I recently decided to try my hand at becoming Mayor of San Luis Obispo.
Yes, you read that right. This isn’t just some hairbrained scheme, I actually AM interested in becoming Mayor of San Luis Obispo sometime in the future. I came to this conclusion through a few different influences. One being Landmark Education (always pushes my bounderies) and two being my reflection on politics and feeling helpless to enact change. What better way to take action then to get involved. Right? I’m not sure why I didn’t think of that before but c’est la vie, I am now!
What would be your first action towards becoming Mayor? Mine was to call a resident expert and ask him. I hopped on the internet (imagine it’s a horse, a very speedy horse) and brought up the white pages to find Dave Romero’s phone number. In case you’re not aware he is the current Mayor of San Luis Obispo.
I told my butterflies to shut up and sit down and dialed his number. After a few brief “hello” and “how do you do?” I popped the question: “Mr. Romero, do you think you could mentor me?” After a bit of clarification, as I think he was a bit confused, I got a, “Come down to my office tomorrow at 10am and we’ll talk.” I was thrilled. Not only was he super accessible but he was a downright friendly guy.
I sat with Dave for about an hour I think and wrote down everything he had to say on the city, past campaigns, current agendas, mayoral duties, etc. I put together a plan of attack for myself on how I would prepare myself. First of these steps was to get on an advisory body to the City Council. I immediately interviewed for the Planning Commission (my absolutely favorite and most influential advisory body). I didn’t make the cut. Although Eric Meyer did and I think he is doing an excellent job! I’ve watched him work at a few of the Planning Commission meetings and I couldn’t agree more with the City Councils pick. He doesn’t have a background in planning (like me) but he is representing our community exceptionally well and even catches a few mistakes that none of the seasoned professionals do. So kudos to you Eric, great work. By the way, I still love your shoes.
My second round of interviews was last week. This second time I had applied to every advisory body available. I didn’t think that was unusual but the city called me and told me that was a first for them. Apparently that’s not entirely kosher. I figured what better way to get onto one than to apply to them all. They didn’t agree. At least not initially. They helped me prune my list down to a scant four: Joint Use Committee, Architectural Review, Bicycle Advisory, and Promotional Coordinating Committee. I’ll admit my two favorite (after the interviews) were Joint Use and Promotional Committee. I thought I actually had a lot to offer to both bodies however all of them I think I could have been useful on.
It’s a waiting game now. I finished my last interview on February 12th for the Promotional Committee and I’ll be waiting to see if I made any of them. I’m hoping to get the Joint Use Committee and I believe I was suggested as a candidate for that committee but anything can happen. If I don’t get on to any of them this time around, I’ll just be back next time!
For anyone thinking of getting involved in City Government, do it. I can’t tell you how amazing everyone I’ve met in the city government is. They’re all extremely friendly and full of ideas on how to get things done. Alan Settle was so fired up during my Joint Use interview that we had a plan of attack already hashed out for an exchange between Cal Poly and the city of San Luis Obispo. Which plays right into my platform that I’ll be running under for Mayor: Unity. Our city seems to be disenfranchised with itself.Over time the college, the city, and each demographic of citizens has grown apart. Each division has gotten a little bit wider and a little bit higher. The college students dislike the city, the residents dislike the students, so on and so forth. I think we can all get along and do it with style and fun. After all, each demographic of San Luis Obispo really only has things to gain from each other. So the more we work together the stronger, more efficient and more effective our city will become. Who doesn’t want that? Now that you’re all fired up, please wait 4-6 years before voting for me, please. I will be taking donations though. Seriously.