going back to the financial reality of things central Calif . . .does it seem strange that many folks are renovating homes all over town to rip off a growing student body ….while the rents do continue to rise beyond affordability. Ask yourself why we have a homeless situation where many abuse substances and need help yet the powers at be threaten them with jail and fines when in reality they need help and cannot pay their fines. SLO is trying to find solutions it seems, yet clearly not enough is being done I believe. Sometimes they are forced out of the area too and go to other towns where the welcome mat is thin . So next time you meet a homeless person who is in the least trying to improve themselves consider a nice cup of coffee or food snack and a kind word. okay enough complaining for this abend until next time.
And addenda to the postlude or tailpiece. Congratulations on your long run shredder and accompanying new times local arts and happenings weekly. We in SLO and nearby towns are fortunate to be graced by this valuable local repository of writers both amateur and professional commentators on things that matter . Awareness is important for issues to be studied, pulverized and manipulated hopefully for the public good and not the elite circle of rotten scoundrels of whom try to own us. Maybe mark Twain is listening still somewhere his bullfrogerry resonating through someone who cares. Love john Edwards San Luis Obispo