Daniel Blackburn
Daniel Blackburn is editor of KCCN.tv
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AG mayor seeks restraining order on public speaker
By DANIEL BLACKBURN Arroyo Grande City Council members met Wednesday morning to “discuss” hiring a private investigator who apparently had already started his job, and Mayor Tony Ferrara angrily asked for a restraining order on outspoken critic Otis Page. According to the agenda, the council was meeting to discuss hiring a private investigator from Ventura […]... (Continue Reading)
Adams may quit, slaps police again
By DANIEL BLACKBURN and KAREN VELIE Embattled Arroyo Grande City Manager Steve Adams said Wednesday he will be leaving his job when he decides the time is right, and leveled a barrage of accusations against his police department’s contract negotiators. In a verbose statement issued to favored news outlets, Adams asserted officers made false claims […]... (Continue Reading)
Drought means opportunity for some
PART ONE: Water, money, need, and greed By DANIEL BLACKBURN California’s persistent 30-month dry period has provoked statewide cries for major changes in current water resources practices, and is sparking renewed campaigns for more dams and big water project developments. Predictable, perhaps, but such a political reaction to drought is translating into a call to […]... (Continue Reading)
AG council yields to officer probe demands
By DANIEL BLACKBURN and KAREN VELIE Prodded for weeks by growing sentiment to deal publicly with a prickly situation involving City Manager Steve Adams, the Arroyo Grande City Council will now seek an independent investigation of Adams’ “uncomfortable” behavior with a subordinate in a July 3 incident. “If that’s what it’s gonna take to make […]... (Continue Reading)
Who fashioned the Arroyo Grande coverup?
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN As Arroyo Grande officials prepare for their third review in weeks of City Manager Steve Adams, municipal employees are raising questions about Mayor Tony Ferrara’s handling of a late-night interlude between Adams and a subordinate. For more than two months, city official elected to ignore staff allegations that Adams […]... (Continue Reading)
Sex scandal sinks AG police officer confidence
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN Arroyo Grande police officers lodged a formal complaint and a vote of no confidence Thursday against City Manager Steve Adams and Mayor Tony Ferrara fueled by disagreements over the city’s failure to investigate an alleged violation of city policy following a late night romantic interlude between Adams and a […]... (Continue Reading)
A.G. won’t pursue investigation of Adams
By DANIEL BLACKBURN Two top Arroyo Grande officials escaped further sanctions late Tuesday after council members veered from promises to probe deeper into the pair’s late-night rendezvous in City Hall. The July 3 incident involving City Manager Steve Adams and subordinate Teresa McClish, community development director, was kept submerged from public view following a brief […]... (Continue Reading)
Arroyo Grande tape missing 80 minutes
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN Surveillance video provided by Arroyo Grande officials showing interior and exterior views of City Hall on July 3 — when a reported late night rendezvous involving two top employees occurred — is missing 80 critical minutes. The videos were provided to CalCoastNews in response to a public records request […]... (Continue Reading)
Sex, lies, video, and a city cover-up
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN Arroyo Grande police officer reports and city video tapes support allegations of a late night romantic rendezvous at City Hall between City Manager Steve Adams and a subordinate. On July 3, shortly after Community Development Director Teresa McClish’s husband called 911 to report that his wife had not arrived […]... (Continue Reading)
Public input unwelcome in Arroyo Grande
COMMENTARY by DANIEL BLACKBURN Up until today, I’d never met a newspaper that didn’t love a good, old fashioned investigation by some official agency. Now that the Arroyo Grande City Council plans to meet publicly to discuss once more a particularly prickly personnel problem, an independent investigation (the best kind) looms. Not appreciating this, however, […]... (Continue Reading)
