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SLO councilwoman seeks to censure mayor over leaked report

July 25, 2026

SLO Councilwoman Jan Marx at IWMA meeting

By KAREN VELIE

San Luis Obispo Councilwoman Jan Marx is seeking to have Mayor Erica Stewart censured for releasing a confidential Grand Jury report in violation of the California Penal Code. Stewart shared the confidential information with her employer, Cal Poly.

Censure serves as a punishment, a way for the City Council to reprimand one of its own for violations of the of law or city policy. While censure carries no fines or suspension, it serves as a punishment for wrongdoing.

Local activists discovered that Stewart had violated the law when she leaked the confidential report to her employer, and then discussed how to respond to the allegations that the city had failed to protect its residents regarding issues with Cal Poly’s fraternities and sororities.

In her request for censure, Marx says that city staff failed to promptly fulfill a Jan. 28 records request from Kathie Walker for all correspondence between Cal Poly and Stewart regarding the Grand Jury investigation.

Mayor Erica Stewart

Instead of promptly responding to the records request, city staff waited until June 11 to provide Walker the incriminating text messages, just two days before the one-year statute of limitations to prosecute Stewart for a misdemeanor had passed.

“This leak of confidential information was not disclosed to the public for almost a year, until it was revealed in documents produced by the city pursuant to a city resident’s public records request,” according to Marx’s request for censure. “This nondisclosure by Stewart could be considered a coverup.”

On July 13, Marx submitted a complaint and request for a censure hearing to the chair of the SLO Personnel Board.

Stewart penned a written response to the complaint on July 22. The mayor argues that Cal Poly is a stakeholder in regards to the Grand Jury report and needed to be involved in the responses.

“As you may know, there has been a long-standing tension between student behaviors in the neighborhoods, the city’s housing and noise enforcement, and the university’s student discipline and response to the community,” Stewart writes in her response. “The effort to improve outcomes has remained a joint effort of the City of San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly for many years.”

However, Cal Poly does not fall under the jurisdiction of the SLO County Grand Jury. While Grand Juries interview multiple people during their investigations, only the “affected agency” is permitted to review the report before publication.

In addition, Stewart argues that she believed the Grand Jury had already sent Cal Poly a copy of the report before she shared it with her employer. However, her text messages with a Cal Poly administrator appear to contradict her claim.

Following widespread condemnation from residents, at Tuesdays SLO City Council meeting Stewart read an apology. During the same meeting, Marx announced her plan to have Stewart sanctioned.

The SLO Personnel Board is scheduled to review Marx’s complaint on July 27, and determine if there is sufficient evidence of a violation. If the board determines a serious violation occurred, it will recommend the City Council hold a censure hearing.

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53 Comments

In all this it’s shocking that Mayor Stewart forgets that the true stakeholders she is responsible for representing are the citizens of SLO – not her employer cal poly. her texts seem to provide a clear picture that the citizens and community are of no concern to her in this matter except to the extend those citizens she coins as friends are putting a wrench in matters.


Hopefully their is a thorough investigation of Dietrich and her staff’s involvement if any concerning the convenient delay of producing the texts that exposed this apparent wrong – delayed for months and released just days before the Statute of Limitations expired?


Elected officials and government employees should be held to a higher standard because they should know better especially when they are officers of the court as well.


49

When all is said and done likely not much will happen, it’s the SLO way. Dietrich will get a raise, she knows where too many bodies are buried, she helped bury some of them. Stewart may be requested to move on for the good of the party, just like Harmon, they get too caught up with the power and make a oops and forget their main purpose is to put on a good face so those in real control can continue stealing from the taxpayers, stuffing their pockets and waiting to retire and move on, again it’s the SLO way.


24

Heidi Harmon resigned midway through her second term I believe. Around the same time the Chair of the local chapter of the Democratic party did. Could it all be related to Adam Hill, the FBI raid, and Helios Dayspring?


24

And what ended up happening the her or anyone else involved in Adam Hills illegal activities?, nothing consequential.


15

Well, there is Dayspring sitting in prison and Adam Hill no longer breathing.


14

Marx puts the “ist” in marxist. Both she and Stewart need to go. But the old white hippie chicks rule in SLO.


32

That is not only a misogynistic comment, but also an ageist comment. Get a life.


-12

Oh dear, here come the PC police. Why don’t you just go back to your Pride parade?!


