HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/10/2026 Item 7b, Walker
Otta, Kaitlin
From:kathie walker <kathiewalkerslo@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday,
To:Marx, Jan; Francis, Emily; Shoresman, Michelle; Boswell, Mike; Stewart, Erica A; E-mail
Council Website
Subject:11/10/2026 City Council Budget Discussion
Attachments:City Timeline Chronology Exhibits to be added.pdf
Dear Council Members,
Ahead of tomorrow's discussion of the 2027–2029 Financial Plan and 2027–2031 Strategic Plan, I am
attaching a chronology documenting the City's handling of neighborhood livability concerns, unlawful
fraternity operations, and enforcement issues over the past several years.
I have the supporting documents and exhibits and am in the process of organizing and numbering them.
Once completed, I will distribute the chronology more widely with the supporting documentation.
However, I wanted Council to have an opportunity to review the history now, as you begin evaluating the
City's basic service needs, priorities, and allocation of financial resources for the coming years.
The chronology documents years of resident complaints, repeated requests for enforcement, and
extensive information available to City officials identifying fraternity activities at residential properties
where such uses are prohibited. Despite this knowledge, Code Enforcement investigations, Planning
Commission revocations of five fraternity Conditional Use Permits, and Grand Jury findings, the City has
not abated these unlawful fraternity uses.
Meanwhile, neighborhood conditions have deteriorated, noisy-party complaints have increased, and
longtime residents have suffered substantial impacts to their quality of life. The chronology also
documents troubling conduct by City employees whose responsibilities include public safety and
neighborhood outreach. This includes SLOPD Officer Stevens' statements about residents who report
noisy parties, and Neighborhood Outreach Manager Christine Wallace's communications with Cal Poly
officials concerning residents and Residents for Quality Neighborhoods. These records raise serious
questions about staff impartiality, accountability, and the City's approach to neighborhood livability.
From a personal standpoint, I am extremely troubled by Christine Wallace sharing information with Cal
Poly regarding my phone calls to SLOPD for noisy parties in 2024. She told Kienow and Aiello-Coppola
false information that I made 30% of the noisy party calls. After the meeting, when Kienow asked
specifically about the number of my calls, Wallace audited the records and said I made 8% of the calls
"but it seemed like 30%." Our family was surrounded by at least 10 fraternity houses and I called SLOPD
most weekends, sometimes multiple times. I was also targeted, harassed and made to feel unsafe in my
own home. It felt vulnerable to make those calls, but it was necessary to try to have peace so we could
enjoy our home and my husband could be rested for work.
Regarding Council's agenda reports, of particular concern is that Attachment D that says City staff is
researching changes to fraternity zoning regulations and plans to bring forward a work-plan item in the
2027–2029 Financial Plan, even as existing violations remain unabated. The City's proposed Strategic
Plan emphasizes accountability, measurable outcomes, and effective delivery of municipal services. Yet
1
there is no accounting of how many unlawful fraternity uses have actually been abated, despite years of
enforcement activity and expenditure of public resources.
Enforcement of existing laws and protection of residential neighborhoods are basic municipal
responsibilities, not optional initiatives dependent upon their selection as Major City Goals.
I ask Council to consider this history when evaluating the resources necessary to restore neighborhood
livability, provide effective Code Enforcement, and ensure that existing zoning regulations are enforced
before contemplating changes that could permit currently unlawful fraternity uses. I also ask Council to
examine whether existing staffing, management practices, and interagency relationships are serving the
residents these programs are intended to protect.
The City's role in how these problems have evolved is directly relevant to this discussion. The records
illustrate how neighborhood concerns have persisted through multiple budget cycles, City
administrations, meetings, investigations, and commitments to improve enforcement, without
meaningful abatement. During that same period, neighborhood livability has continued to deteriorate.
Thank you for taking the time to review this history.
Kathie Walker
2
Chronology
Phase 1: Neighborhood Wellness loses priority (2011 to 2019)
Date Event Exhibit
2011 City Council designates Neighborhood Wellness a Major City Goal (MCG) to address quality-
of-life issues tied to off-campus student housing. It stays an MCG through the 2015 to 2017
budget cycle.
2015 The Civility Report is published after two years of work.
2016 The City, Cal Poly, Cuesta College and community residents receive the ITGA Larry Abernathy
Award at the International Town Gown Association (ITGA) conference.
End of
2017
City Manager Katie Lichtig leaves; Derek Johnson becomes City Manager.
