Candidate for
Mayor; City of San Luis Obispo

I want to thank you for considering my candidacy for the office of the mayor of San Luis Obispo. With your support at the polls in November, I hope to create a paradigm shift in the local politics of San Luis Obispo.

I want to generate excitement about participating in the local political scene and encourage the referendum process for local decision-making whenever possible, especially on issues like the Marketplace Project. I want to make sure that the concerns of all of San Luis Obispo residents are represented. In order to prevent costly future riots like Mardi Gras 2004, I want to bridge the gap between the student and non-student populations, while expanding the powers of the Student Community Liaison Committee, the officially recognized channel of communication between the city, the community, and the students. I want to be an advocate for students, renters, and for governmental devolution - returning taxation and spending control to the communities who bear the burden. I want to keep San Luis Obispo's neighborhoods clean and safe, while embracing, not denying, the traits associated with a college town. I want to bring young blood, fresh perspective, and an outside-the-box mentality to the city council. I want to see the city grow within a compact urban form, while maintaining a vibrant and distinctive downtown character. Finally, I want to keep San Luis Obispo among the top cities in the country in which to live, while working to remove it from the nation's list of least affordable cities by providing affordable housing choices.

Half of San Luis Obispo's residents are college students, and the median age of San Luis Obispo's population is 27, yet, San Luis Obispo doesn't have a single member of the city council who is under the age of 40. In such a young and vibrant city, it only makes sense to have the City led with the perspective and voice of someone who can bring all segments of the community together. Youth is not a detriment to my candidacy, but a legitimizing factor in terms of demographic-based democratic representation.

With your help, I truly believe I can enact significant, positive changes within the city, while personifying the concept of true representative democracy.