Walkout!

by Jack McCurdy

Christine Johnson, George League, Jamie Irons, Nancy Johnson, Noah Smukler

Council member Nancy Johnson walked out of a recent Morro Bay City Council meeting after banging her notebook folder on the table where she sits, announcing, "I am not stepping down . . . you go right ahead. I am not stepping down, You're going to do what you damn well please anyway.

"I'm sorry. I am leaving. There's no point in my staying for the rest of this . . . slam dunk."

Her reference to stepping down was to mayor Jamie Irons' announcement a short time earlier in the meeting that he wanted to rotate Council members on the county Economic Vitality Committee (EVC) and the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce's economic development committee, which meant replacing Nancy Johnson with Council member Christine Johnson as the city's representative on the EVC.

She said she would agree to step down from the Chamber's economic development committee but not from the EVC.

Her walkout came at the end of the meeting on January14 when relatively few were left in the audience. It has been little reported, if at all.
        "I am going ahead and making the appointment," Irons responded.
        "I am not stepping down," Nancy Johnson replied.
        "I am not going to get into a fight but will go ahead and make the appointments," Irons said.  

Irons nominated Christine Johnson to serve on the EVC and for him to serve as an alternate. Those appointments were approved 3-1 with Council member George Leage, a close ally of Nancy Johnson, who had left by the time the vote was taken, voting no.

The EVC is a regional non-profit, economic development organization committed to developing a vibrant and sustainable economy throughout San Luis Obispo County. It says it connects businesses with resources to help them become established and grow. Since 1994, the EVC says it continues to provide world-class business resources for a thriving community. (SLO - Economic Vitality Committee). The city reportedly donates funds to the EVC. The city donated $10,000 to the EVC in fiscal 2013-14.

Nancy Johnson never hinted why she so strongly objected to being replaced on the EVC.

Shortly before this dispute erupted, mayor Irons stated that per the Council Policies and Procedures, Council member Christine Johnson was being appointed vice mayor. The vote among Council members was 5-0, including Nancy Johnson and Leage. In fact, Nancy Johnson moved the appointment.

A vote on the appointment was reportedly not required, but Irons granted Council members the ability to voice any concerns via a vote.

What Nancy Johnson didn't mention and may not have been considering was that last year during appointment time, this Council reportedly agreed that membership on the EVC and the Chamber economic development committee must be the same two Council members to work effectively on economic development issues since there is cross-over between the two committees — so much so that it reportedly might violate the Brown Act if more than two council members were to work concurrently on economic development issues.  The Council reportedly agreed to that last year, which is why Nancy Johnson was EVC rep and Christine Johnson was the alternate and both were on the Chamber committee.

Johnson said she had a time conflict with the Chamber committee activities so she was willing to give that up — but not the EVC. However, that can't be done, as previously noted, and the Council agreed upon that last year.  

Notably, Nancy Johnson has been on EVC almost or possibly since she became a Council member almost four years ago. But she still refused to let others serve in the posts in question.

Nancy Johnson attended the next Council meeting on January 28 — without any mention of her walkout.