Mike Boswell is a Cal Poly City and Regional Planning professor and serves as the department’s chair, with 26 years of experience living and working in San Luis Obispo. Boswell’s research focuses on climate change and helping cities reduce their carbon footprint. He views his candidacy as a way to give back to the place that has been meaningful to him and his family.
“The community has given us so much,” Boswell told Mustang News. “I saw this as an opportunity to give back to the community of San Luis Obispo.”
Boswell’s campaign is centered on a few key priorities: protecting open spaces, improving traffic safety, addressing housing and homelessness, and promoting climate action. He wants to continue building on the city’s Green Belt Program to preserve natural areas, ensure safer streets for cyclists and pedestrians, and address housing challenges for residents facing hardship.
One of Boswell’s main goals is to reduce traffic-related fatalities by advancing the city’s Vision Zero program, which aims to eliminate traffic deaths and severe injuries through safer road designs and policies.
“[On] Foothill [Boulevard] and other places, that’s where we’ve seen some of the bicycle deaths in the community,” Boswell said. “I want that number to be zero.”
Boswell previously served on the San Luis Obispo Planning Commission and the Local Revenue Measure Advisory Committee, handling land use, transportation and budgetary issues. With over 30 years of experience as a city and regional planner, Boswell said he plans to apply his expertise to city policymaking.
Boswell’s main objectives:
- Protect open spaces by completing the Green Belt Program.
- Improve traffic safety for cyclists and pedestrians.
- Address housing shortages and homelessness with stronger city programs.
- Implement sustainable practices into city policy.