Recount fund for Pismo Beach mayor race shows passion of the voters

We toss democracy-in-action bouquets to donors who are pitching in the $3,000 needed to recount ballots in the Pismo Beach mayor’s race, in which winner and loser are separated by just two votes.

Kevin Kreowski, who finished behind incumbent Shelly Higginbotham, had not officially requested the recount as of Thursday afternoon, but was expected to do so today. If he does, the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office will start recounting the ballots Monday, according to newly elected county Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong.

The campaign to fund the recount was launched by Kreowski’s supporters via the crowdfunding website http://GoFundMe.com. Within a couple of days, they had raised more than enough to cover the cost. (The state elections code requires the person requesting the recount to pay for it, but if the recount results in a change in the outcome, the money is refunded.) Higginbotham donated $495 toward the recount. She left this comment on the site: “I believe it is important to the community to know for certain that the count is correct. Let’s get the election finalized and move ahead.”

We agree 100 percent. When the vote is this close, it makes sense to ensure accuracy; Higginbotham’s contribution was a classy move.

Water hogs need to cut back

Finally, lawns are beginning to green, windshield wipers are getting a workout, and we’ve even spotted some open umbrellas. But the drought is not over — not by a long shot. So why in the world are we still seeing some folks turn on their sprinklers every single morning? And seriously, why are some people washing their cars in this weather — and letting the water run down their driveways and into the gutters?

Collectively, we’re doing a decent job of conserving water, but you water hogs are dragging us down.

Rain is forecast for Saturday, so turn off the sprinklers and stow the garden hoses — or we’ll be sending a shower of brickbats your way.

Excitement for a sunny restoration

We’re excited that Sunny Acres — the abandoned brick building in San Luis Obispo that once housed a juvenile detention center — will be repurposed into studio apartments by Transitions-Mental Health Association.

As part of the redo, the name of the building will change to Bishop Street Studios. That will help distinguish it from the other Sunny Acres: Dan De Vaul’s clean-and-sober living facility on Los Osos Valley Road.

We agree this town isn’t big enough for two Sunny Acres, and changing one of the names will lead to less confusion. Yet we feel ever-so-slightly bereft that the original building will no longer be called “Sunny Acres.”

It’s a nostalgia thing: If you grew up in SLO County in the 1950s or ’60s, it’s almost guaranteed that your parents, at one time or another, threatened you with banishment to the bucolic-sounding Sunny Acres, for anything from ditching class to failing to take out the trash.

So, yes, a connection to the past will be lost when the name “Sunny Acres” is retired. But here’s what really matters: A long-neglected building will be restored, and we’ll gain some desperately needed housing for people with mental illnesses. For that, Transitions-Mental Health Association earns an acre of sunflowers.

This story was originally published November 21, 2014 at 6:05 AM with the headline "Recount fund for Pismo Beach mayor race shows passion of the voters."