Elections for seats on the Cayucos Sanitary District’s Board of Directors has followed a similar path of the Los Osos Community Services District, in that not enough candidates signed up to run for the seats available.
The Sanitary District had three seats up for election — Divisions 2, 3 and 4.
Current office holders are: Div. 2 — Justin Smith, and Div. 3 — Joe Clark; and Div. 4 is currently vacant. The other two sitting Directors are: Board President Bob Enns — Div. 5; and, Board V.P. John Curtis — Div. 1.
Two men signed up to run for the Div. 4 seat that was vacated Aug. 20 when long-time Board member Shirley Lyon stepped down.
Qualified candidates are: Charles Bergson and Jim Billings. Both will appear on the November ballot and whoever gets the most votes wins. Filling the other two spots is a bit different than other offices.
According to a report from District G.M David Athey, “Pursuant to Elections Code §10515, the vacant seats representing Divisions 2 and 3 must be filled by appointment by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors (BOS) before Nov. 30, 2026. The appointment will be effective Nov. 3, 2026, and the candidates will serve the remaining terms of the divisions.”
The Board assumes an advisory position in this process. County Supervisors, “may consider recommendations for candidates made by the CSD Board of Directors (BOD),” Athey said. “If the CSD BOD desires to make recommendations to the BOS, the CSD BOD may provide direction to staff regarding the scope and manner of outreach and coordination desired with County officials.
“Such direction may include whether staff should post the vacancies, establish an application process and timeline, collect expressions of interest from eligible residents, and return with qualified applicants for the Board’s consideration at the September CSD BOD meeting and prior to forwarding any recommendations to the County.”
Athey told Estero Bay News that the Board voted to form an ad hoc committee — with Enns and Curtis — to go out into the community and see if they can recruit people to apply for the open seats.
Those people would be interviewed at the Board’s September meeting and the Board will vote on recommendations to the Supervisors to fill them for the remainder of the terms.
One seat is a 2-year term and the other a 4-year term, he said.
Los Osos CSD
Los Osos appears a bit more settled, though another appointed board member is needed.
LOCSD General Manager, Greg Kwolek said Chuck Cesena who represents Area 1 and Christine Womack from Area 4 signed up to run and were both unopposed so they will win re-election without a fight.
The third seat, currently held by Board President Matthew Fourcroy in Area 2, will have to be filled. Fourcroy did not seek re-election and no one else sought the seat.
That means for the second election in a row, the board will have to appoint someone to fill an empty seat.
Kwolek told EBN “We’re bringing an item about the vacancy to the Board on Thursday night (Sept. 3). Assuming we get approval, we’ll open up the application on Friday.”
The applicants will have to come out of the Area 2 boundaries, which span the southern side of Los Osos Valley Road from the Redfield Woods (Highland Drive) neighborhood to Bayview Heights and all the way to the Sea Oaks Mobile Home Park.
Normal qualifications would apply — at least 18-years old and a registered voter living within the Area 2 boundaries.
Morro Bay Will Vote
And it seems EBN’s story from our last issue about the non-election in Morro Bay was a bit premature in concluding there would be no election again this year.
In a somewhat surprising move, the City Council at an Aug. 19 Special Meeting unanimously voted (5-0) to go ahead with having the election appear on the November General Election ballot.
The decision was made to allow potential write-in candidates to stand up for election.
The three qualified candidates — Mayor Carla Wixom, Councilwoman Zara Landrum and Council newcomer Mike Gerson — will appear on the printed ballots and the sample ballot booklets after all.
However, next to Mayor Wixom’s name will be a blank line for a potential write-in candidate. Landrum’s and Gerson’s names will also have write-in lines below them.
It marks another first in Morro Bay’s election history.
“In circumstances where the number of nominees does not exceed the number of offices to be elected,” City Clerk Dana Swanson told EBN, “State Law requires the City’s Election Official to submit a certification of those facts to the governing body who may choose to either: 1) appoint to the office the persons nominated, thereby canceling the election, or 2) hold the election.”
The Council’s vote to go ahead and hold an election means the $30,000 that was budgeted by the City for election costs will have to be spent. Canceling the election and simply appointing the three would have saved that money.
But if anyone wants to give a go at a write-in candidacy, they will still have to go through a nomination process.
“Between Sept. 7 to Oct. 20,” Swanson explained, “a registered voter interested in being a write-in candidate must submit to the City Clerk’s Office a ‘Statement of Write-in Candidacy’ that includes the candidate’s name, residential address, declaration stating that he or she is a write-in candidate, title of the office for which they are running and the date of the election.”
That Statement starts the official nomination process. “They are then issued a nomination paper and must collect at least 20 valid signatures of Morro Bay voters,” Swanson said, “just as those who file during the regular nomination period.”
But any serious write-in candidate will probably have to campaign twice as hard to get noticed, since their name will not be printed on the ballots.
“Their name does not appear on the ballot,” Swanson said, “or voters information guide; however, any write-in votes received would be counted.”
There was one other person who had inquired about running before the regular nomination deadline lapsed, but that person did not proceed with a nomination.
The 2026 Election marks the second straight election where the minimum number of candidates for open seats made it to the ballot.
In 2024, Mayor Wixom and now-Councilmen Jeff Eckles and Bill Luffee, were the only people who qualified for the ballot and the then-council members decided not to hold an election and they were given the seats without a fight.
It was Mayor Wixom’s first re-election and the first elections for Councilmen Luffee and Eckles.
