SLO County board rejects plans to become a charter county

Supervisor John Peschong

By KAREN VELIE

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to indefinitely postpone plans to move from a general law county governed by the California Government Code to a charter county with one unique law, a mandate to have the voters elect all office holders.

At a previous board meeting, multiple members of the community voiced concerns that every incoming board could rewrite the county charter leading to costly ballot measures. The supervisors then directed county staff to look into including a four-fifth amendment requirement.

After discovering safeguards could not be included in the proposed charter, Supervisor Bruce Gibson made a motion to postpone plans for a charter.

β€œI pretty much got spanked,” Peschong said. β€œIt does look like the constitution bars us from putting in some safeguards. I will not be supporting this today. At the end of the day, it is not a good idea.”