After winning the race for mayor of San Luis Obispo by a mere 47 votes, challenger Heidi Harmon held a press conference on the steps of City Hall late Monday afternoon to thank her supporters and urge citizens to get involved with local government.
“Together we can create meaningful solutions to homelessness, create more affordable and inclusive housing invite more diversity here into this community and create true prosperity,” Harmon said.
In the days following the Nov. 8 election, incumbent mayor Jan Marx led the race with more votes. But as county election officials finished counting vote-by-mail ballots, Harmon pulled ahead. On Nov. 23, the last semi-officials results tally published by San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong, Harmon came out in the lead by 47 votes. While Gong has not certified the election yet, an election official confirmed that all ballots had been counted and the final results were not expected to change.
On Monday, Harmon told a crowd of about 30 supporters, friends and members of the media she considers climate change one of the defining issues of her coming term. She also pointed out that San Luis Obispo is one of the least heterogeneous cities in California and said she hopes to set policy that will improve the city’s diversity.
Harmon will be sworn in as San Luis Obispo's new mayor at noon on December 9. Harmon invited all Central Coast residents to her victory party at 7 p.m. at the Masonic lodge on Marsh Street in downtown San Luis Obispo that evening.
