The Tribune’s Bob Cuddy has not stepped into Los Osos deeply enough to gauge public opinion regarding the wastewater project. In his article on March 2, Cuddy reported that Chairman Mecham is no longer allowing a “special speaking time” for Los Osos since it detracts from other board business. Where’s the comments from the sewer critics? Take that, journalism! Since Cuddy wouldn’t elaborate on the finer details, we’ll discuss them here.
As the chairman of the board, Bruce Gibson made the decision for County staff to provide monthly project updates (Cuddy calls it “special speaking time,” a Kindergarden-quality synonym), which naturally elicited public comment from Los Osos residents. It was at the chairman’s discretion to create that special time, but there was no indication — at any point in time — that the monthly updates would be suspended indefinitely. After confirming that project updates would be outsourced to office hours, Gibson says — as quoted in the article — that, “There will be a (Los Osos) item before the board when there is something to talk about.” However, there is something to talk about.
On January 26, California Coastal Commission’s Central Coast District Manager Dan Carl wrote a response to County Public Works’ Mark Hutchinson regarding the substantial issues that were raised by the commissioners. While Carl explains the steps that need to be taken to mitigate each substantial issue raised, there has been no publicly issued response by Public Works regarding their proposed resolutions and how much those resolutions would cost to enact. Public Works has not provided the public with any analysis or a clear explanation with supporting documentation that addresses these problems. The discussion between the Coastal Commission and County Public Works has been made private to the chagrin of many residents — and not just the so-called “vocal minority” — who have been involved with the process. They also include those who support the County and their project. Now, Los Osos residents are left with uncertainty. Everybody loses.
In September, Gibson issued a chairman’s rebuke of Los Osos residents who overused their public testimony time, but that had absolutely nothing to do with the board reducing updates to once a month as Cuddy indicated. Residents criticized the board for limiting their free speech because of the time limits that were specifically imposed on Los Osos residents (10 minutes of public comment in the morning and 10 in the afternoon) when each public participant has been given the maximum allowed three minutes per presentation as designated by their agenda and the California Brown Act.
Things are actually worse than what Cuddy described. While it’s true that Los Osos residents are able to speak for the full three minutes on public comment every Tuesday, the fact of the matter is that everyone outside the County government is stonewalled from receiving information and project updates. While supporter after supporter of the County has taken the opportunity to criticize the frequent “obstructionist” speakers, they don’t realize — or may not want to realize — that they have been caught in the same undertow as the people they’re criticizing, as Los Osos is being swept away.
