Two San Luis Obispo County supervisors who claimed that they were unable to attend an Air Pollution Control District Board meeting Wednesday morning were spotted at a gathering that afternoon in Pismo Beach.
Supervisors Bruce Gibson and Adam Hill, who both said they could not make it to the APCD board meeting earlier in the day which caused the meeting to be cancelled, attended a San Luis Obispo Economic Vitality Corporation (EVC) gathering Wednesday in Pismo Beach at the Ventana Grill restaurant.
Bruce Gibson, center, at EVC gathering
The event began in the afternoon and lasted into the evening. Gibson and Hill were spotted around 5:30 p.m.
Hill was also spotted around 11 a.m. Wednesday, when the board meeting would have been occurring, having coffee with Caren Ray, an Arroyo Grande Councilwoman and candidate to fill a vacancy on the Board of Supervisors.
San Luis Obispo Councilman John Ashbaugh, who said he could not go to the APCD meeting, attended the event in Pismo Beach as well. Ashbaugh said he could not make the board meeting because he was teaching at Alan Hancock College at the time.
Ashbaugh is San Luis Obispo’s alternate APCD board member. Regular board member Mayor Jan Marx announced in advance that she would be out of town Wednesday.
When asked by CalCoastNews why he could not attend the APCD meeting, Hill walked away. Gibson left the event before that.
Gibson and Hill are currently trying to regain the majority on both the Board of Supervisors and the APCD board.
Adam Hill, center, at EVC gathering
If either of the two supervisors, or Ashbaugh, chose to attend the APCD meeting Wednesday, the board would have met.
The 12-member board needs seven members present to achieve a quorum. Following Gibson and Hill’s decision earlier this week to skip the meeting, only six members were committed to attending.
John Ashbaugh asking a question at EVC gathering
If the APCD board met Wednesday, Gibson, Hill and/or Ashbaugh likely would fallen in the minority on key votes because their political allies were out of town.
The APCD board next meets in September. By then, the Grover Beach City Council may boot its mayor, Debbie Peterson, from the board. Peterson is a political foe of Hill and Gibson. Hill has publicly chastised Peterson on two recent occassions for her active involvement in APCD issues.
