Not to shred someone while they’re out of the office, but one San Luis Obispo elected official may have taken a neighborhood dispute a little too far.
Longtime City Councilmember—and former mayor—Jan Marx was apparently just sick of staring at a truck parked on her street. She was over it, so she did what any elected official would do. She complained.
Marx took the time to go out to the curb where the truck was parking and measure the painted red curb next to it. She took pictures of all her handiwork in an effort to convince city staff to do something about this terrible travesty of justice!
What was the travesty?
Well! In Marx’s eyes, the red paint didn’t cover enough of the curb next to the fire hydrant on the corner, among other things.
“A white Silverado pickup truck … has been parked at the corner of San Luis Ranch Road and Froom for weeks, without moving,” Marx wrote in a Feb. 27 AskSLO complaint to the city. “Also the curb in that space should be painted red, given the close proximity of the fire hydrant and the crosswalk. … It is hard to avoid hitting the truck, exiting the roundabout and entering the neighborhood.”
Something must be done! Marx had an idea.
“Extending the red curb all the way to the driveway would make sense,” she wrote in a second complaint filed the very next day.
And the city immediately thought: “Great idea!”
Marx filed her complaints over a weekend, and by Monday, the city had a work order ready to roll. A city government has never operated so quickly!
In mid-March, the owner of this pickup truck pulled up to the curb in front of their house after work and could no longer park there. Red paint stretched all the way to the driveway. No warning.
Turns out, the house belonged to none other than the former SLO chief building official, Michael Loew, who knows his way around a red curb, city policy, and measuring tape. So, he measured that very same curb for himself.
A curb has never received so much attention!
“The original red curb was extended to exactly 15 feet beyond the fire hydrant, which left a total of 19 feet, 4 inches to the edge of our driveway apron,” Jacqueline, Michael’s wife, said. “Those are the true measurements before all of this happened, and Jan’s measurements were incorrect.”
Precise, amirite?
New Times reached out to the city about the issue, and the city responded a few hours later to the Loews. The city may, on second thought, have made a whoopsie-daisy.
“Upon re-evaluation, we found that while daylighting requirements … do apply, there is enough space to maintain those safety standards and retain a minimum 18-foot parking space in front of your home,” Assistant Director of Public Works Madeline Kacsinta wrote. “The original measurements were overly conservative, and we apologize for that. We will be correcting this by restoring the 18-foot parking space and adjusting the curb striping accordingly.”
What? Seems like someone in power had the upper hand over their neighbors until their neighbors reached out to the media. But I’m just thinking out loud, you know?
Kind of like the REACT Alliance did when it sent a letter to the Trump administration’s Department of the Interior begging it to reimburse the five wind farm companies that have leases off California’s coast. And no, the wind farms didn’t ask for their $750 million-plus back.
Since Trump hates renewable energy, now’s REACT’s chance to get rid of offshore wind so that when the next administration strolls in and has the gall to support renewable energy development, all the effort made on offshore wind in California up to this point has to start over again!
Screw it. Let’s drill for oil instead! Trump has set up offshore leases for that, right?
In March, the Trump administration paid $1 billion to French energy company TotalEnergies to walk away from U.S. offshore wind leases off the coasts of North Carolina and New York—something REACT wants to also happen here.
“Forcing American ratepayers to shoulder the immense costs of this ‘impractical solution’ offers no immediate benefit,” REACT wrote in its letter.
I don’t think ratepayers are shouldering any costs just yet—except for maybe increased natural gas prices. Thanks, Trumpty Dumpty! REACT seems to be asking for taxpayers to shoulder the burden instead.
“There’s been no movement” on the leases just yet, REACT VP Saro Rizzo said.
It’s only been two years since the lease agreements were signed. These kinds of projects take longer than the Trump administration’s going to be around. We’ve only got two and a half-ish more years! Jesus! I mean, Doctor!
You know who’s not waiting? People who want to run for Paso Robles City Council. The primary election ballots aren’t even in the mail yet, and folks are announcing their aspirations for the general election.
That is, except for sitting City Councilmember Chris Bausch. He’s going to keep us all waiting to make his announcement. Hopefully a judge won’t have to compel him to tell us what we all want to hear: “I’m retiring from elected office.” ∆
The Shredder doesn’t endorse candidates but has strong opinions. Send your own opinions to shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in April 16-23, 2026.
This is typical Jan Marx. Let us not forget she was busted violating the city’s trash can ordinance while on the council in 2011…this is rich! Maybe city staff should not have rushed to cater to her neighbor dispute..https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article39165069.html