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Two SLO city council seats up for vote in November

All registered voters in SLO County will be mailed ballots.
Amanda Wernik
All registered voters in SLO County will be mailed ballots.

In addition to the mayor, four candidates are running for two City of San Luis Obispo council seats next month. Andy Pease is vacating her seat, and incumbent Jan Marx is vying for another term on the council.

Marx has served on the council for 16 years.

She said her proudest accomplishment has been expanding the city’s greenbelt, the open space around San Luis Obispo. If re-elected, Marx said she would keep her focus on environmental protection and fighting climate change.

Marx said another key issue for the city is the high cost of housing, especially for those who can’t afford to buy a home.

“There is no tenant protection that the city is actively implementing for the residents,” Marx said. “This is a big concern for the students, but they're not the only renters– there's a whole working population.”

Candidate Mike Boswell is a professor of city and regional planning at Cal Poly. He told KCBX that he’s focused on protecting open space, making streets safer for bikers and addressing homelessness and housing challenges.

Boswell said he is ready to collaborate with council members and others to find real solutions:

“I've always been somebody who likes to try to work in a team to solve problems, and so many of these problems, for example, if we take the homeless and housing crisis in San Luis Obispo, that really takes partnership with the city, the county and the state, even,” Boswell said.

The campaigns of Felicia Lewis and John Drake did not respond to requests for interviews.

Lewis is an entrepreneur and San Diego State University graduate and has lived in the SLO community for many years. Her campaign website said she helped restore Cheng Park and pushed for new downtown recycling bins. If elected, she would continue to advocate for community improvements.

According to his campaign website, Drake’s priorities include revitalizing downtown and reducing homelessness. He works as a behavioral health coordinator.

San Luis Obispo residents can already vote by sending back or dropping the ballot they received in the mail. Voters may also cast their ballots in-person on Nov. 5.

KCBX Reporter Amanda Wernik graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a BS in Journalism. Amanda is currently a fellow with the USC Center for Health Journalism, completing a data fellowship that will result in a news feature series to air on KCBX in the winter of 2024.
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