Patty Andreen’s endorsement of Jan Marx (“Mayor Marx steers SLO in the right direction,” Sept. 1) for mayor is a hoot. Patty praises Jan’s leadership for putting SLO in a strong financial position, promoting neighborhood infill projects, booming the tourist economy, spurring road improvements, and stabilizing our water supply!

Not so fast, Patty. All those claims are either 180 degrees false (finances and water) or at the top of the list of what residents hate (neighborhood infill, tourist dominance of downtown, traffic).

Rather than strengthening quality of life, Marx’s regime has coincided with monumental government ineptitude and the city’s encouragement of commercial greed against the best interests of residents. She’s sat by while the resident homeowner population has declined from more than 60 percent to a little more than 30 percent. This is what Patty calls a “solid record.”

Sure, the city’s business elite and developers are thrilled with Marx’s record. But the rest of us? Not so much.

Heidi Harmon offers an alternative. Unlike Marx’s top-down notions of how government works, Heidi understands that democracy grows from the bottom up. She would strive to help us get things working for us, not just for the elites. She would be a huge breath of fresh air and deserves our votes.

-- Brenda Holmes - SLO