SLO County loses its top dog. Why, exactly, is Wade Horton leaving? | Opinion
We’re just going to come out and say it.
It’s a shame San Luis Obispo County wasn’t able to hold on to County Administrative Officer Wade Horton.
Sure, this is an opportunity for the new Board of Supervisors to choose a chief executive to work on the many goals it has set. A fresh start, if you will.
Yet it won’t be easy to find someone with Horton’s skill set.
He has been a strong county administrator who weathered multiple crises. He also managed to survive five years with a deeply divided Board of Supervisors — a feat that requires the utmost diplomacy.
It was his decision, officials say
Horton’s abrupt — even mysterious — resignation has led to speculation that he was forced out.
Multiple sources say that was not the case and in fact, some officials lobbied him to stay, though the board ultimately voted 5-0 to accept his resignation.
Horton had been scheduled for a performance evaluation on Tuesday.
One or more county supervisors had requested the evaluation, fueling rumors that Horton would be fired. He resigned prior to the evaluation, however, and has declined to talk to reporters.
Based on such sketchy information we have about his resignation, there’s no sense pointing fingers.
It is strange, however, that Horton had rarely, if ever, been asked to undergo a performance review — but then suddenly was asked to do so when a new board came into power.
Who wouldn’t feel uneasy under those circumstances?
And more to the point, why would the Board of Supervisors not schedule regular performance reviews with its chief administrator?
Previous administrator resigned over county’s dysfunctional politics
Horton was appointed county administrator in 2017, after serving as head of the county’s Public Works Department.
It was not an easy time. The previous administrator, Dan Buckshi, resigned amid allegations that he was fed up with the county’s dysfunctional politics.
Here’s what The Tribune Editorial Board wrote then: “There’s no question that Horton takes charge during one of the more tumultuous periods in recent county history; there’s a sharp ideological split on the board that can leave county staff caught in the middle.”
As it turned out, things would get far more tumultuous.
Horton faced off against one of the biggest challenges in the history of San Luis Obispo County: the COVID-19 pandemic.
He was among the leaders of the effort to transform Cal Poly’s Recreation Center into a makeshift hospital equipped for up to 165 patients. The project started just weeks after the county’s first Covid cases were confirmed in March 2020, and before Gov. Gavin Newsom put out a call for 50,000 additional beds.
“We have not waited for the governor,” Horton said at the time. “We have not waited on the federal government.”
Fortunately, the makeshift hospital never had to be used, but Horton made sure the county was prepared to take care of its own, just in case.
There were many more challenges: a water shortage; a housing shortage; fires and floods; an FBI investigation of the late Supervisor Adam Hill; a major brouhaha over redistricting; the threat of a recession; and let’s not forget those wacky conspiracy theories of stolen elections and runaway corruption.
Through it all, Wade Horton persevered.
He was a class act, and his even-keeled professionalism will be missed.
We wish him — and his successor — well.
