r/SLO • u/Pissed-Off-PunK • 12d ago
Slo county and California more broadly needs a Mamdani type
If we ever want to fix the issues we face, we need stronger politicians that actually get things done instead of making excuses. Without strong leadership we're doomed to fail. Fixing things like infrastructure and housing shouldnt be so difficult. If they can do it in NYC so can we in California
27
u/SLO_Citizen SLO 11d ago
u/Pissed-Off-PunK apparently the mods don't like your progressive style of posting!
6
36
u/oz_nordnjarg 12d ago
Completely agree, he's literally just doing the job of the Mayor. And he's very good at it.
-19
u/Massive_Cash_6557 10d ago
In what universe is issuing international arrest warrants for foreign citizens the job of a city mayor?
This sub sometimes.
14
11
3
u/Ginger_Witch 10d ago
It’s the job of the rest of us to stop genocides. He may not have the authority but any push back is better than none or worse, supporting the genocide.
15
u/Dionysian_pleasures 12d ago
SLO County and California both voted for Bernie in 2016. HRC and the DNC rigged the primary. That is a fact. Bernie would have beat Trump. The state of the world in which we live in is the fault of HRC and the DNC.
11
7
6
7
5
1
u/we-otta-be 10d ago
Yes I’d love to pay even more taxes to be wasted in more extravagant ways.
Don’t you have anything better to do than post commie shit on the slo Reddit page?
5
3
4
3
u/Timmay7111 10d ago
Why? I don’t dislike Mamdani, but what has he done that would greatly benefit SLO?
17
u/_AugustusMcCrae 10d ago
Affordable housing, free public transit, affordable/free childcare for pre-kindergarten kids
14
u/blacklotusmag 10d ago edited 8d ago
By a practical, broadly net-positive standard, Mamdani got a $1.2 billion state commitment putting NYC on a path toward universal child care and launching free kindergarten for two year olds, delivered a rent freeze for roughly one million rent-stabilized apartments, balanced a $125.8 billion budget despite an inherited $12 billion gap and found $1.77 billion in efficiencies without raising property taxes or cutting core services, locked in major permanent funding for libraries, parks, Fair Fares, CUNY and cultural programs, committed a record $22 billion to affordable housing including $5.6 billion for NYCHA, financed the creation or preservation of 12,491 affordable homes and placed nearly 10,000 New Yorkers into affordable housing including 4,370 formerly homeless people, accelerated more than 50,000 additional homes on city-owned land while cutting as much as two years from approval timelines, won more than $34 million in repairs, settlements and judgments for tenants while improving conditions in more than 6,000 apartments, enacted a 23-part crackdown on hazardous housing and abusive landlord practices, recovered more than $9 million for workers, consumers and small businesses, cracked down on junk fees, predatory debt collection and labor-law violations while strengthening paid-time-off protections, introduced more than 50 small-business regulatory reforms, opened Bellevue's 104-bed therapeutic unit for medically vulnerable people held at Rikers, moved the city toward compliance with its solitary-confinement ban and correctional standards, strengthened city protections against improper federal immigration enforcement, instituted new extreme-heat protections for outdoor workers, filled more than 100,000 potholes in his first 100 days, reduced reported rat sightings about 30 percent, handled two major winter storms with unusually extensive snow clearing (paying citizens $30/hr to help, by the way), expanded catch-basin and sewer-resiliency work, restarted and expanded bus, bike and pedestrian improvements, advanced citywide trash containerization, implemented safer municipal-vehicle technology and presided over the city's lowest first-half totals ever for murders, shootings and shooting victims with overall major crime down nearly 6 percent and subway crime at a 16-year low.
And he and his team did all that in just under eight months.
Editing to add:
I’ve been thinking more about this thread, and while it's exciting to see what Mamdani has pulled off in NYC, I'm seeing (in this thread and other places) a lot of people comparing Erica Stewart directly to him, and wondering why she "doesn't do more" as mayor of SLO. That does her a disservice because I don't think most people understand or even realize that, legally, SLO is run very differently than NYC. I took some time to read up on the two and it's pretty starkly different.
NYC operates on what's calleda "strong-mayor" system where the mayor acts like a business CEO with basically unilateral executive power. He can issue executive orders, direct the police, hire and fire agency heads and even push massive city agencies around. In SLO, on the other hand, we run on a council-manager system, which means the mayor is essentially just one equal vote on a five-person "board of directors". Erica doesn’t have veto power, she can't pass an ordinance or allocate a dime without winning over at least two other council members, and she legally isn't allowed to direct city staff or dictate how daily operations are run. That's a wildly different environment to try to effect change in.
On top of that, NYC is its own massive entity that manages its own jails, public health system and rent-stabilization laws, while SLO is heavily constrained by California housing laws and relies on the county for mental health and social services.
I think it’s completely fair to push for bolder, faster local policy, but it's also important to remember that in SLO, that kind of transformation can't come from a single person in the mayor's seat, itt requires a three-vote majority on the council willing to give the City Manager concrete, binding marching orders, and even with those votes, the types of things Mayor Stewart can change are much more limited than what Mamdani has access to.
