SLO Journal Article

by Mayor Dave Romero

 

 At the time of this writing, the Victory Parties are over, hundreds of congratulations, thank yous and hugs have been exchanged, and all is at peace in SLO. This is the very best of times, the community is united with love of our City and a common desire to make it better. The hard decisions which must be made in order govern are not yet before us, and we can all enjoy our lovely city together.

 

Some of us are old enough to remember SLO in the mid-1950s. Downtown was like “any town-USA”, no trees, no Mission Plaza, with overhead wires, few parks, many unpaved streets, no public art, with none of the amenities that make SLO what it is today. All my talks since the election have stressed how far we have all come to make this a Jewel of a City. Everyone deserves thanks (and a hug) for their part.

 

It is time to look forward to what we can do together to make SLO an even better place- the best City ever. We need to find ways to make housing more plentiful and more affordable so young families who work here can afford to live here. We need to resolve our Water Supply problems so we will have sufficient reliable sources to meet our buildout needs. And we need to start addressing our ever-increasing traffic congestion problems.

 

The Mayor and City Council will need your advice, your testimony, your goodwill and your patience as we struggle for the best solutions to our shared problems. I am so grateful that we have the opportunity to work together to arrive at consensus. So many places in the world don’t have that luxury.

 

On a personal note, I wish to thank the voters of SLO for granting me the honor to serve them as Mayor.  For me, there simply couldn’t be a better job. I will take delight in being a part of so many exciting events we can expect in the near future. Home Depot, Costco, The Marketplace, the Copeland Center, the new Office and Parking Structure near City Hall, the new County Building, the Damon-Garcia Sports Fields, new Hiking Trails in our Open Space, new Bike Trails and Paths, and so many, many smaller projects will help our City flourish and become better than ever.

 

With so much promise, this is a wonderful time for us all to be a part of it.