As updated numbers trickle in for Central Coast races, it appears the era of an all-women city council is coming to a close in the city of San Luis Obispo. With most votes counted, it’s almost a certainty that Cal Poly Professor Mike Boswell will take the place of sitting Councilmember Andy Pease, who couldn’t run because of term limits.
Four candidates ran for two open seats on the Council this year. Incumbent Jan Marx received the most votes and is headed to re-election. Next up was Boswell, who said he was looking for an opportunity to serve.
“I've lived in the city for 26 years. I've had a wonderful life here, and I was looking for an opportunity to bring my skills and experience dealing with issues of City Planning and sustainability onto the council, I thought that was something that would be useful for the council to have, and I think it's maybe where I can make a difference,” Boswell said.
The city elected its first all-women city council in 2020. The names and faces have changed, but the all-women era continued until now.
Boswell said if elected he hopes to focus on things that he holds importance to like parks and road safety.
“And I'll be looking at how some of those things might be implemented through the budget — are expanding and enhancing our open space and our parks, addressing traffic and road safety and continuing to do as much work as we can on addressing the homelessness challenge in the city,” Boswell said.
Boswell is a professor with Cal Poly’s City and Regional Planning Department. Election results will be certified by December 3rd.
