In letters: More venting over SLO County clerk-recorder selection process

Underhanded tactic

I am very disappointed that the majority of the Board of Supervisors would be so underhanded as to try to get other choices for county clerk-recorder simply because the task force they enlisted did not make the “right” choice for them. Perhaps the three people suggested were “too qualified”? Too objective? Too reasonable?

I expect more of San Luis Obispo County than these childish tactics.

Sherry Lewis, San Luis Obispo

What’s been lost

The recent actions of three members of the Board of Supervisors to continue the selection process for an interim clerk-recorder for the County of San Luis Obispo may seem farcical to some and corrupt to others. Rightfully so.

But what has been somewhat lost in the controversy is not the selection of the person but their strategic reason for doing it at this time. Even if they picked an unqualified candidate today, there is still an election for the position in November of 2022. That person would have to run. However, what these three politicos know, especially Supervisor Peschong with his political consulting firm, is that seldom is there a contested election for this position and if so, voters tend to gravitate to the person who has the title.

All three know if they had selected one of the candidates put forth by the committee what the likely outcome would be in 2022. Hence, we need more candidates. There is no question this is a sinister maneuver by all three. In the interest of the voters of the county, and the same as taxpayers, the current acting clerk recorder, Ms. Helen Nolan, should have been appointed. After all, she auditioned for the job by conducting a flawless recall election on Sept. 14.

Bob Severs, San Luis Obispo

Follow committee’s recommendation

To ensure the integrity and efficient operation of the County Clerk-Recorder’s Office and inspire the confidence of residents and voters, the appointee must be a qualified professional with direct experience handling the duties of the office.

The Board of Supervisors has established a process to vet the applicants and select the best person. All applicants were properly screened, and the three most qualified candidates were recommended to the board.

We urge the board to follow the recommendations of the committee they appointed, interview the three candidates and select the most qualified to serve as interim clerk-recorder. We urge they act without further delay or additional cost to county taxpayers.

The board will discuss this appointment on Oct. 5. We urge you to make your voice heard. Written comments must be submitted by 5 p.. on Monday, Oct. 4. Submit your comments to Boardofsups@co.slo.ca.us

Cindy Marie Absey, President

League of Women Voters, SLO County

We’re also to blame

It’s saddening to see the divisiveness that has grown in our country, and especially in our community. It’s easy to blame it on our elected officials with claims of corruption, blind party bias, ignorance or greed. However, the fault really lies in us — the voters.

Government officials are supposed to be leaders. True leaders promote unity, make decisions that are best for the whole community, and display courage that goes beyond their personal gain. As voters, we appear to not value true leadership qualities and we have cast our votes based on petty partisanship, fear and hate. When we have elected leaders who promote divisiveness and fear, we will fail at effectively growing as a community.

The recent actions of Lynn Compton, Debbie Arnold and John Peshong, who have attempted to control the clerk-recorder position, is a clear display that even in our community we have elected to choose low-quality leaders. Rest assured that in the upcoming elections my vote will not go to Lynn Compton, who is my district supervisor, or to any other candidate that displays such divisive and partisan politics.

John Jacobson, Arroyo Grande

‘From first to worst’

The Board of Supervisors’ manipulation of the selection process for county elections chief is nothing new, and represents a pattern of rewarding political affiliation over competence. In 2016, following the announcement that I was retiring after 16 years as the county’s social services director, the county commenced a search for my successor.

After the initial winnowing of applicants, the county appointed committees to interview the finalists. Two of the finalists were qualified women who had served in the field many years; the third, a man who had been rejected by one of the committees as wholly unqualified, was added to the mix to demonstrate to the board the degree of “drop-off” after those first two women.

In the meantime, Supervisor Lynn Compton was contacted by a political ally in Santa Barbara County and urged to select the discredited male candidate. She lobbied her conservative partners on the board and, over the objections of the selection committees and the recommendation of the county administrative officer, the male candidate was appointed.

Since then, the county has gone “from first to worst” in its care of foster children, according to state officials.

Competence counts. San Luis Obispo County used to be held up as a model for county government. Now, it is the subject of jokes and ridicule.

We should not trust Supervisors Arnold, Compton and Peschong to select a qualified candidate for the office of county clerk-recorder.

Lee Collins, Atascadero

Anti-democratic stance

The despicable majority on the Board of Supervisors (John Peschong, Debbie Arnold and Lynn Compton) have blatantly revealed their anti-democratic stance in rejecting the opportunity to choose from among three highly qualified individuals for the office of county clerk-recorder to replace Tommy Gong (whom they helped chase out of town) — individuals who were selected by their own hand-picked committee.

It’s clear their intention from the beginning (by refusing to simply place Helen Nolan, who was Gong’s deputy, in the position until the 2022 election) was to have attorney Stewart Jenkins, or some equally unqualified individual, put in as county clerk-recorder prior to 2022. That person would then have the power of the incumbency (name recognition, etc.) in the 2022 election. All this to get Lynn Compton reelected as District 4 supervisor, regardless of who actually wins that election, so these three can maintain their minority rule over our county.

The Tribune’s Sept. 29 editorial accurately expressed misgivings about the supervisors’ intentions, writing, “...voters will have the opportunity to right that wrong (i.e., the appointment of an unqualified clerk-recorder) assuming whoever is in charge has enough integrity to honor the will of the voters.”

