SLO County official accused of misusing public resources and partisanship

May 31, 2026

SLO County Clerk Recorder Elaina Cano

By KAREN VELIE

A competitor in the race for San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder has accused incumbent Elaina Cano of using government resources for political gain and for partisanship in the race.

Vanessa Rozo is challenging SLO County Clerk Recorder Elaina Cano in the primary election. Rozo has asked both the California Secretary of State and the SLO County District Attorney to look into her concerns.

CalCoastNews looked into several allegations from Rozo and from other election watchers.

In some county voter guides, next to Cano’s candidate statement, there is an advertisement promoting the clerk recorder’s office in what some see as supporting Cano’s reelection.

California law prohibits public officials from using or permitting others to use public resources for campaign activity. Public resources consist of any property or asset owned by a government agency, including telephones, computers, internet and state-compensated time.

In addition, while the clerk-recorder’s candidate statement is typically listed before supervisor candidates as the office is countywide, in this case it is at the end next to the advertisement for Cano’s office, according to a Nipomo voter guide a county resident shared.

Last week, using her county Facebook account, Cano congratulated a high school student for endorsing SLO County Supervisor Jimmy Paulding’s campaign, another alleged misuse of county resources for campaign purposes.

For years, Republican women’s group have complained that under Cano, the clerk-recorder’s office engages in partisanship,

Under previous clerk-recorders, the county permitted groups like The League of Women Voters (primarily Democratic) and Republican Women groups to adopt a poll. The groups would then man the poll.

However, several years ago, Cano told the Republican Women groups they could no longer adopt a poll because the name included a political designation, which has led to a shortage of poll workers.

Last week, Cano announced she may have to consolidate some of the polls because of worker shortages. However, shortly afterwards, those positions were filled.

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