GOOD NEWS REAL NEWS HOMETOWN NEWS
SINCE 1889 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CXXXV, NO. X
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2024
pasoroblespress.com • $1.00 • WEEKLY
A look at who is running for election in North County
Paso Robles School Board debates drug testing and discipline policies
From Paso Robles to Atascadero, the candidate roster is full for this Nov. 5 election
Citations issued by school resource officers shows decrease in offenses
By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com
NORTH COUNTY — The initial period to file as a candidate for the Nov. 5 election closed on Friday, Aug. 9. As a result, some local incumbents have not qualified to move forward through the election period. Here is an update for candidates running local elections from Paso Robles to Atascadero. Atascadero In Atascadero, residents will vote for a new mayor after Heather Moreno won the District 5 San Luis Obispo County Supervisor seat, replacing Debbie Arnold, who did not seek another term on the county board. In addition, City Councilmembers Charles Bourbeau and Mark Dariz both have terms ending this year. Bourbeau announced his campaign for Atascadero City Mayor in April and no one filed to run against him for the seat. For the remaining two at-large seats on City Council, Seth Peek and Dariz are the only candidates running, making the new City Council essentially a done deal — meaning Peek, a local business owner and long-time resident, will be the only new blood joining the council. On June 25, the Atascadero City Council approved a resolution to place Measure L-24 on the ballot for the November 5 General Election that will extend Measure F-14 — a sales tax adopted in 2014. The measure, titled Atascadero Local Roads and Vital Services Funding Extension Measure, will ask voters to extend the existing half-cent per dollar (0.5 percent) general sales tax that is otherwise set to sunset in 2027. You can find more information on the resolution here: atascadero.org/news/november-5th-general-election-ballot-measure-l-24 City of Atascadero election details can be found here atascadero.org/2024-general-election For the Atascadero Unified School District (AUSD), there are three at-large seats available, each running a term of four years. Current board members with expiring terms in 2024 are: Matt Pennon, Terri CONTINUED ON PAGE A2
COUNTY
By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com
Paso Robles Rotary members having a good time at the Winemakers’ Cookoff include (seated from left) Gary Eberle and Dennis Cassidy, and (standing from left) Sally Davis, John Davis, and Vicki Silva. Photo by Derek Luff
25th Annual Winemakers’ Cookoff brings out the best of the best in Paso Robles Sextant Winery wins Judge’s Choice Award; California Coast Beer Co. brings home People’s Choice Award By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com
PASO ROBLES — In the name of food, wine, and scholarships, close to 900 people gathered at the Paso Robles Event Center for the 25th annual Paso Robles Rotary Winemakers’ Cookoff. Since 1999, the fundraiser has raised over $1 million for the Rotary’s Harlow Ford Scholarship Foundation, which supports local senior high-schoolers.
Twenty local wineries and breweries come together to compete for the coveted awards with a culinary creation. This year’s wine-industry professionals included as judges were: • Michael Cervin has more than a decade of experience in the wine industry as a writer, judge, and educator. • Lisa Pretty moved to Paso Robles 21 years ago and was owner and winemaker of Pretty-Smith Vineyards and Winery for 19 years and has published three food and wine pairing recipe books. • William Bloxsom-Carter served as executive chef and food & beverage director of the Playboy Mansion West for 28 years.
• Sarah Schneider has been a wine, food, and general lifestyle writer for 27 years. • Meridith May is the owner of two national U.S. wine and spirits trade publications. Co-chairs of the event are co-founders of Winemakers’ Cookoff, Vicki Silva and Sharon Ross. Silva shared that the community once again came out to enjoy the competitive atmosphere and great food, all for an even greater cause. Winners of the cookoff this year were: • People’s Choice: California Coast Beer Co. • Judges’ Award: Sextant Wines • Professional Chef: Eberle Winery • Spirit Award: Tobin James Cellars CONTINUED ON PAGE A2
El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO) conducting search for volunteers
An El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO) meal team is ready to serve. ECHO is seeking volunteers to serve on its Nightly Meal Program. Contributed Photo
Meal teams especially short on numbers By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@pasoroblespress.com
NORTH COUNTY — The El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO) is looking for more volunteers to join their mission of helping the local unhoused. Specifically, ECHO is searching for people who would like to serve on its meal teams that provide and help distribute food for its Nightly Meal Program at both the Atascadero and Paso Robles campuses. The food program
CRIME
NORTH COUNTY NEWS
runs every night of the year from 5 to 6 p.m. “Although we also serve breakfast and lunch to the residents of our shelter programs, the Nightly Meal Program alone serves between 80 to 120 individuals at each campus each night,” said ECHO’s Director of Operations and Development Austin Solheim. “That is roughly 75,000 meals per year that are provided by volunteers from the community.” Meal teams at ECHO started back in 2001 when community volunteers came together to support their neighbors who were facing homelessness. Now, 23 years later, ECHO has CONTINUED ON PAGE A2
EVENTS
PASO ROBLES — Suspension and whether or not the district should be drug testing students were discussed at the Tuesday, Aug. 6, Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) meeting. Staff will present the current board policy on drug testing students at the next board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 20. The 2023-2024 school year showed a drop in suspensions with 217 compared to 428 in the 2022-23 school year. This comes after the state has encouraged districts to begin using alternatives to suspension. During the July 9 school board meeting, staff presented trustees with a presentation on disciplinary actions taken for misbehaving students. That presentation showed that despite the decrease in suspensions, staff have noticed an increase in “behaviors” since the COVID pandemic. At the end of that July 9 presentation, trustees requested staff to come back to the board with more disciplinary data for the district. During the Aug. 6 meeting, staff ’s new presentation included data on citations issued by the district’s school resource officers (SRO). “We have found that issuing citations to appear in court has been a pretty good deterrent to behavior because it not only affects the student, but the parent as well. And we are not just doing it as a punishment; the court system has interventions themselves that they can impose on a student,” Director of Student Services Tom Harrington told the board, adding that the citations have been especially effective against fighting and possession of controlled substance infractions. Harrington also clarified for the board that the district has been working with SROs to distribute citations for the last year and a half for specific EDU codes, which has resulted in a decrease in offenses. Trustees Laurene McCoy and Kenney Enney questioned Harrington on why the board CONTINUED ON PAGE A2
WEATHER
pasoroblespress.com X.com/ @PasoRoblesPress facebook.com/ @PasoRoblesPress
SHERIFF CMSF Special Operations Unit | A3 Underage Drinking | A4
VOLUNTEERS AUGUST Habitat for Humanity | B1 Month Events | B8
High 98° | Low 54°
5
67808 24135
7