Two longtime scrutinizers of local government, Oceano resident April Dury and Los Osos resident Julie Tacker, want the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors to conduct an audit of an allegedly extravagant airport event.
Now a group called SLOcal Activists’ Coalition that’s looking to expand, the duo filed a complaint to supervisors on July 2 that claimed the county Department of Airports spent more than $160,000 on a “Cleared for Cheer” holiday event in December 2025 at the Oceano Airport.
“I believe that they [supervisors] did not know this allocation was for one big, massive party, and that … they didn’t get a budget, they didn’t get a description, they didn’t require anything besides pushing money over like at the gambling table,” Dury told New Times.
Dury attended the winter celebration at the Oceano Airport after receiving a flyer in the mail. The flyer advertised free admission to an event featuring a drone show, live music, crafts, snow play, food trucks, and a makers market.
The complaint summarized that roughly 400 attendees, including Dury, received gifts like lap blankets, beanies, and flashlights bearing the Oceano Airport logo.
“Immediately after the event, Dury sent a series of public records requests seeking documents, correspondence, and expenses related to the Cleared for Cheer event put on by the Department of Airports,” their complaint read. “Over many months, she received a trickle of information that led to more requests.”
Calculations based on the records Dury and Tacker received showed the expenses upward of $160,000 included items like 65 tons of ice for almost $30,000, a two-hour drone show that cost around $190 per minute, a $3,600 hot chocolate bar, 48 Christmas trees, light projectors, pillows, a velvet couch for the Santa Claus impersonator, and staff meals.
The event budget was nested in a $210,000 fund to support community engagement and outreach efforts at Oceano Airport, which supervisors approved as a mid-year budget adjustment in November 2025 without a public hearing. That sum added to the existing $25,000 engagement and outreach fund contained in the 2025-26 Oceano Airport budget.
Fourth District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding told New Times that money for the Cleared for Cheer event came from the Airports enterprise fund that’s supported by airport users and revenue from airport operations.
“I was not aware that this amount of money would be spent on this event, and I can see why it may raise concerns,” Paulding said. “While the Airports Department has been directed to better connect the Oceano Airport with the community, this expenditure will require an internal review to determine if it was appropriate or if there are improvements necessary to our review and approval processes for funding large public events.”
‘Moving forward, I will more closely scrutinize budget requests from the Airports Department and will ask our chief executive officer to provide additional oversight to help ensure future expenditures are consistent with the board’s expectations for fiscal stewardship.’
—Jimmy Paulding, SLO County 4thDistrict Supervisor
He added that though locals enjoyed the event, he wants to find out if community engagement can be achieved at a lower cost.
“Moving forward, I will more closely scrutinize budget requests from the Airports Department and will ask our chief executive officer to provide additional oversight to help ensure future expenditures are consistent with the board’s expectations for fiscal stewardship,” he said.
The event flyer also asked visitors to bring a non-perishable food item or an unwrapped toy to donate to the Salvation Army and the Lucia Mar Unified School District’s Families in Transition Program.
Dury and Tacker alleged that county Airports Director Courtney Johnson failed to communicate with the Salvation Army in the lead-up to the event, resulting in the charity’s absence from the event. All in-person donations went to the school district program.
Moreover, the Toys for Tots drive helmed by Friends of Oceano Airport for 15 years didn’t take place at the airport during the event.
“‘Seven planes loaded with toys were diverted to Lompoc,’ per local pilot Michael Brown who spearheaded a toy collection he personally took on in his area, specifically for the Friends of Oceano Airport’s annual toy drive that ultimately benefitted Santa Barbara County children instead of Oceano children in SLO County,” the complaint read.
Johnson told New Times that the department made multiple efforts to coordinate with local charities and nonprofits during event planning. She added that they invited Friends of Oceano Airport to participate but the group decided to operate independently.
“This was a first-time event, so that number includes one-time purchases of reusable equipment, event infrastructure, and other county assets that support future community programming, not just one evening’s event,” she said.
Dury and Tacker plan to submit their complaint to the SLO County grand jury and the California Coastal Commission, especially since County Airports plans to meet with the latter in August for permit approval.
This isn’t their first time analyzing public funds used by officials. Roughly three years ago, they conducted a smaller-scale investigation into what they call “Hamburgergate.” The Cleared for Cheer event, Dury and Tacker said, was “Hamburgergate on steroids.”
“It was a public works celebration in South County, and like 100 hamburgers cost $1,500 and for a staff of eight,” Tacker said. “The problem with it was that Oceano CSD [Community Services District] paid for it. Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, and Oceano Public Works employees benefited from it, but Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach paid the least of the $1,500, they had the most staff … and they RSVP’d early, so they got $5 [discount] on top of it, but we never actually issued that report.” ∆
This article appears in July 9-16, 2026.
I’m shocked they used a Santa Claus impersonator instead of the real one!
Wait a second, do what – activists? I have a fading memory about Tacker and her significant other being on a “Mission from God” (Blues Brothers trivia ya’ll) to close down the airport for development, so there’s one conflict of interest. Then there’s the other one, who is still miserable after her time in the pokey…never happy about anything…sad…
It’s about time Oceano had an event that brought families together.
For years, residents have asked for more positive community events, and when one finally happens, some people focus only on the price tag without acknowledging the hundreds of families who attended, the local vendors who participated, or the holiday memories that were created.
If the Board of Supervisors approved the funding, shouldn’t they have understood what they were approving? It raises the question: Why wasn’t the event budget on Supervisor Jimmy Paulding’s radar before the funds were authorized? Oversight is the responsibility of elected officials, not something to question only after the event has taken place.
