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Arnold says Gibson misleading lawmakers

June 10, 2014
Debbie Arnold

Debbie Arnold

By DANIEL BLACKBURN

Amendments to legislation aiding formation of a water district to manage the Paso Robles aquifer are just fine, according to county supervisors’ chairman Bruce Gibson, asserting he speaks for the entire board.

Not so, said Fifth District Supervisor Debbie Arnold Tuesday, who will ask her fellow board members to discuss the issue and to vote openly on it.

Arnold said Gibson sent “a misleading letter” to Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian (R-San Luis Obispo), whose AB 2453 would create a so-called “hybrid” district with the power to tax, regulate, and enforce water usage within a North County area with yet-undetermined boundaries.

Achadjian, in a June 4 letter to Gibson, asked that the draft amendments to his bill be placed on the June 17 supervisors’ agenda “for discussion and a public comment period.” One of the suggested amendments would allow renters within the new district to hold positions on its governing body.

The assemblyman said that “without approval of the amendments from the Board of Supervisors and input from the public, I would not feel comfortable moving forward with AB 2453 until those discussions are able to occur.”

Gibson responded by telling Achadjian that “previous public input received… are sufficient for (the board) to support (the bill) as amended.”

Arnold angrily derided Gibson’s unilateral move as “bullying.”

“When the chairman of the board sends a misleading letter insinuating that there has been lots of public comment on this matter, it sends the wrong message to Sacramento about the creation of this district in general,” Arnold said. “There are thousands of landowners in the basin opposed to the creation of the district.

“So I’m still focusing on the issue of the formation of the district itself, because as it stands just 30 landowners can prevail over the potential opposition of 4,900 landowners. The way things are headed, the board will be made up of people who want some sort of personal benefit.”

Gibson cited the “agreement” of two water groups, PRAAGS and PRO Water Equity, which have a combined total membership of about a dozen people, as his primary reason for supporting the water district plan.

After receiving Gibson’s claim that the board and the public support the proposed amendments to the bill, Achadjian elected to move forward.

“Because the board has determined that the proposed amendments are within the scope of the discussions held at the board hearings in February, I will move forward with the amendments,” Achadjian wrote to Gibson on Tuesday.

Arnold said Gibson’s actions have “set a bad precedent of allowing the chair to support legislation under the umbrella of a legislative platform and without a new hearing process. I also object to the way the letter misleads legislators into believing that public comment in the past has supported the district when in fact it has been the opposite.”

The bill will be heard in Sacramento in the Senate Governance and Finance Committee June 18.

UPDATED June 11, 10:32 a.m.– Supervisor Debbie Arnold succeeded today in placing a discussion of proposed amendments to AB 2453 on the June 17 supervisors’ agenda. The board voted unanimously to support Arnold’s motion after a hesitant Frank Mecham endorsed it. Board Chair Bruce Gibson argued against the motion for nearly 40 minutes.


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The people spoke and re elected Bruce Gibson, I cannot believe the general public is so blind to his actions.


He is going to get worse now because of the election IMO


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Well actually only about 33% spoke, and of that only 2/3 voted for Gibson, so about 22% of voters elected Gibson to speak for the remaining 78% of voters and the rest. 67% didn’t bother to vote at all so really a little to complain about.


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Ain’t ‘democracy’ great ?


Rule by the apathetic. ‘America’ is a failed experiment. Didn’t take into account how many stupid people that the smart have to try to swim through and fight from every angle.


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Why should renters have a vote. Property owners take the hit, a renter runs out of water they are in a position to move to another location.


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Yeah, right, why do renters get to vote for President of The United States?? Only property owners should get to vote, if a renter doesn’t like who we elect they can always move to another country.


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Wait maybe non-property owners should get to vote but their votes will only count as 3/5 of a vote to a property owners vote…… yeah that sounds good……. hmmm this sounds familiar…..


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06/11/2014 at 11:31 am

“Wait maybe non-property owners should get to vote but their votes will only count as 3/5 of a vote to a property owners vote…… yeah that sounds good……. hmmm this sounds familiar…..”


I think I’m beginning to like you. …Not in that funny, sorta kinda way !

Some times , you make sense !


