Where do SLO Mayor Heidi Harmon, challengers stand on race, housing and economy?
In race that’s heavily focused on housing, racial justice, COVID-19 response and the economy, four mayoral candidates have thrown their hats in the ring for the San Luis Obispo City Council.
Heidi Harmon, known for her environmental and progressive agenda, is pursuing a third consecutive, two-year term.
In the November election, she’s facing off against Cherisse Sweeney, a small business owner and public safety proponent; Sandra Marshall, an environmentalist and affordable housing advocate; and Don Hedrick, a critic of out-of-town developers and special interests.
The candidates differ in their support of a proposed 1-cent sales tax, their plans to address economic challenges that have impacted city finances and the business community, and their thoughts on diversity and inclusion.
As the campaign season reaches its peak, the candidates have attended multiple forums, including events hosted by the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce and U40, a group serving San Luis Obispo residents under the age of 40.
Here’s a look at where the candidates stand on the issues.
.jpeg "IMG_0704 (2).jpeg")
Heidi Harmon
An outspoken advocate for the environment and racial justice, Heidi Harmon has been a key contributor in the city’s plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035, as well as a new Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Task Force.
Harmon, 51, who participated in city protests against racial injustice in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, lists city accomplishments including: fiscal responsibility; a local hiring policy for the city’s $140 million wastewater treatment project; increased housing of smaller building size; new energy use policies that prioritize carbon-free emissions and the use of outdoor public spaces during COVID-19.
“The last few months of have been in particular have been the most challenging of my life,” Harmon said. “It’s a huge opportunity for me personally as a leader to learn, and a total honor to be in this moment. I’ve learned so much about leadership and the depth and breadth of the community.”
Harmon said that she has asked the San Luis Obispo Police Department questions about its decision to teargas protesters on June
Harmon believes that local Black Lives Matter protester Tianna Arata should not face jail time for her role in a July 21 march — Arata faces 13 misdemeanor charges — but rather encourages restorative justice.
“I want to know why tear gas was used. ... I want to know why Tianna only was arrested,” Harmon said.
The incumbent mayor said that police Chief Deanna Cantrell, who left the city last week for a new police chief job in Fairfield, has “in general done an amazing job. It is going to be hard to replace her.”
“I want redemption,” Harmon said. “I’m so tired and exhausted of blaming people. We need to hold people accountable. We need to do it in in a way that’s redemptive.”
Harmon said it’s clear many people of color in San Luis Obispo feel unwelcome and left out and she wants to change that. She supports the idea of a new multicultural center and said the city needs to be “really intentional about that process” of selecting a new police chief with diversity and inclusion goals, by involving the community and City Council.
“We need to be clear on the direction we see in policing, and what to expect up front in the new chief,” Harmon said.
Homes in San Luis Obispo have a median cost of more than $800,000, according to the California Association of Realtors.
With two new major housing projects, Avila Ranch and San Luis Ranch, underway, Harmon said the council’s approach has been to add housing of all types to help serve the community.
“We’re really combating a decades-long approach of basically saying ‘no’ to housing, which has led to a lack of affordability,” Harmon said. “Now, we’re saying ‘yes’ to projects with different approaches to affordability. We need more deed-restricted (housing with price restrictions based on income) in SLO than the entire county combined, especially in the very low and low and moderate range. The problem remains in the missing middle, young families and professionals.”
“We’re also really trying to address that in a meaningful way,” she said, in part by approving projects of smaller unit sizes.”
Cherisse Sweeney
As the owner of a downtown furniture store, Basalt Interiors, Cherisse Sweeney said she jumped into the San Luis Obispo mayoral race because other community members called for her to run. She wants to establish better leadership, especially concerning small business and safety, and addressing homelessness in the downtown.
“I hadn’t been thinking about running, but community members asked me to do it, and I felt like I had something to offer,” said Sweeney, who’s also a land-use consultant. “I have worked closely with state and federal agencies. I’m a mom and a business owner.”
Sweeney, 46, said issues involving homelessness and mental health have grown so serious downtown that she feels unsafe at her store and has considered shuttering her shop to protect her staff. She wants to establish a city advisory body to better deal with those issues.
Sweeney was asked at a recent U40 forum about support she’s received from conservative community members. She told The Tribune that she’s a nonpartisan candidate who registers as an independent voter.
