What I Learned from the District 2 Supervisor Race
By Nicole Dorfman
Morro Bay
Here are my observations about the SLO County District 2 Supervisor election, and they aren’t pretty:
1. Kindness Is for Losers – In this race only one candidate engaged in negative campaigning, and he won. Jim Dantona sent out nasty mailers about his opponent focusing on material from nearly a decade ago, with much taken out of context. For example, Mr. Dantona hammered his opponent for supporting ICE in the past, despite the fact that at that time, President Obama also backed ICE. Michael Erin Woody never supported the current ICE raids or tactics, but rather, publicly, repeatedly and forcefully stated his grave concerns and opposition to the current situation. All smiles in person, Mr. Dantona’s printed material was downright malicious. Dirty campaigns like Dantona’s effectively degrade important conversations and inevitably pit neighbor against neighbor in our small towns, creating division within the Central Coast communities he will now serve. Meanwhile, in the face of repeated attacks, Mr. Woody made a clear choice to maintain his honor and integrity by refusing to parrot his opponent’s ugly rhetoric.
2. Diversity Doesn’t Really Matter – Despite the steady drumbeat advocating for greater diversity among our elected officials, the voters chose another white man over a Native American. Indigenous people in this county are seriously underrepresented in elected positions of power, yet given a chance to support an Indigenous candidate as our County representative, voters instead elevated partisan politics over supporting diverse candidates. And Michael Woody is not just any Native person, but one whose background as a licensed professional civil engineer, with a master’s degree from Harvard in Public Administration, and extensive record of community involvement, is beyond qualified for the position. But, as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words, and by their actions the majority have shown us that the notion of diversity as strength is just another feel-good, but meaningless slogan. Even in this non-partisan race, partisan politics proved to be the deciding factor for a majority of District 2 voters, diversity be damned!
3. Money in Politics is A-OK – Campaign finance reform was one of Mr. Woody’s election priorities. His campaign accepted a maximum of $500 per person and refused corporate, union and PAC monies completely. Mr. Dantona declined such restraints and instead embraced untraceable PAC money from who-knows-where, as well as numerous large donations from Democrat political organizations, bundles of funds from various unions across California (many with business before the County), and other special interest entities, raking in nearly 10 times the cash as Mr. Woody. The corrupting influence of unlimited riches flooding our elections is well understood, but when there was a real candidate in front of us, with strong financial ethics, who actually put his money where his mouth is, the voters shrugged and turned away. So much for the evils of Big Money in our elections.
In summary, what I learned from this election is that if a candidate runs a clean campaign, sticks to the issues, and refuses big monetary contributions, they are likely to lose, despite their background and qualifications. Everyone in District 2 who claims to believe in the values of kindness, diversity, and getting money out of politics, yet who flung those values aside for this one election, is likely to do so again and again whenever partisan politics comes calling, even in what is supposed to be a non-partisan race, like the SLO County Supervisors. Those same voters need to look in the mirror the next time they complain about the lack of civility, diversity and campaign finance reform in our elections and acknowledge that they too are part of the problem. Mr. Dantona is the only winner in this election. The rest of us have lost where it matters most.
Murmurs of the 4th
It’s 9:30 p.m., and the 2026 4th of July fireworks are done here in Cayucos. Chairs for the parade- watchers are being pulled out of the streets, cars full of tourists are heading elsewhere, and my noise-crazed and confused neighborhood cat has gone to ground. Hooray! It’s finally over for another year, with tens of thousands of dollars spent by people who think an expensive fireworks show is just a terrific way to bring people into Cayucos for the day and evening.
Who knows, maybe they’ll even spend some money with what few merchants bother to stay open for the festivities.
You know, those who own the bars and eateries down by the pier.
Meanwhile, the pool across from Hardie Park remains closed for the summer, and also for the foreseeable future, because it has a very bad leak, and NOBODY knows where it is, how bad it is, or how much it will cost to fix it. So those who live here in Cayucos will just have to tough it out and go elsewhere if they want to recreate in fresh water.
But the fundraising for next year’s fireworks show is already in motion, and I guarantee you it will
cost more than this year’s event. Obviously, it’s a matter of civic priorities, along with “Give ‘em what we think they want “. And anyway, “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”
To me, an old-fashioned fireworks show in this day and age is really, really old hat, and altogether from another era entirely. It’s also just not a good bargain — after all, it’s all blown up in one night!
In my old age, I have seen enough fireworks shows to last a lifetime. And anyway, I’d much rather go for a swim in the pool.
In your heart of hearts, wouldn’t you?
John Winthrop
Cayucos
In Support of Offshore Wind Efforts
“All politics is local,” and the July 2 Estero Bay News story “State to Sue over Offshore Wind Collapse” is proof in the pudding.
Offshore wind companies spent years investigating and exploring West Coast viability in providing wind energy to the region. After clearing the hurdles set by multiple regulatory agencies (the highest hurdle being the Department of Defense), permits were granted and Wind Energy Areas were assigned.
The Trump administration had filed suit to halt the construction of these wind farms. Having failed in the courts, the administration has pivoted to making direct payments for developers to walk away from projects already underway. This represents a loss of millions of dollars paid to the U.S. Treasury and state and local agencies.
California is seeking to obtain information about the terms of the agreements between the Feds and the developers. To the EBN inquiry, a state information agent responded, “California will continue to lead the way toward a cleaner, more reliable grid powered by domestic resources. Offshore wind remains an essential component of that work.” I support that effort.
Carol Swain
Morro Bay
San Luis Obispo County Adopts A. I. Policy
What are the implications of using artificial intelligence apps, or chatbots, such as ChatGPT by OpenAI, Claude by Anthropic, Microsoft’s Co-pilot, DataRobot’s AI platform, Google Gemini, GROK, Meta AI, Mistral Le Chat and Perplexity AI? Why were college students booing at their graduation ceremonies whenever the term AI was mentioned? Many AI news articles speak to job replacement and scarcity fears or personal identification security or theft. But there are also governance issues like what is the local city, county, state or even national governments doing with residents’ data/private information?
Earlier this year, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution addressing those concerns regulating the use of AI tools by county employees, volunteers and contractors. The March 24 vote was unanimous with all Supervisors present and voting according to the SLO County Board of Supervisors website.
The guidelines balance data governance with technological efficiency. The resolution oversight includes confidentiality, employment restrictions, employee liability and procurement security: Each county department is mandated to outline a list of restricted, confidential information including social security numbers, medical histories, and criminal records and other county files of a personal nature gathered for internal departmental use that can never be searched or submitted into public AI tools. AI is also strictly prohibited for use in employee hiring processes or performance management that could lead to prejudicial bias or discrimination. County staff are personally responsible for verifying the accuracy of any AI-generated content to avoid plagiarism and misinformation in documents they produce. Using these guidelines, the SLO County Information Technology Department is actively evaluating and developing secure AI software using local storage and encryption for safe handling of confidential information for all county departments.
Statewide implications
The state of California was forced to disclose it is currently using six automated systems to make consequential decisions concerning the lives of Californian residents according to a recent Cal Matters article. The state report included examples of departments: predicting whether incarcerated people will re-offend, evaluating whether unemployment claims are fraudulent, administering exams remotely for California State University students and detecting when college students use generative AI to write reports and class assignments.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) managed by Elon Musk breached many forms of private data and personal information in their efforts to streamline agencies and processes. Many lawsuits resulted from those disruptions to American citizens’ lives. Apparently, it is up to individual citizens to be proactive and vigilant to protect their lives and livelihoods, and the current graduating class generation is sounding the alarm.
Keith Pendleton
Cambria
