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Letter: Continued hope for San Miguel 

To the editor,

I am a lifelong California resident and was born and raised in Huntington Beach. When I secured an opportunity to work in San Luis Obispo County, my family and I looked at numerous communities and settled on San Miguel for the small town charm, strong tight-knit community, and beautiful open spaces.

It has been pointed out that the San Miguel SCD was plagued with several issues in the past. This is true, but no single issue has been attributed to any current CSD Director, General Manager, Bookkeeper or any other staff member. The current board and all current staff are responsible for bringing the Community Services District to a position where all activities, actions, accounting, budget, revenue, and expenditures are all not only balanced and sustainable, but completely transparent. The current Board of Directors combined with all staff are working diligently and cohesively to make San Miguel a better place to live, work and visit now and for the future.

Some other candidates will try to make you believe that with the current CSD staff and Board of Directors that another scandalous embezzlement is likely or even possible. This is so far from the truth that this type of accusation is laughable. The current Interim General Manager, Rob Roberson, has demonstrated more dedication to the community of San Miguel than can reasonably be asked of one person. All other staff have also demonstrated incredible dedication, integrity and honesty with clear intentions to serve the community of San Miguel responsibly. These hard-working individuals have had to correct the entire budget and accounting process and were left to dig out of a monumental mess which they inherited from previous, more nefarious individuals who did not have the community’s best interests in mind while employed by the CSD. Thanks to the herculean efforts of the current staff and Board of Directors, the budget is now in order, fully accounted for and balanced for FY 18/19 and beyond. To question the actions or integrity of these individuals is not only offensive, but also not a very reasonable rationale given the efforts they tirelessly and thanklessly put in on behalf of San Miguel.

As the other candidates have confirmed, I do have the experience and qualifications to effectively perform and excel in all duties as a CSD Director. In my current profession as a State Procurement Officer, I work with State and County operations, and finances. For fiscal year 17/18 I managed approximately $20M in spend and reduced that spend through negotiation and professional management by roughly 10%, resulting in a savings of $2M. I believe my experience and skills will ensure fiscal responsibility for San Miguel.

Just as important as my qualifications, it’s means a lot me personally that the community understand that I am firmly dedicated and committed to making San Miguel a great place to live, work or visit. San Miguel is my home and I’m proud to represent our community. Having several notable accomplishments for 2018, I also have several important projects that I’ll be applying all of my efforts to accomplish moving forward.

Accomplishments January-October 2018:
• Together with all staff and board of Directors, approved a balanced budget, which reduces overall expenditures and increases revenue.
• Saved the community of San Miguel approximately $35,000.00 by directing staff to negotiate several purchases presented to the board for approval.
• Together with the Board of Directors voted to increase the water/waste water rates ensuring these services would no longer run in deficit. Without the increase, we would not be able to secure grant funding for future infrastructure expansion, we would have no capital resources to repair and upgrade the existing infrastructure and once the reserves had been depleted, the likely result would be dissolving of the CSD and takeover by San Luis Obispo County translating to significantly higher rates for both water and waste water services. This decision weighed heavily on me, but was ultimately the responsible and best decision for the community.
• Avoided a heavily one-sided contract that would have put the community in a position of great potential liability.
Goals for 2019:
• Installation of a much needed San Luis Obispo Sheriff sub-station in San Miguel.
• Revitalize San Miguel downtown district but maintain the small town feel and charm.
• Develop community services, events, and activities for all residents and those that would like to visit San Miguel.

My family and I enjoy the small town culture of San Miguel and fully support the community in any way we can. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to be a part of making our community a better place and moving San Miguel forward responsibly. I humbly and respectfully ask for your Vote Nov. 6, 2018.

Ashley Sangster
Current San Miguel CSD Board Director and Candidate

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About the author: News Staff

The news staff of the Paso Robles Daily News wrote or edited this story from local contributors and press releases. The news staff can be reached at info@pasoroblesdailynews.com.