SLO’s first Black mayor to run in 2022 election. Here’s her vision for the job
San Luis Obispo’s first Black City Council member will seek re-election in 2022 — this time as mayor.
Mayor Erica Stewart — who has been serving in that role since October 2021— is the first mayoral candidate to file a form announcing an intention to run this November, according to City Clerk Teresa Purington.
Three others are vying for San Luis Obispo City Council seats in the November election, also having filed their paperwork: Emily Francis, Michelle Shoresman and Joe Benson.
Stewart announced the launch of her campaign Monday in a news release, citing her advocacy for diversity, economic sustainability and solutions to homelessness
“(Stewart) has a long history of volunteerism and philanthropy in the city and county of San Luis Obispo,” her campaign news release said. “Stewart has demonstrated her ability to find common ground, working with and for all residents of San Luis Obispo.”
Stewart was appointed by the council to mayor in October, filling the vacancy left by Heidi Harmon in September.
Harmon resigned as mayor in the middle of a two-year term, citing the need to focus on a new climate advocacy role with the Romero Institute.
Stewart, who had been serving in a four-year City Council role, would have concluded her council term in 2022 after first being elected in 2018.
Stewart, a Cal Poly graduate and former student government president, is currently the assistant director of personnel and marketing at Cal Poly Campus Health and Wellbeing, according to Monday’s news release.
“She has a diverse professional background, including working for the medical, manufacturing, and restaurant industries as well as owning a small wholesale bakery business,” the release said.
Stewart has received the endorsement of each of the four current City Council members: Andy Pease, Shoresman, Jan Marx and Carlyn Christianson.
Christianson, who has exhausted her term limit on SLO City Council, is not seeking re-election in November, Stewart’s news release said.
“I could now run for mayor, but of course I don’t want to run against our fine incumbent mayor,” Christianson said in an email. “(Stewart) is doing an excellent job.”
The current appointed term for Shoresman, who was appointed to fill Stewart’s council seat in October, ends this year as well. She is eligible for election.
SLO mayor shares vision for job
In an interview with The Tribune on Tuesday, Stewart said, “I feel like we’re doing a lot of good work and I want to be part of continuing that work and seeing it come to fruition.”
Stewart said she wants to help people with mental health and housing needs, citing the creation of a new mobile crisis unit that was funded to pair a mental health clinician with city staff member to provide non-emergency response.
The program is being rolled out soon, with a van secured and a new worker hired, Stewart said.
“We’re going to continue to work on what it looks like to help people who don’t necessarily need to be helped by police, and right now, that has been the only option in many, many communities,” she said.
Stewart said that a regional focus on homelessness is equally important, which she’ll continue to advocate for, such as the recent proposal for a new San Luis Obispo County Homeless Services Division, which she supports.
Stewart cited her past involvement with the regional Homeless Services Oversight Committee and making dinners at her church on a regular basis to help those in need.
“I feel like now that I can have a leadership role in helping people who are unhoused and helping with housing decisions,” Stewart said.
Stewart said the mayor role is appealing because it offers the chance to have more involvement and guidance into what goes on the City Council agenda.
She also has valued serving as mayor on statewide policy committees, such as bodies that address community services and revenue and taxation.
If she continues serving as mayor, Stewart said that she will seek to schedule in-person opportunities for community members to chat about issues of concern.
Erica Stewart: Police reform, diversity and housing are key issues
Stewart said conversations around police reform and how to make SLO more welcoming have been ongoing points of discussion.
She likes the idea of sending more social workers out into the community, when reports of criminal or mental health incidents are made, but also recognizes the important of police presence in dangerous situations.
“Social workers already have proven to be a great help and we’re getting more people into housing and services faster when we have the team working together,” Stewart said. “But we also can’t just send social workers by themselves out into the world either. That has proven ended up in death and injury in other communities. We want to be careful of that too and keep everyone safe.”
when she first came on board the City Council in 2018, Stewart said that she pushed for diversity and inclusion to be a major city goal, which was subsequently adopted by the council at large. She also advocated to increase the amounts of funding for diversity and inclusion.
The city set aside $40,000 on a Multi-Cultural Center feasibility study in its current two-year budget, a project recommended by the DEI Task Force.
“I think so we continue to talk about the spaces that we need,” Stewart said. “I really hope that we can come up with some kind of smaller, mini-pilot program versions of this and eventually get to a larger center that is all-encompassing.”
Stewart said that larger-scale projects can take time, and she wouldn’t want to promise a timeline on Multi-Cultural Center completion.
As for inclusionary housing, Stewart said the City Council is reviewing the current ordinance with the goal of adding more deed-restricted homes that are limited in price based on income for lower-income residents in SLO.
Stewart said it will be critically important to seek funding from the state and the federal government to help subsidize more affordable housing.
“I’m going out to lobby with the League of California Cities in two week and we’re going to talk to different people in (state) housing departments to figure out what can we do and how can we get more money,” Stewart said.
The council recently allocated $1.7 million in affordable housing funds to the Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo for the Anderson Hotel, recently acquired by HASLO as part of a multi-agency funding effort to provide affordable housing for vulnerable seniors and disabled adults.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 12:41 PM.
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