By Charles Bourbeau

Atascadero Mayor

As your new mayor, I have been asked by Atascadero News Magazine to provide my vision for Atascadero for 2025. To begin with, I want to convey my heartfelt gratitude to outgoing Mayor Heather Moreno for her many years of leadership and service to our city. She is an excellent model to follow and will continue to serve our community as 5th District County Supervisor. 

I would also like to congratulate new City Councilmember Seth Peek on his election and Councilmember Mark Dariz on his reelection. I look forward to serving with them and Councilmembers Heather Newsom and Susan Funk. 

I also look forward to 2025 as another year of accomplishment and forward movement for Atascadero. In almost 40 years of living here, I can say with confidence that our prospects have never been better. This is not just civic boosterism or cheerleading. Look at what is happening. 

In 2025, we will see the completion of the downtown improvement project. While causing some disruption initially, this project will add over 140 parking spots and will enhance the attractiveness and functionality of our downtown for pedestrians and the businesses they support. Speaking of our downtown, if you have lived here for a number of years, you have undoubtedly noticed that it has never been more thriving. 

It is a pleasure to go downtown on an evening and see our residents enjoying the increase in dining and shopping opportunities. We are grateful to businesses that invest in our downtown and elsewhere in our city, and, in 2025, will continue to encourage and support them by smoothing their path to opening and long-term success as much as possible. 

I also get great satisfaction from watching local families and visitors enjoying new and fun events occurring in our town, many of which are sponsored by the city. From the Fall Festival to the Craft Beer Fest and numerous others, our new events join with our classics like Colony Days, Hot August Nights, and Zoo Boo to make Atascadero a truly lively and fun place to live in or visit. 

You cannot drive far in Atascadero these days without passing over a road that has been repaired or completely redone. In the 10 years since the voters approved a ½ cent sales tax the city has spent every dollar raised by Measure F14 on neighborhood roads and repaired over 50 miles. Now you, the voters, have just agreed with 70 percent support to extend the ½-cent sales tax indefinitely, allowing the ongoing continuation of this important work. A big shoutout to our Public Works Department for successfully executing our road program, amongst all the other things they do. You will see more progress on roads in 2025. 

This year we will finish updating our city’s General Plan, which has not occurred for over 20 years. The General Plan lays out zoning and provides comprehensive guidance for the development of our community. Over the past few years, there have been numerous community input sessions, and the City Council has considered those comments when providing guidance to staff for the development of the final product. 

You can expect the General Plan to allow for taller buildings downtown with more apartments on second, third, and fourth floors and to allow for higher density residential projects in certain areas of the city. Higher density is necessary to have any chance of producing more housing that is more affordable for hardworking people, especially young people who are increasingly leaving for more affordable states.

While it can take years for changes in the General Plan to pan out, the plan is critical to allowing the creation of a community that best serves everyone. 

Other, more immediate changes you can expect to see action on in 2025 include beginning work on replacing our 70-plus-year-old Fire Station downtown along with the remodeling of Fire Station 2 and the Police Station. These improvements are possible because of the voters’ approval of Measure D20. 

Overall, I expect you will see continued progress in our city in 2025 as we continue our focus on basic priorities such as providing better roads, better facilities, and the best possible public safety and other services. In doing this, we have a wonderful staff of hard-working professionals who work in the most effective and efficient way possible. 

I also look forward to continuing to observe the wonderful spirit of volunteerism that is so widespread and adds so much to our community, and makes Atascadero a special place. 

It is my honor to serve as mayor, and I wish everyone a wonderful 2025.