James Corbett
jamescorbett.md@gmail.com
Upon entering mayoral candidate Steve Barasch’s office, it’s difficult to miss the large stuffed life-size doll bearing a resemblance to Robin Williams in the film “Mrs. Doubtfire.”
According to Barasch, the doll serves as a token of good luck, which he’ll be hoping is on his side when local residents cast their votes for the San Luis Obispo mayoral election on Tuesday.
Barasch is challenging incumbent Jan Marx — whose list of endorsements includes multiple councilmembers, former mayor Alan Settle, as well as the San Luis Obispo County sheriff — and third candidate Donald Hedrick.
Where he stands
Barasch’s educational background extends back to 1967, when he earned a bachelor’s degree of architecture at the University of Arizona in three years. He went on to earn a master’s degree in architecture and urban design from Rice University in Houston. From there he furthered his education in London, where he became the first American and first Ph.D student at the Architectural Association School of Architecture and then did postgraduate research in complex organizations at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations.
Despite being a registered Democrat, Barasch has more conservative views when it comes to the San Luis Obispo economy.
“I’m a fiscal conservative, I want this city to be run like a business, rather than be run like amateur hour,” Barasch said. “I think we could run the city a lot wiser and a lot more efficiently.”
Barasch is now looking to put his education and experience in business to use by running for San Luis Obispo mayor. He is the founder and president of Barasch Architects and Associates Inc., in addition to providing professional advice on management as a consultant.
Barasch aims to make the city more fiscally accountable, as well as balance the budget, he said. He said he believes San Luis Obispo has too many employees given the small size of the city. Barasch is also adamant that the 28 percent of the city’s general fund spent on employee pension is far too excessive.
“A lot of companies go through organizational turbulence, meaning change is happening so quickly they haven’t been able to adapt,” Barasch said. “That’s why I got interested in the city, because it’s a complex organization that I believe is going through a certain level of turbulence.”
Barasch has also expressed his frustration with some of the city’s expenditures.
“The city has spent a lot of money in what I consider foolish ways,” he said.
According to Barasch, the most foolish purchase was a $1.5 million fire engine with a 100-foot ladder.
“It was purchased to fight fires in high rise buildings, we don’t have any buildings over 50 feet, and anything over 50 feet is considered a high rise in San Luis Obispo,” he said.
Barasch said the truck was purchased following the construction of Poly Canyon Village, which contains nine buildings taller than 50 feet and Cal Poly pays $25,000 annually for the fire engine. Barasch said the building is well equipped, though, with the latest state-of-the-art fire fighting systems, making the truck unnecessary.
Barasch hasn’t hidden his dissatisfaction with some of the city’s operations. However, his opponent, Marx, has criticized Barasch and the third mayoral candidate, Hedrick, for being too cynical.
“They’re both critics of the city, they are both pretty negative,” Marx said. “They don’t have a vision for the future, they just talk about what’s wrong with the city.”
Although Barasch stands at roughly 5-foot-9, he makes his presence known with an air of confidence and knowledge about a variety of issues. His experience in business has helped him become familiar with maintaining and balancing a budget.
“Steve is a very smart guy,” Barasch’s campaign manager as well as financial adviser for Zuk Financial Group Gordon Mullin said. “He’s very knowledgeable about city finances.”
Barasch is also concerned about what he said is a growing lack of involvement by the San Luis Obispo City Council.
“If you have projects that cost under $100,000, the council doesn’t even get involved,” he said. “And I think that’s wrong. The council has lost its way, it’s given up a lot of power to the staff.”
A local businessman
As well as owning his own architectural business and running for mayor, Barasch also owns a number of properties around San Luis Obispo and has been mentioned on a website created by a pair of Cal Poly students that allows local tenants to share their experiences with landlords.
The website, called SharpTenant, currently contains positive and negative reviews on thousands of landlords. Of the 26 reviews on the website for Barasch, 19 of them criticize him for issues ranging from “intimidating renters” to unsatisfactory repairs.
When asked about the website, Barasch said it was a Cal Poly senior project created by former tenants of his for the sole purpose of damaging his business and reputation.
However, Haley Perkins, who along with the co-founder of SharpTenant, rented from Barasch at one time, dismissed his claim.
“It was never our intention to bash Steve or ruin his reputation,” Perkins said. “We just wanted to help people that were poorly informed and a little naive.”
Perkins said her experience renting from Barasch was a minor role in the inspiration of the website, but the realization that other students faced similar matters with their landlords was the bigger issue.
Barasch said Perkins and the other co-creator of the website tried get out of their lease by cutting hair out of hairbrushes and claiming it was rat hair.
According to the land use database at the San Luis Obispo building department, the house was deemed unfit for inhabitants for a “possible rat infestation, feces and urine visible, no heat.”
The condemnation was later rescinded because the issues were dealt with in a timely manner and a letter of apology was sent to Barasch by the San Luis Obispo building department.
Graphic communication senior Mark Mac Manus rented from Barasch and lived in the same house Perkins lived in one year later. He said he also found rats in his home.
“We fully had rats, and they never reimbursed us for buying rat cleaner,” Mac Manus said. “They claimed they had the place de-ratted before we moved in and that there was no way it was their fault.”
Benjamin Kieffer, also a graphic communication senior, lived with Mac Manus last year and said Barasch was “condescending” and provided little assistance when repairs were needed for the bathroom sink and front door of his home.
“His slogan is ‘accountability counts,’” Kieffer said. “But he’s the least accountable person I’ve ever met.”
Perkins wasn’t stunned when she heard Barasch was running for mayor.
“I’m not surprised. Steve is a real go-getter, he likes to be in charge, he likes power,” she said. “I do find it surprising that people would vote for him.”
Even though Barasch has gained some negative reviews from his tenants, he certainly isn’t running with any lack of confidence. According to his website, a victory party is already scheduled for Nov. 6 at the Comfort Inn on Monterey Street.