SLO History Center cuts jobs, access after budget slashed. ‘Really need support’
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- SLO County cut $107,433 in annual funding, ending 45 years of support.
- SLO History Center lost half its staff and a third of its $300,000 budget.
- Center plans fundraising gala in September to offset county budget losses.
San Luis Obispo County cut nearly $33 million from its budget last month, impacting countless programs and nonprofits that benefit from county dollars.
One of those organizations was the SLO History Center, which lost a third of its budget to the county cuts.
Located at 696 Monterey St. in the old Carnegie Library building, the History Center stores and displays objects, documents, photographs and other historic records that tell the story of San Luis Obispo County. The center also operates the historic Dalliet Adobe and Gardens at 1183 Pacific St.
For 45 years, SLO County has provided funding to support the center’s employee salaries and operations.
In June, the county eliminated its $107,433 annual contribution to the History Center entirely.
The support paid the salary of the History Center’s full-time collections manager, who had to be let go as a result of the cuts. The museum has only one other full-time employee.
Without the collections manager position, access to the history archives will be limited moving forward.
“Access to our collection, access to all of this stuff that we’ve been collecting, that helps tell all of these stories, is more or less going away,” museum director Thomas Kessler told The Tribune. “We’re going to continue to pay the rent on the warehouse. We’re going to keep it as best we can, but without a person who knows how to make sure that it’s cared for properly and organized correctly ... access is going away.”
SLO History Center staff halved by county budget cuts
Before the budget cuts, the SLO History Center had two full-time stafff members and four part-time workers.
As a result of losing a third of its $300,000 budget, the center has had to downsize by half to one full-timer and two part-time employees.
In addition to their collections manager, the center also had to let go of its weekend museum managers, Kessler said. Volunteers are now filling the weekend positions while Kessler has adjusted his work week to fall over the weekend to oversee museum operations.
“It was definitely a sinking feeling,” Kessler said. “ ... Nobody’s going to die because the history isn’t available, but it’s still — I’ve spent the last seven years of my life working at this nonprofit that I think does really important work.”
Kessler said he was not directly notified of the proposed cut by the county during the budgeting process. Rather, he discovered the History Center’s funding was on the chopping block on his own while reading the county’s fiscal year 2025-26 recommended budget.
“There was no communication about what would this mean to us, can you do with less?” Kessler said. “If we had had that conversation, and we could have gotten by with 50 (percent) instead of 100 (percent), that would have hurt, but, I mean, it’s less existential of a threat than what we’re currently facing.”
The county was tasked with closing an unprecedented budget deficit this year, and took a methodical approach to evaluating community impact while it discussed which services to cut, SLO County Administrative Officer Matt Pontes previously told The Tribune.
“It is scary,” Pontes said at the time. “There is a lot of concern that maybe what we’re doing is fast and loose and not well thought out, and we want to make sure that everybody knows that it is definitely not the case for this particular (process).”
How to support the SLO History Center amid budget losses
With a third of its budget gone, the history museum is now exploring other grants and focusing on fundraising.
The center is currently putting much of its energy into planning its upcoming fundraising gala on Sept. 12 and 13, Kessler said.
With a focus on the wine history of SLO County, the two-day “Pouring Through Time” event will start with a cocktail and wine hour at the Dalliet Adobe and Gardens and close with a traditional dinner-service gala at the historic Octagon Barn complete with an auction and live music, Kessler said.
“We really are just kind of throwing ourselves on the mercy of the community,” he said. “If people do recognize that having an understanding of the past is important to being in control of our present and our future, then we really need support.”
Those looking to buy tickets to the gala or just make a contribution to the History Center can do so online at historycenterslo.org.
This story was originally published July 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM.
