Quarterly Business Meeting Recap
What a great evening! Our quarterly business meeting had a little bit of everything: a member spotlight, a brand-new Rotarian, club business, and a fantastic featured speaker. Here's what you missed (or what you'll want to remember).
Member Spotlight: Hans Sommer
With Becca unable to make it, new Red Badge member Hans Sommer stepped up for the member spotlight. Hans is a Cal Poly grad who spent years in the Bay Area working in semiconductors and tech before he and his wife did the “boomerang” back to SLO — but not before spending nine months traveling through 22 countries. He and his wife raised two very outdoorsy daughters here, both of whom recently returned from months of travel through South America (the travel bug clearly runs in the family).
Hans has owned and run several local businesses over the years, including a document management and shredding business, and today works from home for NetSuite, which acquired the software company he was with, serving customers across the country and around the world. Since fully remote work can get isolating, he joined Rotary to reconnect, socialize, and give back locally. Welcome, Hans — we're glad you're here!
Welcome Our Newest Rotarian: Bobbie!
One of the best moments of the night: the induction of our newest member, Bobbie Kelly, sponsored by Ashlea Boyer. We were honored to have our District 5240 Governor-Elect, Scott Astrosky, perform the induction — a fitting reminder that our district spans 66 clubs from Bakersfield to Westlake Village and the ocean, and that every induction connects us to Rotarians around the world doing good since 1905.
Bobbie is the Owner and President of SB Wealth, which operates Keller Williams market centers along the Central Coast, serving communities from Paso Robles to Ventura, Ojai, and everywhere in between. Over her 10 years in real estate she's moved from sales into management, agent services, and leadership, and those who know her describe her as an inspirational team leader who lifts people up and brings out the best in others. A Central Coast native who grew up in Atascadero, Bobbie shared how meaningful it is to find a group of people from all different backgrounds and beliefs coming together to serve. She splits her time between here and Ohio, and we're thrilled she's chosen to serve with us. Welcome, Bobbie!
Club Business
Service project committee forming. We're putting together a small committee to plan our next work project (targeting August/September) and to keep future projects in the pipeline. Ideas on the table include an aluminum can drive, collecting donations for the food pantry or Meals That Connect, a volunteer packing day at the Food Bank, and an eyeglasses collection. Michael, Hans, and Kieran have stepped up — if you'd like to join them, let us know. The committee will pick the project and take it from there.
YMCA backpack drive — through July 30. The backpack drive is on now! Donations go to kids getting ready for the school year. You can bring items to a Tuesday meeting, drop them at a donation site, or text one of us to arrange a drop-off (the office or Pismo Beach Vet both work). Even if you can't stay for a meeting, you're welcome to swing by and drop off your donation — no guilt, we promise. Watch for Michelle's email with details.
Satellite club chair. Congratulations to Leila, who has been nominated for the satellite club chair — thank you for stepping up, Leila!
Featured Speaker: Scott Collins, Assistant City Manager, City of San Luis Obispo
Ashlea introduced our featured speaker, Scott Collins — who she helped recruit to lead the Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo (HASLO) during her time chairing the Housing Authority's board of commissioners, before the City of SLO called him back into city management.
Scott shared his path into public service: a UC Santa Cruz grad (“banana slug!”) from a family of public servants, he studied public administration in Washington, D.C., worked for the City and County of Denver and the City of Boulder, then returned to California as an assistant city manager in Santa Cruz. He went on to serve five years as City Manager of Morro Bay, then led HASLO — where roughly 500 units of affordable housing were built in recent years with about 500 more on the way — before joining the City of San Luis Obispo. Having worked on both sides of the counter, he now helps coordinate the City departments that touch housing, permitting, and infrastructure, working to streamline what he candidly called a “labyrinth” of a process.
Highlights from his city update:
- Righetti Community Park is finally moving forward after roughly 20 years of planning — ball fields, play structures, a bike pump track, and pickleball courts (with sound mitigation for the neighbors!). A great lesson in inflation: a project once estimated around $2 million now carries a ~$29 million price tag.
- The long-awaited Prado Road / Highway 101 interchange is advancing, adding a badly needed east–west connection across town.
- Street safety is working: after the downtown Higuera corridor went from three lanes to two, the city has seen about a 50% reduction in pedestrian collisions and no fatalities since the change — plus more people biking and walking, which is good news for downtown businesses.
- Tourism is at record levels, new hotels are online, and the city budget is in good shape.
- Housing: ADUs (granny units) are booming, and Scott gave a great explainer on how capital-A Affordable Housing works — the goal is spending no more than 30% of income on housing, with subsidies covering the gap for income-qualified households.
- Public safety: roughly a 60% reduction in crime over the last three years, along with a drop in homelessness-related calls; a county report expected soon is anticipated to show an overall reduction in homelessness.
- Cal Poly plans to grow enrollment, house more students on campus (with a goal of requiring first- and second-years to live on campus), and transition from quarters to semesters.
- Downtown: the SLO Rep Theatre is slated to come online, the art museum is expanding, and the completed Mission Plaza project drew about 7,000 people for the concert celebrating America's 250th birthday.
- New voting system: following settlement of a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit, SLO city council elections move to a citywide single-vote system. Important: even though two council seats are open, you vote for only ONE council member — voting for two invalidates your ballot. Everyone still votes for mayor.
- Get prepared: forecasters are flagging a potentially severe El Niño winter (possibly on par with 1997–98), and new state fire hazard maps place much more local real estate in high hazard severity zones. Now is the time to think about emergency plans, property hardening, and defensible space.
Scott also fielded great member questions on bike lane design, downtown delivery trucks, and affordable housing income limits. Outside of work he's a triathlete, a runner, and helped coach JV basketball at Morro Bay High last year — and yes, his Rotary club sings. Thank you, Scott, for a generous and informative evening (and for confirming the parking was free)!
Reminders & Upcoming
- Update your ClubRunner bio and photo! We want to spotlight every member on social media, but we can't feature you without a photo and bio. If you need help logging in — or need a portrait taken — reach out and we'll get you sorted.
- Bring a guest to the next meeting.
- Summer Sizzle — August 14 & 15! Setup is the morning of the 14th, and the 15th will be all hands on deck. Watch your email for volunteer sign-ups — many hands make light work!
- Meal packaging with the Stone Soup Music Festival — help package roughly 10,000 meals that stay right here in our local community through the food bank. Details by email.
- Next mixer: August 20. Details to come.
- Save your wine bottles for John, our resident wine collector, for the club's benefit.