GOOD NEWS REAL NEWS HOMETOWN NEWS
SINCE 1889 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CXXXIV, NO. IX
THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2023
pasoroblespress.com • $1.00 • WEEKLY
JUNIOR LIVESTOCK
GOVERNMENT
Paso Robles Police officers support local FFA and 4-H members at the CMSF
Supervisors vote to approve new homelessness data management
EDUCATION
Fate still unknown for Georgia Brown Elementary School
$3.4 million software system will collect data like how many unhoused live in the county By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com
Community calls for no closure of campus, while concerns are voiced over Spanish translations By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com
PASO ROBLES — The fate of the Georgia Brown Elementary School Campus remains up in the air as the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees discussed an action plan for how to move forward with the campus on 36th Street. On Monday, Aug. 7, the district held a special meeting to allow the community to voice opinions, questions, and concerns regarding the school’s future. A regularly scheduled meeting was set for Tuesday, Aug. 8, where trustees provided further direction to staff in moving forward with Georgia Brown’s future. Thirty people were signed up to speak on Monday, all with the general consensus to not close the Georgia Brown campus. While the possibility of having to close the campus has been looming since 2021, the district has made it clear that the dual immersion program will not go away but could move to a different campus if needed. In 2021, a 7-11 committee suggested closing the Georgia Brown campus due to the amount of funds it would take to repair the campus and declining enrollment in the district. Georgia Brown Elementary School is currently a magnet school utilizing a Spanish-English speaking program with a goal of students speaking both languages fluently by the time they complete grades K-5. After months of discussion, trustees had finally made a decision to renovate the campus but for a smaller capacity. However, that plan was put on hold after an CONTINUED ON PAGE A7
COMMUNITY
(Clockwise from left) Paso Robles Police Officer Christopher Hart, Corbin Hart, PRPD Officer Stephen Lugo, local 4-H member Mason Ratekin, and PRPD Sgt. Josh Hermanson pose with the hog the Paso Robles POA bought from Ratekin at the California Mid-State Fair. Contributed Photo
$7,500 donated back to local 4-H and FFA members through add-on sponsorship
tion (POA) not only supported local FFA and 4-H youth, but also purchased an animal from the auction for the second year from the California Mid-State Fair Jr. Livestock Auction. By CAMILLE DEVAUL In early July, POA welcomed camille@pasoroblespress.com local FFA and 4-H members PASO ROBLES — Build- to come to the station for ing a new tradition, the Paso interviews for a chance to earn Robles Police Officer Associa- an “add-on” scholarship for
auction. This is when a buyer can add funds to a 4-H or FFA member’s animal project’s auction price. In three days, POA held interviews for 120 kids plus more in the following days. Officers conducted one-on-one interviews with the students on their animal projects. The POA saw more students of various ages get
involved with their add-on scholarship program this year and equally had more officers of different ranks involved with interviews. POA President Det. Elizabeth Place, told Paso Robles Press they noticed that showing animals at the CMSF was not only a tradition for the CONTINUED ON PAGE A7
MEMORIAL
Remembering Harry Ovitt: A man for the community
PASO ROBLES — The Paso Robles we know today exists because of people like Harry Ovitt, who lived for his community. A large man in heart and stature, Ovitt loved his community of Paso Robles and beyond, and on Sunday, July 2, he left this world at the age of 78. Ovitt was a lifelong community servant. Born on Sept. 22, 1945, in Camp Rucker, Alabama, to Harry Luther Ovitt II and Dorothy Virginia Ovitt, he later moved to Paso Robles where he would graduate as a Bearcat and become an Eagle Scout. He would later go on to serve in the Navy and end his hitch as a proud veteran. When you ask people about
Ovitt, they almost all immediately picture him in the old Sears Roebuck store on Park Street, where he used to work. Current District 5 Supervisor Debbie Arnold remembers him just like that, behind the catalog counter that she frequented as a new mother. And Paul Viborg, who also remembers first meeting Ovitt in the Sears like so many others. But more importantly than his stint in Sears, people remember Ovitt as a community man. “Harry was one of the last of a dying breed,” said Viborg, whose father, Ole Viborg, was also close with Ovitt. “He was very much community oriented.” Ovitt took his love of Paso Robles to serve on the Paso Robles City Council for 11 years and then in 1989 he was elected to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors to represent District 1 for 20 years. Arnold began working closer with Ovitt when she worked as a legislative assis-
NEWS
NORTH COUNTY LIFE
Ovitt served on Paso Robles City Council for 11 years and SLO County Board of Supervisors for 20 years By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com
Former San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Harry Ovitt serves beans at an undated Pioneer Day Bean Feed. Photo by Dave Skinner
tant at the supervisor’s office. “He was a great public servant and he really did care about the community,” she said. The supervisor’s office is where Ovitt was able to make a larger impact in the county. It is where he met longtime
friend Vicki Janssen, who also worked at the Board of Supervisors as a legislative assistant. Later the two would serve on the board for the Law Enforcement Assitance Foundation nonprofit.
EVENTS
SECTION
CONTINUED ON PAGE A7
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY — There will be a new way to collect homelessness data in San Luis Obispo County after Supervisors unanimously approved investing in a $3.4 million software system at the Tuesday, August 8 meeting. The new technology aims to revolutionize the way data is collected and managed regarding unhoused individuals within the county. With District 1 Supervisor John Peschong absent, Supervisors voted 4-0 for the new software, which will collect data like how many unhoused live in the county and what services they use regularly. “Measuring the extent and understanding the nature of homelessness is essential to combating it,” said San Luis Obispo County Homeless Services Manager Joe Dzvonik. The county has been continuously looking for ways to address homelessness. Many agreed that the more they know about the homeless community here, the better they can be addressed. As part of the county’s five-year plan, they are aiming to reduce homelessness in half by 2027. “The capability expansion shown here is nothing short of revolutionary,” said Dzvonik. “It allows our service providers to communicate rapidly and accurately in a way never seen before in this county.” The driving force behind the new software is the need for a more comprehensive and efficient data management system. The current system, as described by Dzvonik, lacks the capacity to track the entire journey of an unhoused — from their initial entry into homelessness to accessing services and, ideally, finding housing. This creates a disjointed approach, where service providers struggle to gather and analyze client data effectively. Janna Nichols, the executive director of the 5 Cities Homeless Coalition, says that existing data entry redundancies consume precious time that could be CONTINUED ON PAGE A7
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