Why won’t Dawn Addis debate in Morro Bay?

October 11, 2024

OPINION by NICOLE DORFMAN

District 30 Assemblymember Dawn Addis refused an invitation by a local Central Coast grassroots group to participate in a debate with her challenger, Dalila Epperson, in Morro Bay hosted in concert with the League of Women Voters.

In fact, Addis will not be debating anywhere in San Luis Obispo County, according to her campaign office, which explained that she is just too busy to do an event in her home county. This despite numerous public and private events she attends with supporters on a regular basis, including a recently announced appearance at a Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce event on Oct. 16.

The people of SLO County deserve an opportunity to hear an exchange of ideas on important local issues, to ask questions of Addis and Epperson, and to better understand the issues in order to make an educated decision about who best represents their values and ideals.

Offshore wind energy industrial ports in Morro Bay and Port San Luis, and a proposal to build the world’s largest lithium ion battery storage facility on Morro Bay’s waterfront are serious issues that constituents care deeply about, yet Addis will not allow us the opportunity to question her priorities, actions and votes and to hear her ideas and proposals for the future.

So far, Addis has participated in one quasi-debate at Cal State Monterey Bay, which featured her along with Epperson, as well as other candidates for different offices. While this Monterey college event was a safe venue for her, it was not at all representative of the nearly 475,000 constituents of District 30, which covers over 200 miles, including San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and Santa Cruz counties, and is one of the largest geographic Assembly districts in the state.

Addis’ neglect of SLO County is clearly inequitable to the people who live and vote here. Addis in fact lives in Morro Bay, yet somehow was unable to find a few hours this election season to show up for her community in a public forum. The Monterey Bay event on Oct. 5 was not live-streamed so SLO County residents were unable to even participate without driving over 2 hours one-way on a work day to attend.

As chair of the Assembly Offshore Wind Energy Committee, Addis is certainly aware of the large and growing opposition to her plans to industrialize and privatize our oceans, harbors and docks. She has claimed publicly that local people are spreading “misinformation” about offshore wind, yet has been silent when asked to clarify this statement.

As one of the Morro Bay City Council members who signed an agreement with a giant Texas energy company obligating the city to help facilitate the permitting process, Addis must be aware of the tremendous community outcry and subsequent organization against one of her signature plans for this small coastal city.

Interesting to note that the Chamber of Commerce event where Addis will appear later this month is sponsored by Vistra, the very energy company wishing to build that controversial lithium ion battery facility in the heart of Morro Bay!

Dawn Addis and Dalila Epperson were both invited to address the membership of REACT Alliance, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization based in SLO County, that works to educate people about the impacts of offshore wind energy development on the Central Coast. Ms. Epperson gladly accepted the invitation and seemed grateful for the opportunity to speak about this issue with a large group of concerned voters.

Addis, on the other hand, refused to meet with us, as again, she is too busy to speak to SLO constituents about their concerns and answer questions on this topic at the top of many voters’ minds.

Dawn Addis is asking us for another two-year term to represent San Luis Obispo County in Sacramento, and claims to be “listening and solving problems in order to make our home an even better place to live,” but somehow is unable to actually show up, share her proposed solutions and ideas, and answer questions from her constituents. Please keep this in mind when you mark your ballot for the District 30 Assembly race.