10

Now ain’t that the pot calling the kettle black! For all that Stewart misbehaved, Marx has behaved as badly or worse, being fined for election finance violations, cronying up to the likes of Adam Hill and Garry Grossman, manipulating the Airport Land Use Commission, and, most recently, using her official position to bully a city whistleblower. The elephant in this room is Marx’s motivation. Is Stewart the fall guy Marx is using to distract us from far greater personal violations? Does this portend more unsavory information to come about Marx herself that she needs greater political power to squelch?


43

The biggest issue is the whistleblower lawsuit recently filed by a career building inspector. Amongst other issues, his suit alleged “redirecting revenue”‘by named defendant, SLO city manager and holder of a juris doctorate, Whitney McDonald. Where did the revenue get “redirected?” How much was it? The whistleblower alleges Ms. McDonald and others ordered him to create a scheme to justify building permits an outside consult, hired by SLO, said should be reduced by 35%. The city looked at losing a million dollars in revenue.

The SLO city administration is a joke. Ms.Marx should be commended for filing a complaint against the mayor. Where were the other council members? If the DA doesn’t file charges and no one other than Ms. Marx sanctioned the garbage mayor, what message does that send about the law and or a Grand Jury’s report? You can just leak the confidential report with zero consequences. Mayor Stuart should be thanking her lucky stars she is only looking at being censored.


31

Thanks for the detailed response. I forgot to mention, although another post alluded to it, that Marx’s current home was intended as a low-income unit and likely afforded developer Garry Grossman certain concessions because he included a low-income home in San Luis Ranch. However, Marx took it for herself and went on to brag that it was OK because she paid market value for it. Hmmm.


25

*edit

The whistleblower lawsuit alleges “diverting revenue,” not “redirecting revenue.”


5

Bbbbut she said “Sorry”…


3

Everyone needs to read section 4.d, attachment B. Written by Councilmember Marx, a lawyer, it nails Mayor Stuart’s balls to the wall:


https://pub-slocity.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=8cd519a5-5810-4465-874f-1a03d27ddaa1&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English&Item=14&Tab=attachments


16

What would a “censure” really do? What really is the “punishment” that comes with it?

For the Mayor’s lying, and for many other reasons, including her relationship to Cal Poly that means more to her than representing City residents, resignation is the most fitting punishment. And she should do it on her own.


That said, it looks like Jan Marx wants to be Mayor again. That just presents us with a doubly distasteful “Sophie’s choice”. Both of them have harmed rather than helped this City and its neighborhoods. Let’s just see what happens Monday…


44

Whadaya think, Keith? Bring back Heidi Harmon! LOL!!!


-3

Someone ask Jan Marx how she was able to purchase an affordable house in San Luis Ranch?


44

Her husband is a law professor.


6

At one time she was Dean of the local law school.


8

Yep. I met her husband, he literally carries a pocket Constitution. We all should.


1

I heard Clarence Thomas carries one too. Mine’s in my desk drawer, only because it’s not one of those little pocket models.


1

Not sure why I’m getting down voted for suggesting we all carry a pocket Constitution. Maybe they would prefer Mao’s little red book.


3

I think most of us have lost track of what the real story is? Have we heard it yet, will we be hearing it, or will we continue to just get different versions of what Stewert thinks we’ll get her out of this bad situation.


“What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” Sir Walter Scott.


Meaning: Lying leads to more problems. One small lie forces you to tell more lies to hide the first one, creating a messy trap that spins out of control.


38

If you read mayor Stuarts response, she is trying to plead that despite breaking the law, her heart was in the right place.


14

“Good heart, empty head”, works one time.


16

Lol. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.


11

This is designed as a public slap on the wrist, to hopefully have the mayor avoid criminal penalties. She should resign now, and move on.


32

Wrong, it may come to light during the proceedings that a crime occured. What then? They may be obligated to refer it for criminal prosecution.


18

Amen!


19

If you read the 117 pages of Councilmember Marx’s well written complaint, there is so much dirt on Stuart and Cal Poly, the DA may have no choice to press charges


13

The statutue of limitations expired 1 year after the illegal act, which was June 13, 2026 so the DA’s hands may be tied


-2

Lawyers can be pretty creative.


1

There is no statute of limitations on city policy. If she violated city policy/ethics, she can be sanctioned. I know she is an elected official, but how can she be removed? Impeachment? Recall election?


3

Marx,

Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone….


-15

“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” is about personal judgment. A censure process is about public accountability. Public officials are expected to answer for their official conduct.


35

Exactly


8

Although the quote references personal rather than public wrongdoing, it certainly applies to the corrupt Marx who seems hellbent on heaping stones on the likely less often corrupt Stewart.


0

Glad to see you beat me to it. As to the post below, personal judgment should spill over into public accountability.


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