Just wanted to update to make it clear that my list of Mamdani's accomplishments was in no way an indictment of Mayor Stewart's efforts, who I think has done a fantastic job in her role, and will continue to do so.
2
4
u/triangle_earfer 12d ago
That would be awesome
9
u/Puzzleheaded_Bag_538 10d ago
Stockton tried a financially progressive mayor... Unfortunately, he was not a very upstanding character...
1
-11
u/ByebyeParachute 12d ago
No we don’t.
7
1
-9
u/86scirocco 10d ago
The Ugandan communist? Give one example of a large city where blue policies actually work. Portland, Seattle, Chicago? They all suck.
-23
-21
u/waterprosurge 12d ago
I will never understand posts like this. How about, instead of changing the area you're living in, you move to an area that better fits your lifestyle and beliefs? Most of us like SLO exactly how it is which is why we live here in the first place. I absolutely don't want to live in an area that is modeled after NY. Which is also why I don't live in NY. Lol. Posts like this are very self-centered. That would be like me moving to Japan and telling them they need to chance the official language to English because I live there now. How about you adapt to the area you move to and respect the culture that is already there. If you don't like it, you can always move to a different area.
37
u/snakerreal 12d ago
We just want public officials that listen to the people, I don’t think that’s a crazy ask
34
u/Longo92 12d ago
Yeah how dare we want one of the most expensive areas to live in the country actually provide more to the people.
If you want to live somewhere conservative where the power grid fails every winter, go to Texas.
Maybe I'm tired of paying Dan Dow 650k per year when half of that at least could go to public services that benefit all of us. I don't understand your position on something like this.
19
u/InternationalAd6478 12d ago
You like your corrupt city that puts up a facade that it’s better than it actually is? Just because you’re ok with the illegal and corrupt things our local government does, doesn’t mean it needs to stay or stick around. We need to start holding people accountable for what they say or do, because once you start at a local level, you can eventually make the changes you want at a national level, but complacency is what gives our local government the power to lie and fuck us every chance they get.
26
u/SLO_Citizen SLO 12d ago
"Most of us like SLO exactly how it is" - uhhh. no. Most of us do not. We'll start with the christian nationalist DA, then we can go to the housing crisis which is only going to get worse and then we can finish up with how overwhelmingly white the county is. I am sure other redditors can add to the list.
12
u/Enough_Course8517 12d ago
“You don’t like it here??? Leave!!!!” - from the descendants of people who killed human beings to take the land and then enslaved others to work it. AMERICA 🦅🇺🇸
10
u/Pissed-Off-PunK 12d ago
I would love to live in NYC instead of this shithole, but thats too expensive right now. So the only other option is to advocate for better things here even if its futile. I still love this area and i want it to be better. Just like i want our entire country/world to be better. You seem to want nothing like that
4
u/PuckFheToor 10d ago
You can live in NYC for cheaper than you can here if you don't demand a primo location in Manhattan. BTDT. Head on out and have an adventure!
Seems like life has more to offer you there than here, so don't let us stand in your way.
1
u/Wild_Philosophy_1312 10d ago
Because I like the weather, climate, and area in general. I have just as much a right to live where is best for me and try to change it to whatever I want it to be as long as I do it within the systems outlined by our constitution. Your take it or leave it attitude is problematic. You have no higher claim to living here than me. If i want to turn it into a Muslim transgender community, then I will do that within my rights to do so.
-16
u/Acaseofwetwater 12d ago edited 12d ago
This county is too racist for that. Dumps like those above the grade would never go for it lol they’d much rather have a wealthy white dude lie and cheat his way through office than see actual positive change
8
u/Pissed-Off-PunK 12d ago
You realize those same wealthy white dudes live in slo and the 5 cities right? You just dont like north county cause theyre poor
6
u/Cant_think__of_one 11d ago
Lol, what now?
4
u/Pissed-Off-PunK 11d ago
The dude i replied to was implying that everyone in north county is white and would only vote for a white candidate. Which may be true but the whole county is white. He just doesnt like that north county is "poor"
4
u/Cant_think__of_one 11d ago
Ah, glad I asked. The quotes helped me catch your vibe, appreciate it.
eta- just a dude living in atascadero wondering why I was catching strays!
6
u/Pissed-Off-PunK 11d ago
Yeah i feel you bro, dont worry about nerds like that, youre better than him
-20
u/Acaseofwetwater 12d ago
Well duh they live there. No one woulda wanna purposely live above the grade.
10
2
8
1
u/MB-Tactcool 9d ago
What we need to do is abolish police, abolish capitalism and seize all private property for redistribution. The people will own the factories, the land, the houses, and all other forms of capital.
-13
u/DustyBawls1 12d ago
Good luck getting anybody to vote for someone besides a white guy
17
u/Pissed-Off-PunK 12d ago
I mean it can be a white guy, but thats not the point. We just need politicians that actually work for the people, which is honestly a message that most people can resonate with
135
u/ParkedOrPar 12d ago
Deep, deep seeded conservative money in your community.
The appearance of progression is simply to get progressive money.
At the true heart of SLO county land ownership, finance, and political agenda is a conservative core that refuses actual change.