This Can’t Be a Free-for-All in a Public Setting

Public Interest File No. 5

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Overview

This set of public records concerns Cal Poly’s October 1, 2024 annual presentation to the San Luis Obispo City Council about Cal Poly’s community impacts and housing. Courtney Kienow of Cal Poly’s Office of the President communicated directly with Mayor Erica Stewart and City Manager Whitney McDonald ahead of a presentation to Council regarding the scope of questions Cal Poly would allow – and would not allow – from members of the City Council during the public presentation.

By the fall of 2024, fraternity operations, neighborhood impacts, and City enforcement had become subjects of significant public concern. The 2024–2025 San Luis Obispo County Civil Grand Jury, sworn in on July 1, 2024, was investigating the City’s handling of fraternity enforcement, neighborhood impacts, and coordination between the City and Cal Poly, and would continue its investigation until releasing its report in June 2025.

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What the Documents Show

On October 1, 2024, Cal Poly appeared before the San Luis Obispo City Council to provide its annual update regarding university enrollment, housing, water, parking, and other matters affecting both the university and the City. By the fall of 2024, fraternity operations, neighborhood impacts, and City enforcement had become subjects of significant public concern.

The 2024–2025 San Luis Obispo County Civil Grand Jury was investigating the City’s handling of fraternity enforcement, neighborhood impacts, and coordination between the City and Cal Poly. The Grand Jury had been sworn in on July 1, 2024, and would continue its investigation until releasing its report in June 2025.

September 30, 2024

On September 30, 2024, City Manager Whitney McDonald advised Courtney Kienow that questions concerning fraternities and sororities were likely to arise during the following evening’s City Council meeting as part of the broader discussion of student housing. The questions would come from City Council members.

At 2:59 p.m., McDonald texted Kienow: “Heads up: Questions may come up tomorrow night around Cal Poly’s reporting on fraternities and sororities, as a piece of the question of where students are housed.” Kienow replied, “We don’t provide housing for any fraternity or sorority.”

October 1, 2024

Mayor Erica Stewart texted Kienow asking if they could speak for approximately ten minutes regarding: “Housing, enrollment, Greek life.”

At approximately the same time, Kienow advised McDonald that she planned to connect with all of Council that day before the meeting. She explained Cal Poly’s position on the upcoming presentation. Cal Poly would not respond to questions on certain topics. Kienow wrote that Cal Poly looked forward to talking with City leadership and Council about pressing issues at another time, but that the meeting could not become “a free-for-all in a public setting for divisive issues that are very much in process.”

Kienow sent substantially the same message directly to Mayor Stewart, adding that she would call her at noon. Stewart replied, “Got it” and said that she looked forward to their phone call.

That evening, Cal Poly delivered its annual presentation to the City Council. After the presentation concluded, Mayor Stewart thanked the Cal Poly presenters, remarking that the presentation raised so many questions but that those would be for another day. She then asked two questions of her own: whether proposed employee housing on campus would be offered for sale or rent, and whether Cal Poly’s updated master plan would return to the City Council. She concluded by again noting that many more questions remained but that Council would “bother Courtney and others at a later date.”

As the Mayor thanked the Cal Poly presenters for the update, the City’s meeting recording briefly switched to a split-screen view showing both Mayor Stewart and Councilmember Andy Pease, then switched entirely to Councilmember Pease, who was turned toward the Mayor and appeared to be speaking. Her microphone was not enabled, and no statement from her is audible in the public recording. The camera remained on Councilmember Pease until Mayor Stewart activated her own microphone, at which point the recording returned to the Mayor, who stated the Council would move forward. The Council then proceeded directly to the City Manager’s report.

Previous Cal Poly annual presentations commonly included questions and discussion among multiple councilmembers. On October 1, 2024, despite the Mayor’s own observation that the presentation generated many more questions, the public discussion concluded after her two questions with no other questions taken by other councilmembers.

At 6:11 p.m., after the meeting concluded, Kienow texted McDonald: “I really told them brevity was key. Sorry.”

The records do not establish what was discussed during Kienow’s conversations with individual councilmembers before the meeting, or what Councilmember Andy Pease intended to say before the discussion concluded.

They do show that, shortly before the City Council meeting, Courtney Kienow of Cal Poly’s Office of the President communicated directly with the Mayor and City Manager regarding the scope of the public discussion, stating that Cal Poly would not respond to questions on other topics and that the meeting could not become a free-for-all. Mayor Stewart did not open the discussion to allow other members of the City Council to publicly ask questions on behalf of their constituents.

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Why This File Exists

The purpose of this Public Interest File is to preserve and organize the documentary records so that members of the public can review them for themselves.

Most residents experience local government through public meetings, public comment, City departments, and formal administrative processes. The records published in this file document the scope of a public discussion being shaped in advance of that discussion, while the underlying issues remained under active consideration.

The documents published in this file allow readers to review the underlying records and draw their own conclusions.

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Documents Included in This File