This shameless and undemocratic power grab must be stopped, not by violence, but by every means available in a democratic society.

Diane W. Mayfield, Templeton

Stop politicizing county government

Rather than taking a stand for good government practices, the majority of the Board of Supervisors sadly plays the political card on major issues. For example, after the board’s own handpicked selection committee put forward the three candidates qualified by experience from the 44 applicants for the role of County Clerk-Recorder, the board majority wants more candidates to consider.Stop politicizing county government

Why does it want to consider candidates who aren’t qualified? This issue is strikingly similar to the decision by the board majority to discount an independent analysis documenting the added costs of forming the county’s own integrated waste management organization. Why? The Integrated Waste Management Authority worked for regional solutions and didn’t bend to the board majority’s own agenda.

Regardless of our personal political persuasions, we need a county government that rises above politics and votes for good governance. We need governance that everyone can trust to make the right decisions and get things done. We can only hope the constituents who have elected the board majority appreciate the bad precedents that rabid political agendas instill in county government. We all deserve fair and efficient service delivered in a non-partisan way.

Don Maruska, Los Osos

Thanks, supes!

I would like to thank the Board of Supes for their honesty in their recent decision to look for more applicants for county clerk-recorder. In today’s world of everyone wanting transparency in their elected officials, the right-wing troika of Debbie Arnold, John Perschong and Lynn Compton have made it abundantly clear that they are not satisfied with the three well-qualified candidates recommended to replace the incorruptible Tommy Gong.

It’s obvious they want someone who is more in line with their desire to turn our election system into the ones being put in place in states like Texas and Georgia. I’m sure they will be interviewing candidates from that well-known election review team of the Cyber Ninjas.

Michael McGee, San Luis Obispo

Compton’s record

Lynn Compton is trying to control the county Elections Office.

She won her last election by a margin of about 60 votes. It’s clear that she needs to control the County Clerk’s Office to win reelection.

Here’s how she does it:

• In 2018, she sued Tommy Gong, county clerk, using attorneys Chuck Bell and Stewart Jenkins, for allowing signature corrections on mail-in ballots.
• She harassed and embarrassed Mr. Gong at public meetings that preceded his departure.
• Instead of promoting Mr. Gong’s assistant, she helped create a committee to accept and review applications, and appointed her attorney Chuck Bell as one of the members.
• Over the objections of the majority of the selection committee, Mr. Bell lobbied for Stewart Jenkins to be a candidate.
• The committee submitted its recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, and now three supervisors want to interview more candidates.

It’s clear Stewart Jenkins is Lynn Compton’s preferred candidate. A vote for Jimmy Paulding will restore ethics and good government to San Luis Obispo County.

Duane Leib, Arroyo Grande

Why all the vitriol?

It is truly astounding to see the vitriol directed at an opposing party regarding the search for a new county clerk-recorder. Do these same letter authors forget the not-so-nice supervisor named Adam Hill? His supporters worshiped the ground he walked on and blindly supported him every step of the way. He was one of the most corrupt and power-hungry supervisors we’ve had in our county. I was personally told by professionals in our community that they would not help me if it meant opposing Adam Hill because their career “would be ruined.” Their words.

Paul C. Hertel, Arroyo Grande

We need a nonpartisan

After reading the Sept. 17 article, “Of 44 vying for clerk-recorder, four have election experience,” I was troubled to see that this is what we are left with after the “GOP 3” on the current Board of Supervisors helped run Tommy Gong out of office as a part of their partisan push to cast doubt on the integrity of all voting in our county.

The conservative supervisors neglected to include any requirement of prior election experience as part of their “open invitation to apply.” More troubling was the fact that Supervisor Lynn Compton again took the Big Lie even further by appointing her GOP attack lawyer, Chuck Bell, as the District 4 selection committee representative. Hmm … what are the chances that all his endorsements might somehow be aligned to the GOP?

Lynn Compton must go. Time for a nonpartisan, forward-thinking representative who listens to all their constituents and gathers intelligence, rather than the self-serving candidate who raises campaign finance limits, forms her own “alternative” committees for Oceano and openly follows the partisan, divisive and non-transparent marching orders of her party.

You might even expect a claim of voter fraud when she loses handily to Jimmy Paulding in 2022.

Bruce Berlin, Arroyo Grande

Thanks, selection committee

SLO County voters owe a debt of thanks to County Administrative Officer Wade Horton and a majority of the members of the clerk-recorder selection committee for advancing three experienced and well-qualified candidates as finalists for the job (Tribune, Sept. 20th).

In contrast, Lynn Compton’s appointee to the committee, Chuck Bell, also pushed the candidacies of his co-counsel from Compton’s failed and baseless lawsuit to stop the vote count in the 2018 supervisor’s race, and a car salesman — neither of whom has any expertise running an election.

Fortunately, the other members of the committee saw though this scheme and shut it down (for now). Compton’s and Bell’s blatant attempt to inject partisanship into a process where none belongs is yet one more example of why Lynn Compton should not hold public office and why all voters need to choose Jimmy Paulding in 2022.

Thomas Burhenn, Arroyo Grande

Editor’s note: What are your thoughts on the search for a new clerk-recorder? Write us at letters@thetribunenews.com, and we’ll post your letter online.

This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 5:30 AM.