35th District Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham - Templeton

The Wilderness Act called for “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” In 1964, it was one of three pieces of legislation—along with the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act—that essentially determined what kind of country we […]

On Oct. 18, 2019, State Parks gave its first quarterly report to the California Coastal Commission on the Public Works Plan under which Pismo Beach State Park and Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (ODSVRA) will operate in the future. It was obvious to the commission that State Parks had not done its homework.  At […]

Since State Parks disclosed its intention to add an off-roading campground and access road by Oso Flaco Lake, people in that area have mobilized against it: the residents of Nipomo Mesa and Trilogy and the Oso Flaco friends. I don’t blame them. I have been a resident of Oceano and have suffered the consequences of […]

Last week, State Parks disclosed its proposed new general work plan for the management of Pismo State Beach and the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. Good news: There are plans for a boardwalk on the foredunes to connect Grand Avenue with the Arroyo Grande Creek and a small structured campground (versus the free and […]

Two million visitors a year drive on Oceano Beach for a day trip or on their way to Sand City, 1,000 unmarked campsites for $10 a night, and the Sand Highway, the off-roading playground on the dunes. Driving back, they carry on their tires tons of sand. Most of it is deposited on Pier Avenue […]

The Hollands’ donation to Jimmy Paulding and his not telling is not an issue. Lynn Compton grabbed it as such because she has nothing else to grab on against Paulding. She fears that he will replace her. During the years of her administration, she has done nothing for Oceano. She never came  to ask us […]

The sand trap at Oceano’s Pier Avenue ramp proposed by the settlement between State Parks and SLO County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) is going to make our beach and community even uglier and noisier than it already is. The ramp itself should not even be there. It is illegal. It has been illegal for […]

In the Feb. 8 article, “Off-roaders will see changes … to Oceano Dunes,” The Tribune informed us that state parks wants to work with off-roaders, and “a lot of the ideas are coming from them.” That is exactly the problem: State parks, the fox, has been asked to take care of the chickens, all of […]

In the last 10 years, the cost of an EpiPen, a device to inject medication to counter life-threatening allergic reactions, rose by 500 percent. The HIV and AIDS treatment, Daraprim, went from $18 a pill to $750! Another drug, which is 62 years old, experienced a 4,000 percent price increase overnight. These are just a […]

We need to stop fighting about Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (ODSVRA) issues. We must come to a compromise. There are many parties involved, and each needs to win something: off-roaders, Mesa residents, endangered species in the creek, and Oceano residents. Health needs come first and need to be met fully. I suggest fencing […]

Forbidding driving on some areas of the Oceano Dunes will definitely benefit the lungs of Mesa residents who are breathing the dangerous PM10 being generated at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. However, it will not help the lungs of people like me who live, do business, and/or vacation on Pier Avenue and in […]

Residents of the Oceano beach community and Nipomo Mesa are suffering from traffic congestion and bad air quality because of Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (ODSVRA). State parks has the obligation to minimize these harmful impacts on the neighboring communities and the natural habitat of the park itself. A lot can be accomplished in […]