Republican county supervisors Debbie Arnold and Lynn Compton, as well as former state Sen. Sam Blakeslee, all endorse her, according to her campaign website.
“I literally have heard (criticism) from people on both sides of the political spectrum,” Sweeney said. “I truly am nonpartisan, and mayor is a nonpartisan position. I want to stop the negativity and bring people together.”
In response to a question about her residency in the city, a requirement for candidacy, Sweeney told the Tribune that she lived just outside city limits, but her family sold that home three years ago and they now live inside city limits.
“I answered (the question) very honestly,” Sweeney told radio host Dave Congalton in an Oct. 2 interview. “There’s really nothing to hide. We sold our house three years ago. We were living in the county limits. And when I made the commitment to take this on, we moved within city limits so I could take this on. We moved literally a month ago. That’s how committed I am to doing this.”
The city has no pending complaints about her residency status and officials aren’t currently looking into the issue, city attorney Christine Dietrick said on Wednesday.
Sweeney said that she supports rethinking how car and pedestrian traffic flows downtown. She opposes a proposed 1-cent sales tax increase, saying that “increasing our cost of living immediately after COVID is not the right solution to some of the budgetary deficits the city is facing.”
Sweeney wants to establish a “buddy system” with students to help better bring together the resources at Cal Poly and in the community, while creating a business environment that brings head-of-household jobs.
Sweeney said she had a lengthy conversation with racial justice protesters after she boarded up her store’s windows in advance of a rally, but didn’t donate to their cause, citing business challenges amid COVID-19. “I support the work of the city’s diversity task force moving forward to make all people in the city feel welcome,” she said.
Sandra Marshall
A registered Democrat, Sandra Marshall is the director of Earth Day Alliance and has coordinated Earth Day events since 1993.
She supports protecting open space and opposes tall buildings in downtown San Luis Obispo, citing the issue of future development in the city as a priority.
“San Luis Obispo is known for its blue skies and views,” Marshall, 68, said. “Going up will make SLO like every other town. The charm and the history will be lost. What we have is special, a tourist attraction.”
Marshall wants to increase the number of deed-restricted, affordable homes in the city, establishing a benchmark of at least 25% for each new project.
“The price of housing has increased rapidly but wages have not,” Marshall said. “To keep or bring people here we must provide a safe community, diversity and increase affordable housing throughout the city. Bring in ‘green’ companies with decent paying jobs and a future.”
Marshall supports the city’s sales tax increase measure on the November ballot as a way to help maintain services and infrastructure.
She also wants to help find a site for the nonprofit organization Hope’s Village of SLO, where tiny homes can be parked and help reduce the number of homeless residents.
Marshall said she supports diversity.
“Understanding diversity is the hard part; accepting can come easily,” she said. “It is time to listen and learn. As mayor, I will encourage and participate in community builders based on supporting diversity in San Luis Obispo.”
She’s also in favor of recycling, planting more trees and protecting open space.
Don Hedrick
Don Hedrick, 74, a familiar figure at City Council meetings, said that local control has been slipping away from the city.
Decisions in Sacramento at the state government level, including closures of restaurants and bars due to COVID-19, have been disastrous, Hedrick said at a San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce forum on Sept. 22.
“I want to be a kinder, gentler hand on the tiller of the ship adrift of our city,” Hedrick said. “What we need to do is not sell out our town to the international monies that come and pluck the cherry out of our state, but be more local and maintain local control. ... We need to be better supportive of our businesses.”
The man, whom some refer to as the Don Quixote of San Luis Obispo, is running in his seventh campaign for city office.
Each of his previous attempts have been unsuccessful, but he said he’ll continue to run for the rest of his life as a response to feeling left out of city decisions in the past.
“The city makes a lot of money by selling out town to developers from far away places,” Hedrick said. “Our missions weren’t built that high. And we’ve never had the gridlock and rush hours we’re having now before. We need to better serve our people by not having our town taken away.”
Hedrick also supports police and keeping demonstrators from illegally entering the freeway, he told The Tribune.
Note: This story has been updated to reflect Cherisse Sweeney’s comments about her residency on the Dave Congalton Show.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
%20Cropped.jpg)