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Is Mayor Heidi Harmon using her position for personal gain?

June 6, 2019

Mayor Heidi Harmon with her free glasses from the Noor Foundation

By KAREN VELIE

While the very poor receive government healthcare benefits, part time or minimum wage workers are often unable to afford health insurance. The Noor Foundation in San Luis Obispo fills the gap providing medical care, medications, dentistry, and eye glasses to the uninsured. [Cal Coast Times]

Supported by local doctors who volunteer their time, private donations, and grants from government agencies including San Luis Obispo, the Noor Clinic meets the needs of thousands of these uninsured residents.

As mayor of San Luis Obispo, Heidi Harmon has a voice on which local nonprofits receive public funding. During the past three years, Harmon voted to provide between $7,500 and $10,500 a year to the Noor Foundation.

As a member of the city council, Harmon is eligible for the city’s dental, vision, and medical benefit plan. However, the city’s insurance only provides users one pair of glasses every two years, according to  Kevin Christian, deputy city clerk.

During one of Harmon’s frequent out of town junkets, she forgot her “very very very expensive reading glasses,” and needed a new pair, she posted on Facebook.

After voting to award the Noor Foundation public funds, Harmon asked the clinic to replace her glasses, which they did.

“I’m here for you, thank you for being here for me,” Harmon posted on Facebook. “So good to experience this and the struggles we’re all going through and also to experience the generosity of our community.”


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What? Doesn’t she have to claim her income from the Big pay off she received from the Pot Guru’s?


21

Gramelin,


This woman, Heidi Harmon, is seriously corrupt, and her corruption undermines public confidence in local government. Then throw in her whacky, far-left politics and its easy to see why SLO is losing its luster. Sad.


Let’s choose a new kind of leader, and soon.


31

Sad that the richest place in the world needs charity organizations to provide health care the state is unwilling to provide.


Politicians motivated by self interest? Amazing. lol


15

The state cannot “provide” healthcare as healthcare is a skill, and is thus provided by highly trained providers (which the state is not). The state can either coerce these skilled providers into providing it or it can coercively confiscate money from citizens to pay the providers to provide the healthcare. Either way, the threat of force is involved, so the role of the charity organizations seems much more honest.


3

pedantic smart-arses of the world rise up!


1

#returntheglasses


23

Yes. (in answer to the title query)


10

I don’t agree with this potential miss use of funds, it happened, it’s not ok. But Sheriff Parkinson whom makes over 200k yearly; only with An Associates degree, has cost us let’s see, 3 million settlement tax dollars for Hollands torture, Paso PD rape dismissal and costs, his panga boat busting goon squad toys, contract oversight agency for failing jail and it’s ” new costs”, defending the coroner’s DUI and the list goes on. Make a a pair of glasses seem like, well, a pair of glasses. How many glasses would it take to make up for Andrew Holland? Well divide by 3 million and torture. Or how about Slo school superintendent getting 900k stipend to buy a house on your buck?


0

Complaining about this is equivocal to whinning about a dog pooping on your lawn, while watching your neighbor get murdered, and only complain about the poop!


-26

I disagree. These people are “public servants”. They’re in a position of serving the public for the greater good of everyone. They instead are chowing down at the government feeding trough, which they seem to feel is endless. I agree with Oldtimer, this is all the same SLO county high-level employee mindset; the mistakes they make are never punished or acknowledged. The worst part of all of this is that probably only a small percentage of this issues ever see the light of day.


32

So true


16

Corruption and malfeasance must be stopped anywhere, any time. You can’t let one go because the other is worse. Further people were up in arms about Holland, hence the settlement. To continue to allow/overlook the misdeeds of one public official because another has done worse is foolish. You go after them both.


12

I do agree that the whole Sheriff’s Office is a nightmare of ineptitude and the points you made about their failures are true. That being said, those doesn’t negate the ridiculous activities of the mayor. One wrong doesn’t negate another wrong.


21

Agree with all comments, Hedi gets alot of attention in a conservative county, it shows. What is reported isn’t good, is an abuse of power, but she does not have that much influence! She’s a mayor, a figure head! While she distracts with ignorance, massive crimes fall through the cracks, the public barley know, Calcoastnews uncovers many things, including this, but all lobbyists of all politics screw the average Joe including this, but much larger scaling!. But she’s barely paid a dime, others are paid in millions doing a terrible, terrible job, Cal Poly, Sherriff, John wallace, Kelly Gearhart, bad contractors etc. Using this as a platform too “corruption every here I slo, and it’s not political”, greed takes all. I see a bunch of “leftist statments, people getting a platform to just be negative.” Let heidi, as a person, not sex or political affiliations, her corruption, unite us all.


-5

what?


2

It’s true. The people aren’t capable of going after the real crimes perpetuated by the moneyed and connected classes so we have to focus all our rage on the small stuff.


1

But I still wonder… were these people always corrupt, or did the magically become corrupt once they were in a position of power and/or authority?


41

You don’t get into those positions without demonstrating to the real powers that you will play ball.


7

Miss Harmon has a very “big head”, and not only uses her positon for personal gain, she uses her position to manipulate others to fear her. She wants to appear to be one of us, but it’s just to get you on her side. It’s all about her, her cunning, rude, and arrogant self. Vote for a change in the next election.


49

What a pompous jerk. You can get perfectly good reading glasses at any dollar store. Using up critical resources at the Noor clinic is criminal.


57

The optics of this are not good . We need to keep an eye on her , because I feel she is blind to the critical ethical lapse this can represent.


57

eye see what you did there!


11

Hey, she sold herself as a visionary!


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