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Marx calls for rooftop party ban

March 9, 2015

roof 2San Luis Obispo Mayor Jan Marx is calling for a city ban on rooftop parties, following a weekend incident in which a garage roof collapsed at an early St. Patrick’s Day party. [Tribune]

At 6:21 a.m. Saturday, between 30 and 40 party goers were standing on top of a garage at a house party near Cal Poly. The roof collapsed, causing at least eight injuries, and online footage of the incident spread across the country.

Marx described the incident as mob behavior and an affront to the city. She told the Tribune it is sad that students act unintelligently and irresponsibly just months after they display the intelligence needed to get into Cal Poly.

An ordinance would theoretically put an end to “brewfing” — drinking on rooftops, Marx said. The ordinance would be a step toward regaining control in neighborhoods characterized by high student populations, she added.marx4

The roof collapse occurred during a block party on Hathway Avenue, a prime location for Cal Poly partygoers. Thousands of people attended the early St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

Cal Poly head baseball coach Larry Lee, and his brothers Mike and Terry Lee, own the property where the roof collapsed. Mike Lee said none of the tenants living at the house planned the party, and none of the affected families has threatened a lawsuit.


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Does San Luis have an ordinance against eating paste? If not then why not?


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What difference, at this point, would it make?


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The answer is to expel their ass from Cal Poly, Like blind stupid sheep, they kept following the student in front of them till it collapsed.


And they are in college?


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How odd a Marxist suggestion from well…you know! Her name certainly suits her mindset.


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Has SLO met an ordinance it didn’t love?


Really Jan, what next?


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Unfortunate stupidity is no cause for another new ordinance, regulation or law. The offenders and private property owners can deal with their own personal issues. The fact that this day was to avoid next weeks double fine day should speak volumes to the effect that wordy rules have on unruly behaivior. Let the particpants savor their own consequences.


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I wonder how many local public safety vehicles (from different agencies) were parked at Frank’s Famous Hotdogs this last Saturday morning at 6:21 a.m?


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I don’t think the SLOPD has any real clue on how to deal with situations like this. Don’t get me wrong, they have manpower and equipment up the kazoo. I just don’t think they have the leadership and the knowledge to use both to good use.


Years ago the SLOPD terribly mishandled the so-call Poly Royal Riot. Their ham-fisted (and ham-brained) approach lead to escalation and a lasting legacy that cost SLO our venerable Poly Royal celebration.


The SLOPD is clearly unsure of itself in such situations today. It’s clearly afraid of actively having to deal with such events.


The SLOPD needs fewer new toys, less Downtown patrol cops and greater LEADERSHIP! They need to learn how to actually police and not just to act like a bunch of public relations thugs.


By the way, has anyone heard from SLOPD Chief Steve Gesell or is he out of town attending an expensive seminar in Egypt or wherever?


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Very interesting observation. May I ask what you would have done?


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First of all, if I was the chief and there were more than a 1,000 people partying at that time of the morning, I would have been at the scene! I would have expected the watch commander to contact me.


Second, the focus in that sort of situation truly need to be about public safety and not about cops getting over on civilians (which seems to be the focus these days with the SLOPD.) 30-40 people on a roof is an obvious and immediate public safety issue. Either I and/or another cop with at least a modicum of communication skills would have cleared the roof. We would have dealt with other immediate public safety issues as well.


Then there would be the issue of getting people to move along, which would have taken some doing sans the shock of the garage collapsing. I suspect I would have had some officers (preferably some that didn’t feel the need to show how tough they think they are) start filling up a few vans with individuals who were obviously drunk in public. Maybe I would even have a low dollar paddy wagon/trailer whose mere presence signaled to even the drunkest zero that it was time to move along. Just start quietly shuttling loads of students out to the county jail and the balance would see the light very quickly.


I suspect SLOPD officers don’t train on something like this. I suspect that the majority also don’t have the communication skills not to make things even worse in this sort of situation.


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Obviously you have no experience with large drunken groups. So you, by yourself, or you would have directed another officer, by their self, to walk into a crowd of 3000 people, mostly drunk, and would have cleared the roof.

Stupid is stupid and I don’t think you can fix that. Your observations and opinions look great on paper but in reality your actions more than likely would have caused a riot.


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Stop acting like a fool.


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One final thing. If I was the chief, I would have FAR better intelligence about what was going on with Poly and Cuesta students. I would have known about this party as soon as it went out on social media.


What would I have done in response? Roll the hoosegow (I’m thinking a very large horse trailer with a padded interior pulled by a pickup) and simply start picking up drunks in public. Just the sight of the hoosegow might give the partiers a pause.


Oh yeah and the cops doing this detail couldn’t be jerks…


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Yes, Sam. SLOPD and Cal Poly PD should already have the capability of “listening” to the “chatter” on social media when these events are being “advertised.” WHY should the students be smarter than law enforcement? It’s as if law enforcement is still living in the 20th century…or earlier!


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I would also look into finding a way to do a “deferred citation” on an individual. Would it be possible to quickly and quietly take their driver’s license or school ASB card, snap a photo of them and send them a citation in the mail with the largest fine possible? If something like that could be worked out, it would have a chilling effect on the walking drunk that plague parts of SLO Thursday-Sunday.


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This new proposed ordinance is ridiculous! The kids will do what they do despite what the City tells them they can and can not do, they were partying!!!

So what should you do with the drunk kids?

Send the police to monitor the party! Hmmm a crowd of 3000? I am sure the cops were there too. Give citations to the kids themselves. Make it cost them, not the citizens of SLO. Not the landlords who were NOT there. Make the tenants pay for the damage for allowing the kids to be up there. The landlord is not responsible, the tenants are!

Jan just thinks she has to do “something”, well adding yet another rule to punish SLO citizens, especially “You are not allowed to go on your roof” is just absurd.

How about an ordinance that ANY party over a certain number of people Must have hired security and proof you have notified SLOPD of your very large party? Now that’s an ordinance that would make sense.

Hey, if you rent a hall for a party you already have to hire security, so this alternative to the “Can’t be on your rooftop” ordinance makes more sense.


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Good post. There is only one problem with it. The use of social media to create a massive party on very short notice makes it difficult to place the blame to say nothing about providing enough cops to monitor the event and enforce the laws. It COULD be that neither the landlord nor the tenants knew what was coming until it happened.


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Point taken and You are right! Well then, the cops do their best to monitor the best they can.

Reality, the kids need to monitor themselves , if they drink too much or overload a rooftop then lesson learned. We are not going to stop them from having parties. No matter how many ordinances are placed, no matter how many rules we make, they are college kids and it’s their time to test their decisions good and bad. No new ordinance is going to stop it. I’m not saying turn a blind eye, but every time they have a party we hear about it! Like it’s the cities fault for “letting” them party, and blame, blame blame on some cop or parent or frat or because we haven’t yet passed a new law. They are in college! This IS their time to be wild and test. Send out the patrol yes, ticket the law breakers, yes, but there is always some horrific over reaction that makes us all look like the old bitties staring our the window watching the neighbors with one finger on the dial ready to call 911.


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