Ellen Beraud is the catalyst for change needed on the SLO County Board of Supervisors
Ellen Beraud is a big-picture candidate.
She wasn’t drawn into the race due to any particular issue; she’s challenging incumbent Debbie Arnold because she does not believe the current, conservative-dominated board is on the right course.
“We cannot risk our future with four more years of inaction,” Beraud, a former Atascadero mayor, told the audience at a recent candidates forum.
We share that concern. For too long, the county Board of Supervisors has been reactive, rather than proactive.
The Paso Robles groundwater basin is a prime example.
The Board of Supervisors took no substantial action until after residents’ wells dried up. As The Tribune reported at the time, “Rural homeowners are facing the prospect of losing their homes because their wells are going dry. Vineyards could lose access to a crucial resource.”
That was seven years ago, yet it took a state mandate to finally force the county to draft a ground water management plan.
Beraud holds government accountable for such failures and lapses.
Take homelessness: “Sure we have 70 Now,” she said, referring to a county program to house 70 of the most needy individuals, “but we have 1,000 people who need to be sheltered.”
She’s also critical of the county’s handling of cannabis regulations, correctly pointing out that it’s taken way too long to process permits for growers.
Debbie Arnold’s resume
Arnold’s had more than seven years to work on the county’s most serious problems: homelessness, a critical shortage of affordable housing, a backlog of recreational needs, water scarcity, air quality issues on the Nipomo Mesa.
As senior member of the board’s conservative majority, Arnold could have seized the opportunity to be a leader on those issues. Instead, time and again, the Board of Supervisors has delayed and stumbled and hedged.
Take affordable housing.
Between 2014 and 2018, 1,864 building permits were issued for homes in the unincorporated areas. According to state data, the vast majority of homes — 84% — were for wealthier residents earning above moderate income.
Yet Arnold is still reluctant to change course, even after a decade of failed housing policies.
She told The Tribune Editorial Board she is not a fan of affordable housing fees — even though they’ve been proven successful — and she isn’t convinced it’s necessary to put an affordable housing bond measure on the ballot.
That echoes the position she took in 2016, when she voted against putting a local transportation sales tax on the ballot.
Arnold is proud of her record of opposing taxes and fees; on her website, she lists being named “Hero of the Taxpayer” among her accomplishments. Yet there’s nothing heroic about denying taxpayers the right to decide whether they want to tax themselves in order to support housing or libraries or roads or fire or police services.
Competitive race
If a Democrat were to win in District 1 or District 5, the balance of power on the Board of Supervisors would shift in favor of progressive voices (assuming Adam Hill keeps his seat in District 3).
There’s little likelihood that District 1 will switch; Republicans hold a large majority there and have been voting conservatives into office for decades.
That makes District 5 a crucial election for San Luis Obispo County.
The Republican Party has a slight edge in voter registration — Republicans outnumber Democrats by around 1,200 voters in District 5 — but Beraud has a narrow lead in fundraising; as of the latest reporting period, she had $260,117, to Arnold’s $246,232.
She’s been deeply criticized by the Arnold camp for accepting large donations from cannabis growers, including a $23,000 donation from William Szymczak of Palos Verdes Peninsula, a developer invested in a proposed SLO County cannabis project.
There have been other attacks.
For instance, Arnold’s campaign went after Beraud for missing a couple of candidates forums, by taunting her for being too “chicken” to show up. (Beraud says she had scheduling conflicts.)
But this race is not about how may forums Arnold and Beraud did (or did not) attend.
It’s not about whether Beraud disrespected veterans when she voted against an Atascadero veterans memorial in 2007. (For the record, according to minutes of that meeting she supported the memorial but believed the review process required consideration of additional ideas for the sculpture.)
And it’s not about whether contributions from the cannabis industry are any more questionable than donations from real estate developers or the oil industry.
This race is all about issues and ideology. It doesn’t need to be muddied by schoolyard taunts or long-ago votes taken out of context.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhy do we endorse?
Making endorsements during election season is an important role for newspaper editorial boards, including The Tribune Editorial Board. Elections are key to determining the future of our Central Coast region, and through endorsements, we share our opinion of the qualifications of the candidates and recommend those who would best serve our communities.
Due to the large number of races on the 2024 General Election ballot, we are unable to issue endorsements in every race. We chose to focus on the most competitive contests.
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Who endorses?
Endorsement decisions are made by Editor Joe Tarica and Opinion Editor Stephanie Finucane.
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Candidates are invited to participate in an interview with The Editorial Board where they are asked a series questions about major issues. It’s our opportunity to learn the candidates’ positions and to gauge how well informed they are about issues they are likely to confront if elected.
We also research voting records of candidates who have held public office; we watch candidate forums; we look at back stories from The Tribune, as well as other publications that have covered the candidates; and we examine public documents. We also take a look at the candidates’ advertising and campaign statements. Are they overpromising, for example, or misrepresenting their opponent’s record?
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How the candidates compare
Both candidates have years of experience in local politics and in business; they have deep ties to their communities; and they have the institutional knowledge necessary for the job.
On paper, they are both well qualified for the job.
However, Arnold’s staunchly conservative outlook has gotten in the way of good governance, and that’s putting the future in jeopardy.
For example, she sees climate change and sea level rise — which already are affecting parts of California — as something to worry about in the far-off future.
“I’m not jumping on the bandwagon,” she told us. “In other words, I think we have so many more important things right in front of us on our plate today to consider than what does the far out future look like.
She’s right on one count; there are plenty of problems to deal with in the here and now.
Too many people are struggling to maintain a decent quality of life in San Luis Obispo County, which is one of the least affordable places to live in the nation.
Businesses are closing.
Employers are having a difficult time recruiting skilled professionals.
As a recent survey by The Hourglass Project discovered, many young people see no future in a community where they may never be able to afford their own homes.
“What we found is a workforce that is losing hope, struggling to get by and considering leaving the area,” Hourglass Project CEO Melissa James said in a news release.
The Board of Supervisors has been far too slow and too timid to respond to these crises.
If the county is to make any headway, there must be a change in direction.
The Tribune strongly endorses Ellen Beraud for 5th District supervisor.
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.