Retired admin running for mayor of Paso Robles

Author

Carly Heltzel
April 15, 2026

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, and I’m reading about the man who won a $1 million Picasso painting for a $117 raffle ticket. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

A Cal Poly administrator who retired in December is running to be mayor of Paso Robles. He called the turnout at his campaigns kick-off event “humbling” and already has endorsements from the current mayor, the sheriff and Paso’s county supervisor. He was the vice president of IT here, and during his tenure he served as the director of the California Cybersecurity Institute, facilitated the merger with Cal Poly Maritime Academy and transitioned data to be stored in the cloud.

2.

Two sidewalks closed by the North Mountain dorms cause inconvenient detours for some students who pass through the corridor frequently. The Student Success Center construction takes up the sidewalk on N. Perimeter Road, forcing students to cross the street two more times than usual with minimal visibility. Also, in Building 15, where many student centers were moved this year, the construction can be noisy.

3.

Two people were cited for harvesting hundreds of striped shore crabs at Estero Bluff State Park near Cayucos. After a state fish and wildlife officer caught them covering up their bags, the officer inspected and found 351 crabs collected, 281 over the legal limit put in place to prevent overharvesting. The agency warned about the harms of how quickly overharvesting can happen in cases like these. All crabs were returned to the ocean alive. 

4.

Cities are scrambling to delay the effects of a bill that authorizes housing developments up to nine stories built near major transit stations to go up against city zoning codes which passed last fall. The city of Los Angeles decided to overhaul its entire zoning map to delay the implementation because if zones already meet half of the bill’s housing goals, they can stave off new development until 2030. But other cities like San Francisco are increasing the bills goals and effect. 

5.

As prospective students are choosing their future universities, here are some of the reasons people here chose Cal Poly: 1) Had more pros on a pros and cons list, 2) small class sizes, 3) campus culture and community, 4) beautiful area, 5) could envision themselves living here, 6) quick drive to the beach, 7) everyone they talked to had an internship secured for summer and lastly, people seemed happier here than at the East Coast schools they toured.