At least one school board candidate in North County seems pretty convinced about one thing: Porn has no place in school libraries.

"I believe some of the literature that is being approved has gotten a little outside what is appropriate," Joey Arnold said during a recent Atascadero Unified School District board candidate forum. "I am absolutely in favor of not allowing something in our school districts that goes too far one way, as far as you know, maybe pornographic."

Curiously, though, he didn't know that teacher retention has been a challenge for the district, and he didn't take a stance on the $110 million bond the district is asking voters to approve this year.

"I'd have to look into this deeper," he said of the teachers. "It's one of those things that maybe comes down to competitive salaries."

Maybe? But you're sure there's porn in the high school library? Can we talk about specific books, for instance? I love specifics!

Arnold wants to ensure that "parents have a strong voice in shaping school policy," his website states.

Did Moms for Liberty put you up to this?

Other candidates at the forum seemed to be firmly on the side of the school librarians, with candidate Veronica DeCoster saying she trusted librarians to choose age-appropriate books for the district's students.

"Our district librarian has a master's degree in library science, she has years of training and experience that make her qualified," she said.

Incumbent Matthew Pennon called the insinuation about porn on campus a "new lie."

"That is not true, and we need to call out these lies when they are being told to us, plain and simple," he said.

This little Shredder would love to hear about the books that are actually in our local school libraries. What are the book titles on a campus near you that ruffle your conservative feathers? My gears would love to know. I'm looking at you Arroyo Grande mayoral candidate Gaea Powell on your soapbox against the City Council for not doing more about porn in the local schools—even going so far as to call them "pedophiles" in a recent meeting!

It's no wonder they cut public comment down. Sheesh.

Meanwhile in Grover Beach, after a boatload of drama, the City Council is moving public comment on items not on the agenda back to the beginning of meetings. Whew! That was a lot of soap opera for nothing. Seems to be the way the world turns in Grover Beach.

The City Council makes a decision, certain members of the public have a conniption fit, then the council reverses its decision. And isn't that the way local government is supposed to work?

But Mayor Karen Bright is still having the final say, kind of. She's limiting those comments to 15 minutes (Atascadero gets 30 minutes).

"Public comment has always been very important to me," she said. "It's one of the reasons I got involved in local politics in the first place."

It just took a few months to show it?

Meanwhile the anti-offshore wind people are making the public comment rounds at local government meetings, visiting the Port San Luis Harbor District earlier this summer and Pismo Beach at the beginning of October. Don't worry, Karen, I'm sure they'll be in Grover soon to make comments at the beginning of the meeting!

With two lawsuits filed against the companies that won the leasing rights for offshore wind off the coast of Morro Bay, local fishermen are hoping to stop things before they can start. The first one filed in February wasn't good enough, I guess, so they filed another one for good measure in September!

"It's not going to be good for our fisheries," group spokesperson Sheri Hafer told New Times earlier this year.

The problem this time? The fishing liaison isn't liaisoning with the fishermen. Get to liaisoning, Equinor!

You know who's got the liaisoning down? State Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz). In another slap in the face to the previous iteration of the SLO County Board of Supervisors and sitting but soon-to-be-gone 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law at the end of September that will create an independent redistricting commission in this county!

No more gerrymandered conservative maps here!

Well, not if the 11 person Citizens Redistricting Commission established by Laird's Senate Bill 977 does things right.

"Fair impartial voting districts established independently are a crucial aspect of our democracy," Laird said. "With Gov. Newsom's signature ... the voters of San Luis Obispo can have confidence in the integrity of their elections."

Well, most of the voters, anyway. Don't ask Darcia Stebbins what she thinks of integrity—or Richard Patten of Patten redistricting map fame. Their voices count but don't count, if you know what I mean.

I almost forgot that Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) was also in on the deal! Helping Laird get the bill through the Legislature and into fruition. I can't wait until the next census! Counting people is exciting.

While most normal people aren't excited to count people but are looking forward to a new way of redistricting in the county, Arnold is definitely not. Not that it matters. If the county can't take care of itself, the state will. Δ

The Shredder will always be your liaison. Send locations to [email protected].