Best of SLO County 2020: Community Watch

Best Controversy or Scandal

Kristin Smart Case/Your Own Backyard podcast

[email protected]

yourownbackyardpodcast.com

@yourownbackyardpodcast

facebook.com/yourownbackyardpodcast

Torch Bearer

Best Controversy or Scandal: Kristin Smart Case/Your Own Backyard Podcast

This is going to be a controversial opinion. I was never really that enthralled with the Kristin Smart case. It was more local lore than anything else, something to keep an eye on for developments and the occasional billboard on the highway. But the Your Own Backyard podcast changed that. Somebody else took a deep dive into case obsession and packaged their research into one of my favorite forms of media to consume. Local Chris Lambert did a service to the community, invigorating the case with thoughtful reporting and drawing national attention to the ins and outs of the decades-old case. Who knows what comes next, but I, for one, will definitely be paying close attention this time.

—Camillia Lanham

Best Public Official

Heidi Harmon

990 Palm St., SLO

(805) 540-4137

[email protected]

heidiharmon.org

@mayorofslo

facebook.com/heidiismighty

Best Use of Taxpayers' Money

Schools/Education

WASTE? Readers voted that bike lanes were the Biggest Waste of Taxpayers' Dollars this year, which is not something that all SLO County residents are likely to agree on. - PHOTO BY JAYSON MELLOM

Photo By Jayson Mellom
WASTE? Readers voted that bike lanes were the Biggest Waste of Taxpayers' Dollars this year, which is not something that all SLO County residents are likely to agree on.