Heidi Harmon will be the mayor of San Luis Obispo for a second term, beating out challengers Keith Gurnee and Donald Hedrick. Harmon won with 59.73 percent of votes, according to the San Luis Obispo County’s final unofficial report. Harmon’s second campaign was “Promises Made, Promises Kept.”
“A more forward thinking view of San Luis Obispo is winning, so I think that’s a win for the city and that’s definitely a win for the campus and the students,” Harmon said from her election night party. “We’re all excited about the future of San Luis Obispo.”
Harmon has set high environmental goals for San Luis Obispo, with hopes to make the city’s carbon footprint zero by 2035.
Posted by Jay Erker on Tuesday, November 6, 2018
At the Mustang News mayoral debate, Harmon said she believes San Luis Obispo is a special place and community members have an obligation to keep it as such. She also said since the government will never develop into the city’s open space, the community needs to be smart about where affordable housing will be approved and developed. Harmon said she believes the city needs to increase density for greater affordability.
Harmon, who said students contributed to her 2016 win, said she believes in more relationships and less ordinances. She said she is proud of her work toward better relationships so far, including her council making the party registration program permanent and voting against an expansion of the safety enhancement zone around St. Patrick’s Day.