While the gentrified, upper-middle-class residents of San Luis Obispo are arranging to ban loud parties and smoking on the sidewalks, and those of Pismo Beach have already banned smoking on its beach, the residents of Oceano Beach are forced to tolerate the hideous noise and ghastly pollution brought on by the Off Road “Recreational” State Park.
Furthermore, the residents of Nipomo and Arroyo Grande are required to breathe air loaded with an unnatural and dangerous amount of particulate matter. Why? First of all, because the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area is a cash cow for the state and a handful of local businesses closely related to it that spend a lot of money on lobbyists and lawyers. Secondly, while well-off SLO residents are successfully organized and politically represented, the mostly low-income, or low-middle-class residents of Oceano have not yet found the means to organize their malcontent and protest, which, however, are high.
Besides, the whole county is against us because of the myth that the ODSVRA brings in money for everyone. It comes down to the bare and discomforting truth that we, the common people of Oceano, Arroyo Grande, and Nipomo, are giving up our right to a healthy air and a safe beach for the profit of the state and the few locals. This situation is utterly unfair and discriminatory. That is why I call it class warfare.
This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 4, 2010.