San Luis Obispo council race starts up months before Nov. 8 election

Two newcomers to San Luis Obispo politics — Brett Strickland and Andrea “Andy” Pease — have announced their intention to run for two open City Council seats in November.

In addition, Jan Marx, who is serving her third two-year term as mayor, intends to run for re-election. At this time, she is unopposed.

The three candidates have filed forms declaring their intention to run and to raise campaign funds very early in the election season; the nomination period for candidates in the Nov. 8 general election doesn’t open until mid-July.

The two four-year council seats now held by Councilmen Dan Carpenter and John Ashbaugh are up for election. Carpenter, who is running for 3rd District Supervisor Adam Hill’s seat, said he won’t seek re-election to the City Council regardless of the outcome of the June 7 primary.

Candidates in the primary must capture more than 50 percent of the vote or the top two vote-getters face off in the November general election.

Ashbaugh, who is termed out, said he has no plans to run for any other seat at this time. The mayor and council members cannot serve more than eight consecutive years in the same office, according to the city charter.

Strickland, 30, a supervisor and project lead at GP Strategies Corporation at Vandenberg Air Force Base, said he’s running to bring a fresh view and “diversity of opinion” to the council.

Strickland said he has serious concerns about the city’s rental housing inspection program, including privacy issues and potential legal challenges, and would seek to dismantle the program if elected.

The other candidate, Pease, 49, is an architect and business owner who established In Balance Green Consulting in 2008.

Pease serves on the board of directors of both the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce and the Central Coast Green Building Council, and she co-chaired SLO Citizens for Measure G in 2014, which supported renewal of the half-percent sales tax measure.

Pease’s three key priorities are maintaining a healthy economy so businesses can thrive and expand locally; protecting the environment, including implementing the city’s climate action plan and taking a hard look at water use “so we get the highest and best use of resources that we have”; and facilitating more affordable housing options.

Strickland and Pease both mentioned taking a look at city fees to see whether adjustments could be made to give developers an incentive to build smaller homes, lowering the cost to homebuyers.

Pease hasn’t taken a position on the rental inspection program.

“I’m still having lots of conversations,” she said. “We do need to address health and safety in our rentals. ... I’m also concerned about unintended consequences of the program. For me, it does not feel black and white.”

This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 2:52 PM with the headline "San Luis Obispo council race starts up months before Nov. 8 election."