2 candidates who lost SLO City Council races will run again in 2022
Two candidates who ran unsuccessfully for San Luis Obispo City Council say they will try again in two years.
James Papp and Robin Wolf, both first-time candidates in the 2020 election, said they plan to run for council seats in 2022.
Another first-time council candidate, Kelly Evans, said she’s unsure of whether she’d enter the race again. Her campaign was endorsed by the San Luis Obispo County Democratic Party.
Meanwhile, San Luis Obispo mayoral contender Sandra Marshall said she’ll be evaluating the current council direction and will strongly consider another bid.
As of Friday evening, incumbent San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon led that city’s mayor’s race with 53.2% of the vote, followed by Cherisse Sweeney at 33.5%, Marshall at 11.8% and Don Hedrick at 1.6%.
In the San Luis Obispo council race, sitting Councilwoman Andy Pease topped the pack of eight candidates as of Friday evening with 24.2% of the vote for two open seats, followed by former San Luis Obispo mayor and City Council member Jan Marx with 19.9%.
Also in contention were Abrianna Torres with 17.6%, Papp with 11.5%, Evans with 11.1% and Wolf with 5.8%. Rounding out the field were Erik Long with 5.7% and Jeffery Specht with 4.3%.
SLO candidates vow to run in 2022
Papp, who was fired earlier this year as the chair of San Luis Obispo’s Cultural Heritage Committee, has been heavily critical of city senior management and council leadership. He said he plans to run again in 2022.
Papp said that he learned that he’ll need to start campaigning earlier in the election year to increase his chances at winning, and raise about $20,000 in campaign donations.
Papp told The Tribune on Wednesday that he believes the current City Council is unwilling to question and critique the direction of the city’s senior management regarding development and other key issues.
“There is a lack of debate on the council,” Papp said. “I want to bring debate back, and have critical conversations around the ideas that senior staff presents to the council.”
“You should be able to fight city hall — and win,” Papp said on his election website. “But over the last five years, I’ve watched the council stop listening to constituents and become increasingly beholden to big developers and senior bureaucrats.”
Wolf, a hospitality manager, said she’ll continue to work to help businesses in San Luis Obispo survive.
“I want to stay very involved over the next two years,” Wolf said.
Wolf said she wants to be part of conversations and possible advisory groups about the city’s response to COVID-19 as it relates to business, offering tips and educational tools for the public and business operators while encouraging economic vitality.
She said the balancing act between public safety and customer service has been very difficult to manage without more government help.
“Parklets have been a very good thing,” Wolf said. “We definitely need to look at impacts to business because some of the (commercial) vacancies are not just because of COVID. There were other factors before COVID making it difficult for businesses.”
Wolf said that she felt candidates with name recognition — Harmon, Marx and Pease — did well in a crowded race.
“I think as a first-time candidate I realized it really helps to have your name established and recognized in the community,” Wolf said. “That seemed to help more than campaign money raised.”
Will challengers run for mayor, City Council again?
Marshall said she’ll possibly run again for mayor.
“I’ll be evaluating how this mayor (Harmon) continues to give away our city to high buildings and see how many people support that,” she said. “I’m very saddened about the direction we may be going.”
Marshall, the director of Earth Day Alliance, said one of her top priorities is to protect open space, and she’ll keep an eye on city decisions around growth and policies to make sure the environment is best preserved.
Evans, an event coordinator, said that she’s not sure if she’ll run again for City Council, but she said wants to continue to lend a voice in discussions around public safety and public health, as well as local economic matters.
“Having a large campaign bank account certainly makes a difference,” Evans said. “A lot of people were mobilized to help canvas on the ground, but when COVID hit that really affected things. ... I delved into this from a people-first perspective and the changing workforce needs.”
Sweeney and Torres didn’t respond to The Tribune about whether they’ll run again in 2022.
“The fight has just begun,” Torres said in a statement she released after Election Night. “We must continue to listen to the community, focus on creating practical solutions, and put an end to the divisive rhetoric once and for all.”
Candidates lapse on filing campaign finance disclosures
Papp has not yet filed campaign finance disclosure documents, lapsing on deadlines due in September and October, according to San Luis Obispo city clerk Teresa Purrington, despite a donation link on his campaign website.
Papp told The Tribune he’s currently working to submit his late filings.
“My treasurer went out of town and it didn’t get done, but I’m doing it now,” Papp said.
Purrington, who said that Papp has declared that he has raised more than $2,000, notified the Fair Political Practices Commission, which will look into the matter.
Purrington said that she has repeatedly warned Papp that he needs to file the paperwork reporting his specific donations.
“I filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission regarding Mr. Papp’s failure to file his first pre-election campaign statement which was due Sept. 22, 2020 and his second pre-election campaign statement due Oct. 22, 2020,” Purrington said in an email. “During our meeting, when I issued Mr. Papp nomination papers he was informed of the filing deadlines. They are also listed in the Candidates Handbook, which is available online. I have also sent him several emails and called him regarding being late with his filing.”
Wolf also hasn’t filed her second pre-election campaign statement yet, but Purrington said she is working with Wolf to get that paperwork done, as she has lapsed about two weeks, and hasn’t filed any FPPC complainst.
Wolf told The Tribune she is planning to follow up shortly, saying she hasn’t not come close to raising $2,000, meaning she doesn’t need to declare specific donors and how the money was spent. But Wolf does need to file a form indicating that she hasn’t exceeded that amount of $2,000, Purrington said.
“I believe in full transparency,” Wolf said. “I’ll be following up very soon.”
This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
%20Cropped.jpg)