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Sorry Mr. kayaknut didn’t mean to degrade renters…..I love renters, but when I own a piece of property I should be the one with the vote. Renters have no vested interest in the property other than living on the property as long as the owner allows. It was so absurd of you to compare the situation with water to citizens voting. You know as well as I do even the dead get to vote, and they have definitely left the country…


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Fortunately land ownership has no merit in voting in this country. Being a registered voter does. Following your logic, I would assume that if you have a mortgage on your property then the bank would be making your one vote.


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The owner is the one that has made a commitment to the Mortgage company not the renter. If you fail to pay your mortgage you lose any and all monetary investment in that property. It is up to the owner not the bank to keep that property in good repair, and if there is a well on the property it is the owner that keeps the well in good service, not the renter or the bank. The conclusion is that if you have a mortgage the bank owns the property, but no where in any lease that I have read does it every give a renter the ability to make decisions regarding your/bank property. I have been a landlord for over 38 years….


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Good for you Debbie–you are spot on. Gibson will misrepresent every time to further his own agenda. That means he has to be called on it every time.


The sad part is that Katcho believed Gibson. Having sat as a supervisor along side Bruce, you’d think he’d know Bruce’s tactics by now. But then, Katcho has never been bold or shrewd, only politically expedient–a wind direction checker through and through. Bruce knows this and knows Katcho now represents a lot more left-leaners than when he was supervisor. Bruce put forth his lie to Katcho, calculating that Katcho would not confront him on it. Bruce was right. And an ass.


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Katcho is way too politically savvy to let the likes of Gibson outsmart him.


If Katcho supports it, it is because he stands to profit from it.


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Politically shrewd, politically savvy, take your pick. Katcho just looks for the easiest path to follow, and he succeeds that way. He is not a leader, and he NEVER sticks his neck out. Bruce knows that and so knows how much latitude Katcho will give him in being…Bruce.


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Abuse of position and misrepresentation of the facts, the board, and constituents is commonplace with Gibson, Hill and Ray. Agree or disagree with Arnold’s position on water issues, her stance for public participation and insistence that board concensus comes only via a public hearing and a majority vote is spot on.


The aforementioned supervisors regularly manipulate the public, the press and other elected representatives by stating personal positions as those of the board as a whole.


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Debbbie Arnold is the only supervisor who is representing all of her constituents. Thank you for standing up and exposing the supervisors who have sold us out. Frank, I hope you are listening, you could find yourself without a job.


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Regarding your comment about Frank Mecham: I could not agree more. He has been feckless.


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Feckless: (adjective) lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible, useless, worthless, incompetent, inept, good-for-nothing, ne’er-do-well; lazy, idle, slothful, indolent, shiftless; informal no-good, no-account.


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Yup, that’s what I meant, to the first semicolon. Glad you now know what it means too.


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Debbie Arnold is not the brightest light bulb on the Board. She makes Caren Ray look bright. The question is: who are the puppet masters behind Arnold?


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I do not agree with Arnold about 99% of the time, but she is spot-on this issue. But Paso Guy? Where did Obama come in? Perhaps you should pull your head out of your posterior orifice…


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Follow the money!


COLAB and other corporate/ag interests.


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It is very obvious to me that for some the Salinas River is not the subject for protection, it is the subject for diversion. Thanks, Supv Arnold, for protecting property rights thus the Salinas River.


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It’s good to see Debbie Arnold finally exposing Bruce Gibson for what he’s been all along, a liar. Anyone who has watched this issue from the beginning knows that what Bruce has told the legislature is a lie. Is anyone surprised? I didn’t think so. Thank you Debbie for standing up for the tax paying,property owners

of the North County.


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Agreed. Frank is my supervisor up here. Mr. Gibson why don’t you stay mired in the sewer issues of Los Osos and let us decide our own problems up here thank you.


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This just great! Another government entity to screw us! The APCD is a perfect example. Not elected, funded by fines THEY levy(ask CAL Poly about their $13,500 bill from APCD for a SINGLE tractor), and a director who gets over $200k a year to do press releases warning us that there will be dust blowing on windy days. IWMB with idiot CSD directors voting to ban plastic bags because it makes them feel all warm and fuzzy. I swear, people are getting dumber by the minute for putting up with this crap! Enough!


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