Paso City Council race sees accusations, conflicting stories among candidates 

Allegations of stolen campaign signs and mismatched stories filled the Paso Robles City Council chambers at its last meeting when Michael Rivera accused Councilmember Sharen Roden of removing his campaign sign from in front of a local business.

Rivera is running for the 3rd District City Council seat, while Roden is running to keep the 1st District seat she was appointed to in October of 2023.

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• Photo Taken From Paso Robles City Updates Facebook Page
• SIGNING OFF City Council candidate Michael Rivera accused Councilmember Sharen Roden at a council meeting of moving his campaign sign to which Roden denied doing.

During public comment at the Sept. 3 meeting, Rivera said he and his wife witnessed Roden removing the sign he had permission to place in front of a business on 13th Street the day before.

He prefaced his comment by saying that he had tried contacting Roden before speaking to the council, but she had not returned his call.

"More disturbing is that after removing my sign, she placed her campaign sign where mine had been and zip-tied it to the public fencing," he said. "When placing mine, I purposefully used T-posts to avoid using the city fencing—those are the rules."

Rivera said that his opponent, Councilmember Steve Gregory, had a sign up next to Roden's, but it was later removed.

"This act is a direct challenge to our election laws and a complete disrespect for a candidate," Rivera said. "I interpret this as a serious case of election interference by someone who should know better."

He concluded by asking the council to address the issue and said, "I hope we can all rise above petty and juvenile acts and focus on the issues that matter to our community."

Roden countered, saying Rivera's accusations weren't true and that she also had permission to place her signs on 13th Street.

"I never touched his sign," Roden said. "To say so is a complete untruth."

Roden added: "You can laugh all you want, Mr. Rivera. But it's not the first time you've done this."

According to previous New Times reporting, he has also accused Paso City Manager Ty Lewis of physically removing him from a meeting, causing damage to his shoulder in November 2023.

Councilmember Gregory stepped in and said he had also received permission to hang his sign on the fence at that location. However, when he realized the fence was not private property he removed the sign.

"I want everyone to know I am very fair on my sign. I have full etiquette and respect for everybody running for office," he said.

During public comment, resident Kitty Hoffman said that she was with Roden at the time of the alleged sign removal.

"She did not remove it, and neither did I," Hoffman said. "I want to make that clarification for the record."

There are three seats up for grabs on the Paso City Council, representing the 1st District for a partial two-year term, and the 3rd and 4th for full four-year terms.

Roden is competing with Xavier Abarca, Kris Beal, and Linda George for the 1st; Gregory, Rivera, and David Nelson are running for the 3rd; and Glenn O'Hagan is taking on incumbent Fred Strong in the 4th District. Δ