How does SLO County move past the Hill/Dayspring corruption scandal?

Federal authorities won’t confirm it, but it’s likely that late San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Adam Hill would have faced charges of corruption were he alive today.

According to court documents, Hill accepted cash bribes, drugs and dinners in exchange for supporting Helios Dayspring’s cannabis operations.

Dayspring has agreed to plead guilty to bribing Hill, in addition to failing to report millions of dollars in income to the IRS. He’ll pay $3.4 million in restitution for the tax charge, and he’ll face up to 13 years in prison.

Had Hill had been convicted in a court of law, or pled guilty as Dayspring did, it would have been a major betrayal of public trust.

At this point, though, it serves little purpose to dwell on shaming the late supervisor, who died by suicide a year ago.

Nor is it constructive to call out Hill’s supporters, as some are now doing.

Just because someone agreed with Hill, voted for him or contributed to his campaigns does not make them guilty by association.

So what can be done to get us beyond this ugly chapter?

Cities where Dayspring had been granted or applied for permits — Grover Beach, Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo — are conducting investigations.

County Administrator Wade Horton urged all county employees to speak up “if you have knowledge of actions that do not align” with county values.

That’s a start, but it’s not enough.

Rumors are circulating about others who may have been involved in this scheme, and those must be put to rest.

It’s also time to figure out how to open up our political process, which is not attracting enough well-qualified, politically diverse candidates.

The fact is, many people supported Adam Hill, and yes, made excuses for him, because they believed he was their only choice.

Hill shared their values — including concern for the homeless, the poor and the disenfranchised — and he was an antidote to the far-right majority on the board.

So people voted for him, even though he was a flawed candidate — Hill had a temper and sometimes lashed out at his critics to a point where some were afraid to speak out.

That’s one reason The Tribune declined to offer Hill an endorsement in the 2020 election, even though we agreed with his positions on the issues.

Nor did we endorse his only opponent, Stacy Korsgaden, who we found to be unqualified. Some of her solutions were “alarmingly narrow-minded and sometimes verge(d) on being out of touch with reality,” we wrote then.

District 3 voters were left in a terrible spot, faced with two candidates who were not fit for office — albeit for very different reasons.

That encapsulates a growing problem in this county.

There are fewer and fewer people running for seats on the county Board of Supervisors, and elections are sometimes — for lack of a better expression — a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils.

That could be a reflection of the power of the incumbency. It’s daunting to challenge well-financed, well-known incumbents, no matter how imperfect they may be.

But it’s time for a reckoning, because a lack of choice doesn’t serve voters, and it doesn’t serve our county.

Three seats on the Board of Supervisors will be decided in 2022. Bruce Gibson and Lynn Compton are up for reelection, and the District 3 seat currently held by Dawn Ortiz-Legg, who was appointed to replace Hill, will be on the ballot as well.

One challenger, Jimmy Paulding of Arroyo Grande, has announced that he’ll run against Compton in District 4.

There are many other well-qualified candidates out there — including several who applied for the appointment to fill the vacancy created by Hill’s death.

We strongly urge others to consider running. The status quo is not working in San Luis Obispo County; it creates the very situation that allows deeply flawed candidates to remain in office, election after election.

So let this be a wake-up call.

We need to attract qualified, civil, common-sense candidates who reflect the values of the majority of San Luis Obispo County residents — not just the views of their base.

We know you’re out there.

Elections are coming. We look forward to meeting you.

This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 9:02 AM.