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SINCE 1889 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CXXXI, NO. XLV
THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2021
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JUSTICE FOR KRISTIN
Hundreds Attend Candlelight Vigil for Kristin Smart
After a week full of search warrants, arrest, press conferences and an arraignment, Justice for Kristin Smart, finally begins. A candlelight vigil in Smart’s honor was held in the Paso Robles City Park. Speakers included Chris Lambert (left) creator of “Your Own Backyard” podcast shared hope of resolution with the upcoming case. Photos by Rick Evans.
By CAMILLE DeVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com
O
n Sat. Apr. 17 a candlelight vigil was held in the downtown Paso Robles City Park in honor of Kristin Smart. In May 1996, 19-year-old Kristin Smart, a Cal Poly freshman from Stockton, had vanished over the Memorial Day weekend. Over the years, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff ’s department completed endless searches, countless interviews, investigated one lead after another, all with no prevail until last Tuesday when Justice for Kris-
CITY COUNCIL
tin finally began with the arrest of Paul Flores for Kristin’s murder and his father Ruben Flores for accessory after the fact. Members of the community gathered around the park gazebo, where a gold hoop stood adorned with flowers in the center. “Justice for Kristin” banners were hung, and candles were available for the crowd. Local resident Trish Butcher hosted the event. Special speakers included Carla Clawson Hoffman, a Smart family advocate, and “Find Kristin Smart,” social media administrator. Pascoe Bowen, a longtime activist for Kristin and former Cal
Frutchey Officially Retires From the City of Paso Robles
Council Approves Sewer Rate Increases Effective July 1 Estimated revenues for Measure J-20 sales tax reviewed
camille@pasoroblespress.com
By CAMILLE DeVAUL PASO ROBLES — The Paso Robles City Council met on Tuesday night for their regularly scheduled meeting. The newly appointed interim Paso Robles City Manager, Greg Carpenter, was sworn in. Carpenter will be working as city manager until the council chooses a permanent replacement for the prior Tom Frutchey. Frutchey’s last day as the city manager was on Friday. To read about his farewell sendoff of see “Frutchey Officially Retires From the City of Paso Robles” also on A1. A public hearing was held for the proposed sewer rate increases for Paso Robles residents. City staff presented what they have already done to minimize costs for sewer. They listed the following: CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
SPORTS
available on the case. He decided he wanted to tell Kristin’s story in a way that had never been done before. Through his podcast “Your Own Backyard,” Lambert walks through the details of the night Smart disappeared and the events that transpired in the years after. Local officials have credited Lambert for bringing renewed life to the case, which led to new leads and evidence. Lambert thanked everyone who has helped in bringing the Kristin Smart case to life. Paso Robles Press spoke with Lambert before the vigil about the case and his podcast.
RETIREMENT
Community bids farewell in a drive-thru celebration
camille@pasoroblespress.com
Poly student along with Sandee Hunt-Burns, also an admin for the social media group and advocate for Kristin and her family, spoke on behalf of Rachel Bird, one of Kristin’s best friends. In coordination with the speakers, San Luis Obispo County sign-language interpreter Robin Babb translated the event. Chris Lambert, creator of the “Your Own Backyard” podcast, received a standing ovation from the crowd when he walked up to speak. In late September 2019, Lambert, a Santa Maria native, started looking into Smart’s disappearance. With the lack of information he found
We asked Lambert if he ever thought the podcast would have this much effect on the Smart case, “In the beginning, I thought I would tell this story and then maybe something will come out of that, and then once people started coming out a speaking to me I thought I might have some interesting information here and maybe more than telling the story maybe I can move something forward.” Lambert says that he has looked into other cases for future podcast seasons, but for right now, Kristin Smart is his main priority. “Right now, this is my focus—I’ve
Board of Supervisors Discuss Hearings Regarding Land Use in North County
EDUCATION
Pismo Beach celebrates its 75th cityhood birthday By MELISSA MATTSON melissa@pasoroblespress.com Community drive-thru honors Paso Robles City Manager Tom Frutchey (right) for his final day before retirement. With him is Mayor Steven Martin (left). Photo by Camille DeVaul
Paso Robles when his wife had to visit the area several times for work. When the city manager position opened up, he decided to apply. Mayor Steve Martin said, “I think the thing that impressed me the most when it came to appointing him was I think number one he’s got a very varied background. He is not just public service. He has a very strong experience in the private sector, in business.” Police officers, firefighters, citizens, and other city departments came by the city hall to give their farewell to Frutchey at his “goodbye drive-thru.” The Paso Robles Fire and Emergency Services awarded Frutchey with a bronze fire-
COVID-19 UPDATE
fighter helmet for his “outstanding service and dedication to the citizens of Paso Robles.” The award read a quote that Frutchey added to the swearing-in oath for public officials and service members, “For leaving the city of Paso Robles greater and better than when it was entrusted to you.” That very saying was something that Mayor Martin admired about Frutchey. “I think he’s done that—were better down than when he was first hired,” said Martin. Frutchey passed out cards, and small thank you tokens to those something to say goodbye to CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
SENIOR LIVING
CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
GOVERNMENT
By CAMILLE DeVAUL PASO ROBLES — As of Apr. 16, Tom Frutchey has officially retired as Paso Robles City Manager after over 49 years in public and private service. After five years of being Paso Robles City Manager, Frutchey decided it was time to slow down, retire, and let someone else take his place. So what is next for Frutchey? He and his wife are planning to spend more time with their grandchildren in Camarillo and take a few months to recharge and “veg out.” “What I want to do is volunteer—working on democracy in America because we’ve got issues. We’ve all been blessed by being born in this country and this era, and just looking around, I think we’ve forgotten how lucky we are and how it’s absolutely crucial that we invest in democracy and we invest in our communities and the people who need help,” says Frutchey. Frutchey was introduced to
also become close to the family, I’ve become close with some people in the sheriff ’s department, and it feels like seeing this one through to the end is the best thing to do,” said Lambert. Lambert is currently working on a new episode of Your Own Backyard but does not have a release date yet. Numerous productions like Netflix have reached out to Lambert to turn his podcast into a series. However, Lambert is firm on moving forward with the story
SAN LUIS OBISPO — The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors met on Tuesday, Apr. 20, for a regularly scheduled meeting. The meeting opened with the consent agenda, of which Supervisor John Peschong requested to pull item two, the introduction of an ordinance amending section 2.48.095 of the County Ordinance Code regarding compensation increases for the Board of Supervisors. The consent agenda passed 5-0, and 4-0 for item three, which Chairperson Lynn Compton recused herself from for undisclosed reasons. Item two was voted in favor 3-2, with Peschong and Compton against the item. SLO County Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein presented a current update on COVID, which to date has had 20,972 cases in the
county, and of that, only 211 are currently active five hospitalizations, and two people in the ICU. To read the full report on the COVID update, read SLO County 0.1 Percent From Orange Tier on page A5. Borenstein then proceeded with going over the state’s Blueprint Metrics. She stated, “unfortunately, the case count numbers place the county at 6 percent adjusted case positivity rate when it would need to be at 5.9 to move the county into the Orange Tier.” Borenstein explained that she has already begun a dialogue with the state to see if there are any missing test numbers from the week in question that could move the county into the Orange Tier. By returning to the Red Tier in case positivity, it would require that the county start over the process of achieving two weeks of low numbers before moving into the Orange Tier. Borenstein also addressed nonfactual responses to the vaccine and encouraged everyone to do their homework to learn the truths and decide what’s right for them. The supervisors then moved on to public comment and heard from Sherry Nelson, who, in response to Borenstein’s concern about misinCONTINUED ON PAGE A15
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