UPDATE  9:55 PM PST: Pandora Nash-Karner has issued a response:

Fortunately, Los Osos has more than one facet — we’re not just about the sewer issue.

Celebrate Los Osos is dedicated to making a difference, one project at a time, with highly visible projects, engaging volunteers who want to get their hands dirty “doing good work” for the benefit of our unique community.

Genius loci — the Spirit of Place — is the unique, distinctive and cherished aspects of a place — the very reasons we love Los Osos. It is as much in the invisible weave of the people as it is our area’s tangible physical aspects.

The Spirit of Volunteerism and love of place have a long history in Los Osos. Just look and you’ll see the evidence: the Elfin Forest, Sweetsprings, the Bridge Bears, the Community Center, the historical murals, Los Osos Community Park, not to mention the legions of men and women who coach and support youth sports.

Volunteering is the most fundamental act of citizenship and philanthropy in our society. It is offering time, energy and skills to help others and the community we live in. By caring and contributing volunteers make a difference to the quality of life. People work to improve the lives of their neighbors and, in return, enhance their own.

Join us in the celebration of our place.

Celebrate Los Osos is more than just an organization, it has become a movement. It began in January 2008 with the intention of bringing a splintered community together and re-establishing community pride. We are an all-volunteer, community-based, non-profit corporation committed to benefit public spaces in Los Osos and Baywood Park.

We utilize volunteers of all ages and abilities to plant, paint, repair, build, beautify, refurbish, remodel, restore and maintain projects that directly involve and engage community members in order to stimulate community pride, bind us together, and leave a legacy for all to enjoy.

Your blog didn’t mention all the other people involved with Celebrate Los Osos who have not be involved in trying to solve the wastewater issue. Unfortunately you didn’t mention them.

Razor Response: It’s good to note that there are many volunteers — who contribute to “Celebrate Los Osos” — who are not involved with the sewer. Unfortunately, many of the founders, the movers and the shakers of this non-profit organization have created more pressing issues to the community: more substantial, critical issues that landscaping the road median on Los Osos Valley Rd. will not address. The spirit of volunteerism is not prohibited in this article — and to imply that it is shows a lack of understanding. In fact, the article does state that the focal point of the event should be donating money to where it’s needed the most, the residents of the Prohibition Zone.  Planting a tree, clearing brush and building fences will be a moot point if it’s done for a ghost town. There’s no other way to look at it. Contribute to what matters the most. It comes with great sadness to see that Mrs. Nash-Karner does not see the forest for the trees.

UPDATE 6:30 PM PST: A petition is now available for Prohibition Zone residents to sign. The petition is designed to hold the Celebrate Los Osos founders accountable. For more details, click here.

Week after week, a few Los Osos residents speak at public comment during Tuesday’s SLO County Board of Supervisors meeting. No matter what happens in the ever-changing sewer saga, public comment speakers revisit the same themes in the same combative tone. Legendary American boxer Muhammad Ali once said, “It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen,” but in the case of Los Osos residents speaking out, nothing happens when repetition is involved.

Continue reading How to Really Celebrate Los Osos →