I immediately liked Erica Stewart when I met her, but I did not vote for her at the time because she lacked experience in government. She appeared to learn quickly, and since then I regularly voted for her. I will not this time.
The fear I slowly developed regarding her conflict of interest between her job at Cal Poly and her tenure as mayor exploded when she shared the grand jury report with Cal Poly employee Courtney Kienow—a violation of the penal code.
Perhaps even more disturbing is Stewart’s lack of understanding of her wrongdoing. In her view, the grand jury had it wrong, and she needed to even the game to be fair. Obviously, Stewart still has a lot to learn.
Another disturbing comment is the name-calling of unhappy neighbors as “the anti-student neighbors” (see thepublicfile.org). It reminds us that the mayor and council members live far away from Cal Poly and have no idea what it is to deal with fraternities and misbehaving students daily.
When you object to students peeing on your lawn, damaging your garden, and keeping you awake till the middle of the night, you are not being “anti-student,” you are being normal.
And you should not have to move out of a cherished home because the city and Cal Poly have decided to ignore the grand jury’s findings.
Odile Ayral
San Luis Obispo
This article appears in July 2-9, 2026.
