News
August 11 - 18, 2011
➤ Old Staff Photos [12] ➤ Strokes & Plugs [14]
What the county’s talking about this week
Citizen’s
Alert
BENEFITS, MEETINGS, PROTESTS, FORUMS
MONDAY, AUG. 15
Grover Beach City Council public meets in the City Hall Council Chambers, Grover Beach City Hall, 154 S. Eighth St. at 6:30 p.m. Info: 489-9657. Morro Bay Planning Commission meets at 6 p.m. in the Morro Bay Veterans Hall, 209 Surf St. Info: 772-6200. Watch it live on Morro Bay Charter channel 20. Replay: 1 a.m., 9 a.m., 6 p.m. daily.
TUESDAY, AUG. 16
SLO County Board of Supervisors meets at 9 a.m. in the County Government Center on Monterey Street in SLO. Info: 781-5450. Watch it live on Charter Countywide channel 21. Replay: Tuesday, 6 p.m.; Wednesday, 8:30 a.m.; Sunday: 5:30 p.m. Arroyo Grande Planning Commission meets at 6 pm in the City Council Chambers. Meetings will be televised live on Arroyo Grande’s government access channel 20 and rebroadcast each day for one week at 9 a.m., 6 p.m., and 1 a.m. and the following Thursday and Sunday immediately following the rebroadcast meeting. Info: 473-5404. Atascadero Planning Commission meets at 7 p.m., at City Hall, 6907 El Camino Real. Info: 4668099. Paso Robles City Council meets at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 1000 Spring St. Info: 237-3888. Pismo Beach City Council meets at 4:30 p.m., at City Hall, 760 Mattie Road. Info: 773-4657. Watch it live on Pismo Beach Charter Channel 20. Replay: 1 a.m., 9 a.m., 6 p.m., daily. SLO City Council meets at 7 p.m. in the Council Chamber of City Hall, 990 Palm St. Info: 781-7100. Templeton CSD Board of Directors meets in the Board Meeting Room at 206 5th St. Info: 434-4900.
THURSDAY, AUG. 18 SLO City Housing Authority meets at noon in the Housing Authority offices, 487 Leff St. Info: 543-4478.
THE POWERS THAT BE County Board of Supervisors: Room 370, County Government Center SLO, 93408; phone: 7815450; fax: 781-1350. Email: caispuro@co.slo.ca.us; Web: www.co.slo.ca.us/ Board_of_Supervisors_ Inter.nsf
Morro Bay snubs sea otters
T
he City of Morro Bay is no stranger to raising awareness for a slew of issues from autism to tourism to bikes. Since the new City Council took the reigns in January 2011, the city has issued 10 proclamations for “awareness.” But if the local commercial fishing community has its druthers, the city won’t recognize “Sea Otter Awareness Week.” The month of May, for example, was designated as “National Tourism Month,” “Bike Month,” and “National Drowning Prevention Month.” One week in May was designated as “Police Week,” another “Bike to Work and School Week,” and past favorites include feel-good themes like “Grand Jury Awareness Month,” and “Month of the Child.” While soliciting support for their national campaign to raise awareness for the plight of the threatened sea otter, the nonprofit conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife asked Mayor Bill Yates to place an item on the City Council’s agenda to designate the last week in September “Sea Otter Awareness Week”—just as the city has for the past six years. In their first interaction with the new mayor and council, however, the Defenders were taken aback when they got a polite “pass.” In an e-mail response, Yates rejected the group’s request, citing opposition from the Morro Bay Commercial Fisherman’s Association. “The overwhelming message from the [association] is: Do not pass this proclamation,” Yates wrote in an e-mail to his colleagues and the Defenders. “To say their feelings are strong would be an understatement.” Yates supported his decision by citing the city’s “unequivocal” support of local fishermen in the past. In his e-mail, he noted that if any two council members disagreed with his decision, he would allow the item on the agenda for the Aug. 23 meeting. As of press time, there was no dissenting opinion. Current population estimates indicate there are roughly 2,700 otters in California. Jim Curland, a marine biologist and otter expert with the Defenders, told New Times the population has taken a hit in recent years from disease and habitat degradation. “This just caught us by surprise that they weren’t even interested in a response from anyone in the community other than the fishermen,” Curland said. “If the mayor wanted to do a true pulse of the people that live in Morro Bay, I think he’d find
Police find kidnapped child after search
A community scrambled after 4-year-old Jeremy Guthrie was abducted early on the morning of Aug. 5. After a short search, the boy
there’s a great interest from people that like to go kayaking or boating. I think that using just a gauge from the fishing community isn’t a fair pulse.” Curland said the organization has faced similar opposition in other cities in the past, and that many fishermen see the sea otter as a nuisance at best and sometimes competition, based on its shellfish diet. “I think it might be a little shortsighted to talk about the losses to the fishing industry because of the otters,” Curland said. “The fact is they have to look at the big picture and the otter’s role as a keystone species for the environment, as well as their economic role as far as promoting ecotourism.” Councilman Noah Smukler told New Times he wanted to support the proclamation, but admitted it could be tough to gather support from his fellow
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
OTTER NONSENSE? For the first time in six years, the Morro Bay City Council may forego raising awareness for the threatened sea otter, citing opposition from the fishing community.
is safely back with his mother. On Aug. 5, the Atascadero Police Department reported that Guthrie had been abducted, allegedly by 52-year-old Annette Hale, from the El Camino Homeless Organization located in the First Baptist
WeekendWeather COASTAL ➤ High 65 Low 55 INLAND ➤ High 94 Low 52
THURSDAY
Jim Byrne Meteorologist
COASTAL ➤ High 64 Low 56 INLAND ➤ High 91 Low 52
COASTAL ➤ High 66 Low 56 INLAND ➤ High 94 Low 52
COASTAL ➤ High 68 Low 57 INLAND ➤ High 96 Low 54
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Patchy morning clouds will give way to sunny skies.
6 • New Times • August 11 - August 18, 2011 • www.newtimesslo.com
council members without appearing to slight the fishermen. Smukler also said that in light of the city’s efforts to boost tourism, promoting the local otter population just makes sense. “The otters are an important indicator species that many locals and visitors really enjoy,” he said. “This just doesn’t seem consistent to me.” A Fisherman’s Association representative could not be reached for comment. According to former mayor Janice Peters, resident sea otters are a benefit to local tourism. Making such a proclamation is, in reality, only a symbolic gesture, Peters said, but one she and previous council members seemed happy to make in the past. Peters admitted the issue is sensitive and something that showcases the tight balancing act the City Council has when considering the interests of the fishing community as well as the environmental community. Δ —Matt Fountain
Church in Atascadero. Police issued a widespread amber alert, coordinated with local media, opened tip lines, and began searching for the boy. Guthrie was located in the early evening of the same day in an abandoned Atascadero car dealership and reunited with his mother soon after. Community members rallied after news of the kidnapping broke, clogging online comment sections with tips, posting and re-posting news stories on Facebook, and some had even planned a candlelight vigil. Hale was arrested and booked in the San Luis Obispo County jail on $1 million bail for alleged kidnapping. If convicted she could face between three and eight years, according to state penal codes. She had a few prior crimes, according to the Atascadero Police Department, but no history of kidnapping or violent crime. NEWS continued page 10