Former Grover Beach Mayor Debbie Peterson spoke Monday night at Republican Headquarters in Atascadero. Peterson recently published a book about her experiences in San Luis Obispo County politics entitled, The Happiest Corruption: Sleaze, Lies and Suicide in a California Beach Town.
Since her book was published several weeks ago, Peterson has appeared on KPRL’s Sound Off and the Dave Congalton Show on KVEC. She said, “When I realized I could not stop the corruption, because I was being outvoted, I quit and wrote the book. The feedback I’m getting has made it worthwhile.”
Peterson is a Democrat, but she told 180 people at the Republican Headquarters, “Whether we’re Democrat or Republican, what we all want is fair, honest elected officials. Unfortunately, we don’t always get them.”
She said she learned that elected officials in Grover Beach were awarding licenses to sell Cannabis for $100,000 in cash bribes. She said, “The only people who were getting the licenses were former felons, who were willing to bribe the elected officials. People with legitimate interest in medicinal marijuana were being turned away.” She said, “About a year ago, the FBI corroborated what many people in Grover Beach told me. The licenses were for sale for $100,000 cash paid to the Mayor of Grover Beach.”
Her book documents some of the criminal activity of former San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Adam Hill, who died two years ago of a drug overdose. Peterson says, “Supervisors Adam Hill and Bruce Gibson were joined at the hip. They were very close. They were aligned on almost every issue. They had similar ways of operating. If anyone disagreed with them, they tried to get them fired.”
At the conclusion of her speech Debbie says if she were voting in the Supervisors Race in the Second District, she would vote for Dr. Bruce Jones, the former Chair of the Templeton Advisory Group.
After her talk Monday night, Peterson signed books for people who purchased them at the event at the Republican Headquarters.
