Citizens group collects signatures to recall SLO County Supervisor Bruce Gibson. Here’s why

Vibrating with the buzz of election season, about 50 people mingled at Atascadero Lake Park on Sunday afternoon to gather signatures for a petition to recall San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Bruce Gibson.

The Committee to Recall Supervisor Bruce Gibson disagrees with his “progressive” platform, according to committee member Linda Quinlan.

Among their grievances, committee members oppose Gibson’s support for settling a lawsuit that selected a new county district map and his support for repealing the planting ordinance, a move that further limited irrigation in the overdrawn Paso Robles Groundwater Basin.

“He has a very progressive viewpoint and is trying to have that viewpoint injected into SLO County in all areas,” said Quinlan, who also serves as the SLO County Chair of New California State, an organization that seeks to secede from California.

Gibson, first elected in 2006, defeated Atascadero resident Bruce Jones for the District 2 seat by 13 votes in 2022.

He called the recall effort “sour grapes” from losing the election.

“These are the folks from the political fringes of our county,” Gibson told The Tribune on Sunday. “The recall is a lawful process, but this is in my mind an illegitimate use.”

After failing in its first attempt to launch a recall to remove the longtime supervisor from office, the committee filed its second notice of intention to circulate a petition with the county Elections Office on Nov. 28.

Gibson filed his response on Dec. 4, and the committee has until May 2 to collect about 7,400 signatures to trigger a recall election, according to the county Elections Office.

If the recall effort removes Gibson from office, Gov. Gavin Newsom will chose his replacement, according to Assembly Bill 2584.

Quinlan told the Tribune that the group had collected “hundreds” of signatures by Sunday night but declined to provide an exact number.

Is Proposition 13 under attack?

Another issue on the minds of recall supporters is Proposition 13, the landmark initiative passed by voters in 1978 that limits property tax increases in California.

According to Quinlan, Proposition 13 is under attack.

Proposition 13 reset property taxes to 1% of the 1975 value of the home and capped future increases at 2% per year, according to the California State Board of Equalization.

Before 1978, property values were re-assessed to market value every five years. Under Proposition 13, property values are only re-assessed to current market value when the property is sold or undergoes new construction.

Proposition 13 also requires a two-thirds vote of electors to increase taxes, according to Ballotpedia.

This year, however, voters will have the chance to vote on Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1, which would lower the voter approval threshold for increasing taxes from two-thirds to 55% for initiatives that fund public infrastructure or affordable housing projects.

The amendment will be on the ballot in November, according to the CA Secretary of State’s Office.

At a California State Association of Counties press conference on Aug. 17, Gibson called the two-thirds voter majority required to pass new taxes “outdated.”

“The two-thirds voter threshold has throttled crucial housing and infrastructure projects that we need to solve critical problems,” Gibson said at the conference.

In 2016, 66.3% of voters supported a SLO County sales tax measure for transportation projects — narrowly missing the two-thirds voter threshold.

“That failure cost us,” Gibson said.

Gibson noted that Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1 would make it easier for counties to generate revenue.

“This is an item that should go before the voters of the state of California,” Gibson told The Tribune on Sunday.

Folks attending the recall event, however, worried that reducing the voter threshold from two-thirds to 55% would make it easier to repeal Proposition 13.

Without Proposition 13, property taxes could increase to unaffordable levels, Quinlan said.

“If they try to eliminate the protections that are in Prop. 13, there are going to be a lot of people — and especially elderly people who are on fixed incomes — that are going to lose their homes,” Quinlan said.

Atascadero resident Dr. Bruce Jones, who lost the 2022 election for the District 2 seat on the board, said that Gibson violated the county’s legislative platform by supporting Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1.

The 2023 legislative platform informs what policies the county’s lobbyists will pursue in Sacramento. It said to “oppose any measures or legislation that reduces the super-majority vote required to raise taxes from two-thirds to 55%.”

Jones said Gibson disobeyed the county’s legislative platform by supporting a 55% voter threshold with the California Association of Counties.

“I don’t think that’s what the people of our county want,” Jones said.

Gibson told The Tribune he doesn’t want to repeal Prop. 13 and is only interested in making it easier for counties to pass tax measures.

How does the recall work?

Since Gibson was elected, the Board of Supervisors adopted a new county district map in April that changed the boundaries of District 2.

When Gibson was elected in 2022, the district included Atascadero, Cambria and Cayucos. The new map reunited the coastal communities of Los Osos, Morro Bay, Cambria and Cayucos in District 2, while transferring Atascadero to District 5.

The petition can only be signed by voters in the former District 2 boundaries that elected Gibson.

If 20% of registered voters in the former District 2 sign the petition, the county will hold an election for voters to decide on whether or not to recall Gibson, according to the California Secretary of State’s Office.

With 36,871 registered voters in the former district, 7,374 residents would need to sign the petition for it to be valid, according to San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano.

If the recall effort succeeds, Newsom would select Gibson’s replacement.

Gibson noted that Newsom is fairly progressive and likely would appoint a Democrat to the District 2 seat.

“It doesn’t make much sense to me why they’re doing this,” Gibson said of the recall effort.

Quinlan said the committee is willing to take its chances on a replacement as they likely won’t be as well-connected as Gibson, who is president of the California Association of Counties and works with numerous local organizations. As a result, a replacement would not have as much of an impact as Gibson, Quinlan said.