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Marx’s car vandalized after SLO council contests binding arbitration ruling

March 11, 2014
Jan Marx

Jan Marx

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

Shortly after the San Luis Obispo City Council voted unanimously Monday morning to appeal a ruling that would restore binding arbitration for police and firefighters, a vandal smashed the window of Mayor Jan Marx’s car.

Marx attended a lunchtime rotary meeting at the Madonna Inn Monday after the council decided in closed session to appeal a California administrative law judge’s ruling that the city must restore binding arbitration to its charter. When she returned to her car in the Madonna Inn parking lot around 1:40 p.m., Marx found her right front window smashed in, according to the San Luis Obispo Police Department.

No other damage occurred to the vehicle, and Marx did not believe any items were missing from the car, Police Officer Eric Lincoln said.

“She doesn’t have any idea who did it,” Lincoln said. The police department has not identified any suspects, either.

Some speculate the vandalism was retaliation for Marx’s closed session vote.

Marx did not respond to a request for comment.

In 2011, Marx lost the support of public safety unions after she chose to support placing pension reform and a repeal of binding arbitration on the ballot. San Luis Obispo voters overwhelmingly approved both measures, but on Feb. 28 Judge Valerie Racho ruled that the city conducted an improper election on the binding arbitration initiative. The city did not adequately meet and consult with police and firefighter unions prior to placing the repeal of binding arbitration on the ballot, Racho ruled.

The city will now appeal Racho’s ruling to the California Public Employment Relations Board.

 


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Vandals means cowardly in every language.


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I wonder if she’ll order the flag to be flown at half staff in honor of her loss, unlike she did for our Pearl Harbor Vets.


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This will be interesting to see how Ms. Marx’s handles the repair of the broken window. Will she just turn it into her insurance and pay the deductible or maybe pay the entire cost. Or, will she claim that she was on city business (free lunch) and have the city pay for the repair? Of course by the time it goes thru all of the city’s layers of BS it will end up costing the taxpayers way more than that what it should.

Who do you trust baby? Thanks Telly, great line.


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I don’t dislike Jan, even though I’m republican, she voted for some things I like and many I don’t like. For example I didn’t like her idea on LED street lights, they look terrible and aren’t bright like the high pressure sodium lights, however I think she was sold on saving money than safety but her car, I agree that’s awful. Just as long it doesn’t put CCTV camera’s everywhere.


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ANYONE CHECKED THE SECURITY CAMERAS IN THE PARKING LOT??? They can catch a guy on a security camera stealing a cake, but nobody takes a look at the cameras outside?????


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I’m guessing your one “thumbs down” is from the person who broke into the car and doesn’t want their picture posted everywhere.


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Case solved!


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There is no mystery and no conspiracy here. The fact is Jan’s chickens have come home to roost.

When Jan and her husband were younger they were hippies and as hippies did back then, they travelled the country living off hand outs, working odd jobs and stopping at the odd commune along the way. She revels in telling stories about a simpler time and she identifys with the young homeless we see in San Luis Obispo today.

The problem is that most of these folks are not educated “free spirits” taking a year off before law school or grad school. Most are people with serious mental health issues or drug addictions or both.

I am sure some neer do well cruised by her car on his way to Madonna Plaza to work his three hour shift pan handling at the entrance, saw something that caught his eye and broke into her car. Jan would never dare blame a homeless drifter; why that would be downright unfriendly for the mayor of the friendliest town in the country.

So when you or someone close to you falls victim to one of these “free spirits” in town, say getting robbed by the guy you tried to give a dollar too, or getting your jaw broke by some nut running down the street, ask yourself how this could happen in Jan’s town? Jan Marx: Peace, Love, Dope!!


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Soooooo (by your “logic”), since Jan Marx was once a hippie, she deserves to have her window smashed in by a homeless drifter…and that she is single-handedly responsible for incidents of crime related to the homeless…now THAT’S comedy.


What next, is she responsible for the drought too? ;)


On a more serious note, thank you for reiterating the fact that many of our homeless are battling serious health issues and addictions…including MANY of our servicemen/women who served and came home broken…families devoured by un(der)employment…foster kids who ran instead of staying in an abusive home…and of course, those who suffer from untreated mental illness.


Remember THESE faces when you speak of the homeless in SLO county…not those who have CHOSEN to live solely off the misguided charity of others.


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“Deserve” has nothing to with it.

Jan didn’t deserve to get her car broken into. The guy who got robbed last week when he stopped to give a vagrant didn’t deserve it. The teenage girl who was punched in the face by some homeless nut a few years ago didn’t deserve it.

The fact is when the character of SLO started changing 30 years ago, as Jan and others like her moved here we began to collectively feel sorry for people we had called “bums.” Suddenly they were “homeless” and if you didn’t feel sorry for them you were heartless.

So a lot of people adopted a go along to get along approach and didn’t object when they opened a soup kitchen at the Mission. They didn’t ask questions when Kurt Kupper leased a ramshackle old house on Orcutt Rd to the county as a shelter, rather than spending money to make repairs so he could rent it. We didn’t object when the county opened a shelter on Kansas Avenue next to the jail. We didn’t ask why our homeless population was growing so rapidly, during an unprecedented time of economic prosperity, that we had to expand our shelter services.

When we changed our collective attitude we became enablers and we embarked on the irrevocable loss of our unique city. In the 80’s we used to see the riff raff that had practically taken over State Street in Santa Barbara and think to ourselves “That would never be tolerated in SLO.”

Now we have the same problems with vagrants that Santa Barbara had.

Just like Field of Dreams “If you build it they will come” but instead of ball players we got the homeless.


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Good thing their old hippie pot smoking buddy Gordo is here to explain.


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Gee, did I strike a nerve?


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Well with a story like that all prepped and ready to go, I think we have a pretty good idea of who might be associated with who broke the window, eh Gordo?


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Just the usual suspects I guess eh Mr. Kaney..


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too bad you are so jealous….

grow up!


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Can you say Union Thug?…..they’re back. If doing the right thing under adverse economic situations involves taking back promises made and that angers some…then stop promising. Do away with public sector unions or pay a big price down the road. It’s that simple.


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Oh, for heaven’s sake. Your attempts at demonizing unions every time someone does something bad is getting old.


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Public sector unions work against the citizens and should have never been allowed. I don’t have to demonize the PUBLIC sector unions because they do just fine with that on their own. But Mary… for heaven’s sake. Bring an argument to the table rather than a statement next time and we can discuss it further.


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Careful who you get in bed with, Jan… politically speaking, of course. This reminds me (just barely) of what the public employees & union thugs tried doing to Scott Walker (and failing miserably in the recall) when he gave the sugar-kids the bad news about their ever-lasting gobstoppers…


On a heavier note, this whole public employee fleecing of the treasury was bound to have drastic measures needed. The original (and subsequent) digitizing of debt, also know as the TARP bailout, could only prolong the inevitable.


Sure the “market” has high numbers, but that’s to be expected when the private bank is creating over $80,000,000,000 per month and “investing” in stocks, bonds and states with hemorrhaging public employee liability debts.


It would take a serious fool not to see what is happening, or where this is headed.


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r0y you are right. The city has over $70 MILLION in the bank earning a measly 0.25% interest in out of area investments, and they want more money from us? Give me a break!


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“They want more money from us?” I presume “us” means “public employees.” Well guess what, it doesn’t matter how much money the city has, it’s not yours. They’re not TAKING it from you, they’re TAKING it from the the rest of us, and GIVING it to you. So stop being so grabby.


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