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Taxpayers are watching the SLO City Council

July 8, 2020

James Duenow

OPINION by JAMES DUENOW

Once again, the San Luis Obispo City Council and city staff are showing they are firmly in the pocket of mostly Los Angeles developers. I am taking about plans to remove James Papp from the Cultural Heritage Committee.

If Papp is removed, we will surely let voters know what’s going on for the next election.

It’s time residents took back control of this city. We will learn who is behind Mr. Papp’s removal.

Such removal will be just further proof that the city’s overpaid staff and city council are letting out-of-town developers control the growth and development in San Luis Obispo.

If Mr. Papp is removed, the city council will pay at the ballot box. The tax payers are watching.


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11 Comments
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Looks like the City Council has set up James Papp to be the next challenger to Heidi Harmon!


7

The horse is gone, way to late to shut the barn door!!!

Your talking about the same taxpayers/constituents that elected Heidi Ho!!!


8

…and Adam Hill… and… and…


Yeah, I see the pattern.


8

If you simply look at the massive boom in development around SLO over the past few years, one has to wonder what’s going on. It seems no construction project is disallowed. Regitti ranch, Dalidio….huge housing developments. All the development north of Tank Farm. Why is all this development approved? No votes by the citizens? There is questionable need for any of this development. The only “evidence” is the city council claiming there is a critical housing shortage and I guess we need more tractor supply equipment!! Nonsense. Where is the evidence? There isn’t any. The city council seems to be blindly approving everything the developers put before them. Why??


16

The why is easy, the government needs the money to fund retirement!


12

Here is why: the city makes millions of dollars off of development fees, review fees, water and sewer connection fees, road fees, and myriad more fees. The city has just raised three fees again, for planning review etc. These development fees have been keeping the city afloat the past few years.

The current city council does not care one bit about residents, and uses the excuse that the state mandates all this housing. But some 70% of the new housing is being bought by people from out of the area, according to one developer. I guess he would know as he is selling it to them! And it is not “affordable” by any means. How does that help locals? It doesn’t, pure and simple.

The current council has sold us down the river under the guise of saving the environment by building closely packed homes, putting 40% of the road budget into busses and bike lanes, banning natural gas, and on and on. It’s time for all of them to go! The latest insult, to can Mr. Papp, a volunteer trying to save the tangible history of SLO, demonstrates their complete lack of vision and commitment to this community. They are completely inexperienced in terms of running a business, paying a mortgage, and other adulting. Other than the bike lobby and drug dealers they don’t represent anyone as far as I can see.


26

VOTE THEM OUT!!!!!


11

It’s not the puppets who we elect, the problem is SLO’s very own “deep city” cancerous leeches. Public service is a scam. Public sector unions are a scam.


We have been scammed for so long, a lot of people just prefer the status quo, like frogs in a pot.


7

I’m not sure an OpEd should be published when it is simply idle speculation with no evidence to back it, followed by threats. I don’t have an opinion on this matter, because I’m not familiar with Mr. Papp’s situation, other than that the council voted to remove him from his post. If there is evidence of something sinister, please communicate that evidence to the public so they can form an educated opinion. In this case, all that was conveyed was Mr. Duenow’s apparent anger management problem and lack of communication skills. This is not constructive. Strange choice to publish…


-43

kenny, is it? First off, Jim is a respected elder around here, insulting him will not help your case. Secondly, Jim publicly let the council know he knows what they are up to, likely his intention. Thirdly, in my humble opinion, this opinion piece was an extremely healthy way for Jim to channel his anger. Now learn some manners.


25

Maybe you’re right and Mr. Duenow should be seen as a “respected elder,” but, as such, he should be able to produce a coherent opinion piece, sans typos, that follows traditional argumentative rhetoric with a problem, identification of each side, and then a solution. He does none of those things and simply produces a fact free screed against those evil politicians in the current version of the SLO City Council.


For example, who are the Los Angeles developers of whom he speaks? Exactly how are those developers taking control of the city’s growth? And, are SLO city planners really overpaid when considering cost of living in this area? I might be inclined to think he was correct in his assumptions if he were to answer those questions in a detailed fashion.


Otherwise, it strikes me as blatant partisanship. He simply doesn’t like what’s happening because his side wasn’t consulted.


-34