SLO County board is as divided as ever. It can’t even agree to condemn neo-Nazis | Opinion

The honeymoon — if there ever was one — is over.

Six months after a reconstituted Board of Supervisors took over in San Luis Obispo County — with liberals in the majority — the board is just as divided as before.

Witness the disappointing and oftentimes childish display we saw on Tuesday, when two supervisors failed to vote in favor of resolutions condemning hate and gun violence.

These are not controversial issues.

People of reasonably goodwill should have no problem standing up against racism and bigotry, or supporting efforts to keep guns out of the hands of bad actors.

What’s more, the resolutions were not angry, hair-on-fire screeds calling for immediate action. They were brief statements, written in government speak, complete with plenty of “whereases.”

Yet two board members still managed to find fault with them.

Anti-hate resolution a response to ‘white pride’ neo-Nazis

First up was a resolution condemning “racism, bigotry, bias and hate speech in our community,” drafted in response to “white pride” banner drops by neo-Nazis.

The recent visits by a gaggle of fascists-in-training made for a shocking display that triggered strong reactions, including a rally against hate that drew more than 100 people, including Board of Supervisors Chairman John Peschong.

Passing an anti-hate resolution — an idea that originated with Supervisor Jimmy Paulding — seemed like an easy sell.

It was not.

The major sticking point?

The two North County supervisors — Peschong and Debbie Arnold — objected to naming Templeton as the location where an “Embrace white pride” banner was displayed on two occasions.

Arnold said including Templeton in the resolution amounted to “name-calling,” and proposed removing a paragraph referencing not only the community, but also the banner incidents.

Peschong, who lives in Templeton, was equally adamant.

“I will tell you that I do believe that putting Templeton in here is a derogatory thing toward Templeton, and that’s not who we are,” he said.

He also said the men involved all came from Tulare County — not Templeton, though none of them has been publicly identified because they are cowards who wear masks and refuse to share their names.

Supervisor Bruce Gibson suggested dropping the reference to Templeton but leaving the rest of the wording in place.

That was a reasonable compromise, yet Peschong and Arnold were not willing to accept it.

After some miscommunication that resulted in two separate votes being taken, Arnold and Peschong ultimately voted against the amended resolution, even though it no longer included the Templeton reference.

So much for trying to reach a consensus.

Honestly, it shouldn’t be that hard to condemn these KKK wannabes, and noting where they happened to pop up is hardly a judgment on Templeton.

The split vote is especially disappointing in light of the discovery of bags of anti-Semitic, anti-LGBTQ+ flyers found Wednesday in a Paso Robles neighborhood.

Gun violence awareness opposed by two supervisors

Later, Peschong and Arnold also opposed a resolution declaring the first Friday in June National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

Again, this was not remotely contentious; the resolution even recognized Second Amendment rights by noting that “rights of law-abiding citizens (go) hand-in-hand with keeping guns away from people with dangerous histories.”

So what was the problem?

Arnold objected partly for procedural reasons; the resolution submitted by Gibson was a late addition to the agenda, though it did meet the legal requirements for posting.

“I will say that I’m aware of gun violence and I condemn gun violence and I condemn the criminal use of firearms,” Arnold said, “but I don’t think jamming this resolution at the last minute without any input is appropriate.”

Peschong criticized the resolution because it did not address mental health, a familiar trope by those on the right who refuse to take actual substantive action to save lives.

“I think that this resolution is missing the boat a little bit on that because I do believe that mental health issues go hand-in-hand with the discharge of firearms,” he said.

Peschong and Arnold find excuses to vote no

Resolutions are largely symbolic. There is an element of virtue-signaling to them, but they are also a time-honored way to applaud citizens for doing good work, to mark a historic event, or to call attention to a problem.

In other words, they provide an opportunity to communicate our common values and concerns.

Only this time, the messages were mixed because apparently those very basic values and concerns are apparently not so commonly shared as we thought.

Instead of presenting a united front against two of the most insidious threats we face, two supervisors found excuses to vote no.

So what if the gun violence resolution left out mental health, or was a late add-on?

That doesn’t make what it does have to say any less valid.

Its main point — encouraging citizens to support efforts to “prevent the tragic effects of gun violence” — does not preclude supporting mental health. Nor does it advocate for taking guns away from law-abiding citizens.

And nitpicking over whether or not to include Templeton in an anti-hate resolution is ridiculous.

Local residents already know this happened in Templeton, and it’s not as if hundreds of out-of-towners were going to get a hold of the resolution and say, “Uh-oh, cross Templeton off the list of places to visit.”

Besides, the number of people who will actually get around to reading these resolutions is likely in the — what — dozens?

Instead of worrying about protecting Templeton’s reputation or about whether some paperwork was submitted in time, Supervisors Peschong and Arnold should have focused on the larger picture and found a way to come to an agreement on the primary goal here: taking a strong, unequivocal stand against bigotry, hate and gun violence.

This editorial has been updated.