There is only one qualified candidate for SLO County clerk-recorder | Opinion

County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano faces two challengers in her bid for reelection — including one who is due to stand trial for felony election and voter fraud.

Candidate Gaea Powell is accused of falsifying her address on official documents when she ran for mayor of Arroyo Grande in 2022 and again in 2024.

While that does not disqualify her from running for office — she is innocent until proven guilty — it casts serious doubt on her integrity and her ability to do the job.

The other challenger is Vanessa Rozo, a small-business owner and paralegal who is endorsed by the Republican Party.

Neither challenger comes even close to being as experienced as Cano, who has spent 21 years working in clerk-recorder offices in the cities of San Luis Obispo and Pismo Beach, as well as Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

The challengers’ candidacies appear to be at least partly motivated by personal gripes and/or observations of alleged wrongdoing, according to answers they provided at a League of Women Voters forum.

For example, Rozo signed up to be a poll worker in last November’s special election, but because she had already declared her candidacy for clerk-recorder, she was told she was ineligible.

“It was stated that it was the law. No, that is not the law, just to be insightful,” she said.

(According to the clerk-recorders office, Rozo was informed that internal policy prohibits candidates from serving as poll workers in jurisdictions where they are running for office.)

Since she was not allowed to work the polls, Rozo went as an observer.

“As I was observing, I noticed there’s a lot of mismanagement at the precinct level, and it concerned me greatly,” she said, without going into detail.

Powell repeatedly referred to an incident she filmed at the county Clerk-Recorder’s Office in 2024.

“I was filming a woman who had gotten two ballots, one for Arroyo Grande that had been forwarded to her office — absentee ballot, obviously — and another one that was for Grover Beach.”

Yes, stuff happens. Someone moves away, and ballots continue to be sent to the old address. That does not mean the County Clerk-Recorder’s Office is corrupt or incompetent, and it certainly doesn’t mean that a totally unqualified person can step in and do a better job.

Powell and Rozo are not serious candidates.

There is only one qualified person on the ballot. She is Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano, and she deserves your vote.