I was ecstatic when I saw Bernie Sanders finally rise to fame, and I voted for him. My enthusiasm quickly waned because the progressive movement that first supported him was obviously taking over. I do not recognize Sanders in the present SLO Progressives, who put ideology above the will of the majority of our residents, and keep telling us how we should live instead of promoting debate and listening to our needs.
In a short time, our progressive mayor and council managed to pit cyclists against drivers, the old against the young, and turn the most reasonable residents into incensed bystanders. They wrapped expensive developments in the cloak of “affordable housing,” paid no attention to infrastructure, and violated the protections given to our natural reserves. They voted for expensive separate bike lanes in old neighborhoods ill-equipped to support them, as well as foolish projects like million dollar bollards on Higuera. All against the will of the majority of the residents who begged them to respect long-established sound policies, but were ignored or rebuffed.
A city council is not elected to dictate, it is meant to serve, and we, the residents, need to bring back real representatives into our city government.
Odile Ayral
San Luis Obispo
This article appears in Winning Images 2018.
Hear, hear!
Since when is any part of San Luis Obispo County politicos into a truly progressive agenda. Most of them are toadies for big oil, developers, and the wealthy in the county, some of whom are controlled by moneyed interests with bribes and contributions.