A New Morro Bay After December 10?
A momentous event is scheduled in Morro Bay on Monday, December 10, when a new majority of the City Council — mayor Jamie Irons, council member Christine Johnson, and holdover council member Noah Smukler — are scheduled to be sworn in — only slightly less momentous than their unprecedented election in the city primary election last June 5 when they swept into office, the first time three council members have been elected in a primary in city history.
The swearing in starts at 6 p.m. on Monday, December 10, and the first meeting of that new council starts at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, December 11, both at the Vets Hall.
The new council majority represents probably only the second community-oriented council in the past 20-plus years, the last being a council in the 1990-94 period when Susan Mullen, Ben Luna, and Colby Crotzer served.
Last May, at the first candidates forum prior to the upcoming June 5 primary, most of the candidates seemed to agree, as mayoral candidate Joseph Yukich put it, that "the city has been divided into pro-business and progressive factions." The eight people running at the June 5 primary divided themselves pretty clearly on issues facing the city, how they would deal with them, and the biggest issue of all — where and how to build a new wastewater treatment plant. They may or may not have wanted to put themselves into one political camp or the other, but their comments did it for them. (See: SCJ May 2012 - Candidates Split)
That's what voters removed last June 5 — council members who, in a long tradition, sided with those who backed and worked on behalf of business, the elite and special interests, usually at the expense of the average residents, who typically have no stake in the community other than their homes and sometimes small businesses. Certainly not Embarcadero businesses.
That is one of the the themes that the three new council members campaigned on in walking door to door and in phone campaigns conducted by a large number of supporters and by themselves, too.
The endorsements of the Tribune newspaper may have played a significant part in their victories, too, because in the past the Tribune has rarely endorsed Morro Bay candidates who were heavily community-oriented. Usually they have endorsed candidates who were in business and advertised through their publication.
But the Slo Coast Journal also may have played a role when it eagerly endorsed Irons, Johnson and Smukler. (See: SCJ June 2012).
Beyond that, the Tribune reportedly followed the Journal's lead. A staff member at the Tribune, who said she had attended meetings prior to the election to discuss who the newspaper would endorse, reported that when Morro Bay came up, two members of the groupp passed around copies of articles they had printed from the Journal about the election campaign and the candidates. Based on these articles, those two members were insisting that the Tribune could not possibly endorse Yates. And it didn't — or any of his allies on the existing council.
In its endorsement editorial, the Tribune said of Irons:
Irons, a former planning commissioner, would invigorate the city. He is courteous, knowledgeable and we like his common-sense approach to the wastewater treatment plant issue. He remains open to considering other locations for the sewer plant, but if the Coastal Commission permits a new plant at the current site, he said he will support that. We also believe he would look out for taxpayers, as evidenced by his opposition to hiring an expensive lobbyist to guide the wastewater treatment plant application through the Coastal Commission process.
Of Johnson, it said:
Johnson, who is seeking a first term on the council, has a wealth of volunteer and private sector experience — she’s currently president of Morro Bay Friends of the Library and serves on the board of United Way. She’s a strong advocate for long-term planning and economic development, and we believe she has an ability to listen and to broker compromises that would help unify the council.
Of Smukler, it said:
Along with the other council members, Smukler has faced some of the most difficult budget and infrastructure challenges in city history. The council has made some key decisions — such as adopting a two-tier pension plan for employees — that will help assure Morro Bay’s financial stability for many years to come.
We believe that Smukler’s ability to analyze issues and articulate his positions — even when he’s in a minority of one — are strong assets that help ensure an issue is studied from every angle. We strongly urge voters to re-elect Noah Smukler to the Morro Bay City Council.
