Morro Bay‘s been doing things in a rather roundabout way lately (rim shot, please).
In a literal sense, the city is thinking about maybe allowing Caltrans to possibly build another traffic circle on its streets, this time at the intersection of Main Street and highways 1 and 41. The first phase of the project—one of the invisible, expensive phases buried in bureaucracy—was humming right along until April 22. That’s when the City Council caught wind of some concerns and hit the brakes.
Said concerns were about safety and traffic flow, which roundabouts are designed to address. Their knee-jerk response, though, was premature (as is often the nature of such jerks). The report the city was working on was phase 1: environmental impact. Not traffic flow and safety—those don’t get discussed until at least phase 3, maybe 4, and probably, if the public gets its say, at every step of the way until the roundabout gets built and someone hates it enough to sue over it. But I digress.
Before the roundabout idea died a premature paper death, the SLO Council of Governments offered to finish the report, if the city still paid for it. Having already sunk $350K into the study, Morro Bay agreed to pay the remaining $81K to at least keep looking at just the environmental issues. No green lights were given, no dirt’s being moved, so hold on to your ifs, ands, or butts.
Mayor Carla Wixom has historically been against a roundabout at this very intersection but had some things to say to the roundabout doubters.
“We want things that bring us together, not divide us, and so everybody’s very impassioned with their positions on this, and most of it really comes back to the concerns for safety for pedestrians and bike riders,” she told New Times. “Right now, that’s not the phase we’re at. So, unfortunately, the process is that you’re going to move to that phase—which means you spend more money. So there’s more time, commitment, and money to decide if a year or two from now, when it comes back in that design phase, do we accept this project?”
Seriously, though, why do people hate roundabouts so much? They’re fun! Maybe, just maybe, drivers don’t hate the roundabouts. It’s the asshats who don’t know how to drive around a circle who are to be detested.
Moving on. In a less literal traffic-circle sense, the city’s been going round and round about its flag ordinance. Way, way back in 2022, Morro Bay established an ordinance allowing the city to fly commemorative flags at City Hall. Under that banner was a proclamation that allowed the city to raise the Pride flag in June for Pride Month. It was a proud moment.
But the city revisited that ordinance this April—less than two months before Pride Month, by the way—and voted unanimously on May 27 to no longer fly flags in honor of specific communities. The reason? To make sure the flag pole isn’t used to make “political or cultural statements that divide the city,” according to Councilmember Jeff Eckles, who introduced the ordinance change, and who, make of this what you will, was on the board of the Gala Pride and Diversity Center (formerly GALA) in and around 2019.
And now, this really gets my gears in a grind, it’s the shit-talkers, the loudmouths, and the haters who’ve been dumping on the rainbow flag (sometimes literally—I’m looking at you Paso High) who can claim victory here.
According to Gala Pride and Diversity Center’s current program manager, Linnea Valdivia, the three flags that Morro Bay is allowed to fly, namely those of the nation, state, and city, don’t represent everyone. “I don’t think that’s actually reflective of people’s ability to participate and see themselves reflected in how this country operates,” she told New Times.
She said that she attended a town hall meeting on the issue that Eckles hosted. In response to her questions about not flying commemorative flags, she said he basically told her that a city council could “elect to fly the Nazi flag, and we wouldn’t want that.”
Why invoke the Nazi thing? That basically politicizes the matter and shuts down any potential for a valid discussion of the issue. And a bigger conversation seems warranted. Wouldn’t it be better to sit down and discuss which flags to fly and just raise a different flag each month?
“You can believe what we are saying or not, that’s your prerogative, but I can tell you I am speaking from the heart. I do believe this will unite the community. I believe that commemorative flags take us down a path of tribalism that separates the community further and further,” Eckles said, before defending his record of responsiveness. “I know that I respond to every single email that I receive.”
Hmm, seems like this bayside burg prides itself on being sensitive about division. We were poised to ask Eckles about where he’s coming from, but he didn’t respond to our reporter’s email. Δ
The wheels on the Shredder go round and round. Send windshield wipers to shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in May 29 – Jun 8, 2025.
Why do people hate roundabouts so much? It’s the same people who have no clue what to do at a four-way stop sign who are also very confused about what to do at a traffic circle. But if they understood that there are eight different laws controlling traffic at four-way stop signs in California, they should feel relieved with using traffic circles instead since there really is only one rule controlling traffic. That is, slowly approach the traffic circle and remember the vehicles already in the traffic circle have the right of way. That’s it! Easy, right?
Just a stupid point about the Gay Pride Flag. How many flags can local government fly? Who decides? Why not an Italian American flag? I’m sure there are more of us than LGBTQ+. Survivors of Cancer? Victims of Violence? LEOs killed in the line of duty? There are scores more. Government is there to serve citizens. All of these groups are represented by the US, California and Local Government flags. Enough said.