If a review of the expenses is warranted, then conduct one. Accountability is part of good government. But let’s also remember that not every investment can be measured solely in dollars. Building community has value too.
Instead of criticizing every effort to do something positive in Oceano, perhaps we should encourage more opportunities that bring our community together
I agree, it was a great event. It will only grow every year. Oceano airport you keep being you. We are looking forward to next year.
We spent years hearing Oceano was the County’s forgotten stepchild. Then the County actually throws a community event there and now we’re demanding audits. You couldn’t write better satire.
We went to this event! No way the drone show was 2 hours. It was well planned and so much fun for all the kids!
Scrooge in June ? If you don’t like Christmas just say so April and Julie. How can you hate from outside the airport ? You can’t even get in.
So, Supervisor Paulding has not been scrutinizing EVERY budget request, until this airport challenge arose?
What an admission made by a current supervisor. Whoa!
Drury & Tacker are known very well by oceano residents as hecklers and trolls. Always looking to make Oceano look bad. I sincerely wonder WHY. Especially since one of them is a Los Osos resident. What are their reasons? Every Oceano resident I know that attended this event was so impressed and grateful. Proud to be Oceano residents with this type of family event. How much do Grover Beach drone show events cost at 16th st or Ramona garden park? Probably similar. But for some reason, GB is lucky to not have Drury & Tacker hassling them.
I guess at more than $50,000 an hour it would have been a pretty fun event–especially with all the free swag. On the other hand, the Oceano Airport continues as a recreational playground for wealthy folks who own, rent, and fly small airplanes. The airport does nothing to benefit the local economy and probably operates at a loss. People have questioned is function and usefulness for decades. 60 acres of prime land in Oceano for a relatively few private pilots? That money could have sponsored numerous adult, teen ,and child activities IN OCEANO if it was donated to the Oceano Parks and Recreation Committee.
Oh here’s the third one who was missing from the cover story photo along with the one who wants to develop the airport, and the miserably unhappy person…another “close the airport committee” member. Chuck, with your state pension I’m sure you could take flight lessons and hang out there.
Equal Scrutiny for All Taxpayer Dollars
I read the recent New Times article about local activists calling for an audit of County spending related to the Oceano Airport event. Whether one agrees with their concerns or not, the article highlights an important issue: how and when taxpayer-funded projects are subjected to scrutiny.
If there are calls for audits whenever questions arise about public spending, that standard should be applied consistently across all County decisions—not just those that generate controversy or headlines.
For example, earlier this year the Board of Supervisors, including Supervisor Jimmy Paulding, approved $100,000 in County funds to support services for immigrant families through a nonprofit organization. Like the airport event discussed in your article, this was a discretionary use of taxpayer dollars. It is reasonable for residents to ask how those funds were allocated, what oversight mechanisms were in place, who qualified for assistance, and what outcomes were achieved.
The point is not to single out one project over another, but to emphasize that accountability should not be selective. If an airport-related event warrants questions and potential audits, then other expenditures—especially those involving significant public funds—should be open to the same level of transparency.
Public trust depends on consistent standards. Taxpayers deserve to know that every dollar is handled responsibly, regardless of the purpose or the politics surrounding it.
Julie and April, I have read your facts and figures and if they are correct I’d say it would appear that the money spent on this one event could have been used in better ways. I spent 15 years on one committees that put on airshows. I was even the president of one very big show when I was associated with the Santa Maria Museum of Flight. I also was involved with the Golden State Air Fair, Camarillo Air Show, Paso Robles Air Show, and worked with the National Air Race Group in Reno, NV one year. My feeling is that whoever put on the Oceano Airport event did not know or realize what they were getting involved with and they were understaffed. I can also see a strong possibility of a lack of communication.
Now, as has happened quite often in the past I see no mention of what action you want taken against those involved with the event should there be a find of unnecessary spending and lack of coordination. You want an investigation, but for what reason? Are you asking for a hanging or repayment by those responsible? What should be the conclusion if the audit comes back with a negative finding?
And lastly it is closing the airport. Why do you want a piece of property that is in the middle of a flood plain? Also, the FAA and the federal Dep’t of Transportation have said many time that if shutting down the airport isn’t going to happen. They have infested several million dollars in the airport since it was first opened, and they would want their money back before it could be closed. I was also estimated that the airport generates over a million dollars in revenue for the Five Cities every year.
I certainly do see no harm in an audit as it could be beneficial for future events to be held at the Oceano Airport. Before people criticize lets find out all the facts…….
I’m a pilot who splits my time between the Central Valley and Five Cities. While I wasn’t at the event, I heard from other pilots that it was a lot of fun and the drone show was impressive. As long as they don’t raise my landing fees, I’d like to attend the next Christmas event.
That’s hilarious. You can’t attend. They closed the airport to put on the event. An event to showcase how important the airport is causes the airport to not be in use. The county’s Dept of Airport’s jokes write themselves.
I think this just shows a need for more foresight, rather than punitive action for what is intended to be a community building activity open to the public. Needless to say, this was a great ad for the event, and I’ll be taking my son this Christmas!
Learn more about this topic, from the 5pm hour on the 07/15/2026 Dave Congalton Show on KVEC.
Direct link to listen: https://www.920kvec.com/?p=91090
A bunch of Negative Nelly Naysayers who wouldn’t stand up for their own grandmother, let alone put in any effort to stand up for their own communities aren’t going to stop our work, and we aren’t alone in our countywide community activism.
Nothing in our official complaint to the Board of Supes talked about shutting down the airport. It’s a clear sign how scarce reading comprehension is among adults when that’s your argument.
Our county government is not in the business of throwing parties, period. If you don’t understand this basic starting point of the entire issue, you don’t understand *any* of this issue.
Have a great day! 🙂