2017 to
2019
Neighborhood Wellness is downgraded to an "Other Important Objective."
2019 Neighborhood Wellness is not offered as an MCG option on the community survey.
Phase 2: Party activity rises and lists that identify illegal fraternity use are sent to SLOPD (2021 to 2022)
Date Event Exhibit
8/11/2021 Arranging a presentation to Greek life members with Cal Poly s Fraternity & Sorority Life's
Elizabeth Aiello-Coppola, Wallace writes: "I am so grateful to be able to meet with students
again. I found out my job is super boring without them."
Oct 2021 Alta Vista residents communicate in a group email, report a bigger presence of large, noisy
parties including crowds moving between houses. Long-term residents begin moving out of
the neighborhoods in higher numbers, as investors buy the homes and convert them to
student rentals. Dozens of homes are leased to fraternity chapters who host parties there in
the residential neighborhoods.
Nov 2021 Residents see SLOPD clearing party calls as "unable to locate" or "negative violation" when
referencing Monday police logs for the weekend.
Nov 2021 Residents begin recording loud parties and send videos to SLOPD because the parties are
cleared as negative violation of the noise ordinance. SLOPD acknowledges clear violations
and says they are educating officers about the noise ordinance.
Every recorded address is later confirmed to have been a fraternity.
Feb 2022 -
Mar 2024
Cal Poly sends SLOPD weekly lists of fraternity party addresses before the weekend. Christine
Wallace is a direct recipient of some lists; a lieutenant forwards others to her and she refers
to them on Mondays for her record keeping according to her correspondence.
Mar 2022 St. Fratty's Day draws at least 2,000 people to Alta Vista, which is the first large street
gathering in the neighborhood since 2015. In 2015 a roof collapsed at appx 6 a.m. near a
fraternity at 348 Hathway during a crowd of about 3,000, declared a mass casualty incident.
There were no further St. Fratty s street parties until 2022.
Phase 3: SCLC appointment dispute and MOU rewrite (2023)
Date Event Exhibit
Jan 2023 SCLC advertises the two community seats (Geographic Neighborhood and Community
Member at Large) as vacant.
Mar 2023 The SCLC Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) says Neighborhood Associations appoint
both seats. They nominate two people: Lydia Mourenza and Mila Vujovich-LaBarre but Mayor
Stewart nominates Abe Lincoln. On Stewart's motion, seconded by Wallace, Lincoln is seated
at large and Mourenza is rejected. Vujovich-LaBarre is approved for the Geographic seat.
Mar 2023 The Sigma Pi fraternity on Fredericks Street issued a noise citation and within 24 hours,
Walker begins being cyberstalked and receive 100+ phone calls from car dealerships. A police
report is filed with SLOPD with the documentation.
3/18/2023 St. Fratty s Day draws 3,000-4,000 people to the Alta Vista neighborhood.
4/11/2023 Walker emails Wallace about suspected fraternity houses on Fredericks Street. Wallace says
none of the addresses appear in her records and refers Walker to Kienow. She copies Deputy
Chief Mickel and Mezzapesa. Weekly lists Wallace received named some of those addresses
Walker referenced on Fredericks. Mickel also received those lists.
Apr 2023 RQN Chair Sandy Rowley asks City Manager Johnson to abide by the terms of the SCLC MOU
to allow the Neighborhood Associations to appoint the two community member seats.
Johnson refers her to SLOPD Chief Scott to resolve the matter.
May 2023 Rowley attends SCLC and reads the MOU aloud, asking that the at-large appointment be
corrected. The item is tabled to SCLC s next meeting in August.
Lincoln posts on Facebook that the mayor appointed him to the SCLC.
Summer
2023
Cal Poly ASI Executive Director Michelle Crawford, Courtney Kienow (not a committee
member of the SCLC), Christine Wallace and Chief Scott rewrite and redline the SCLC MOU.
Cuesta College an equal partner of the SCLC - and the County are not included in revisions.
The main change ends Neighborhood Association appointments and fills both community
seats by majority committee vote. No other seat is filled that way.
(Later, Scott's letter to SCLC calls the old MOU "under performing.")
8/16/2023 Crawford emails Scott, Wallace and Kienow that there will be no August SCLC meeting. The
final MOU has not been completed. The next meeting is set for 9/21/2023. The email includes
the revised MOU draft.
9/8/2023 Kienow asks whether neighborhood problems are at "record lows." Wallace says noise has
not returned to pre-pandemic lows and suggests qualified wording.
9/19/2023 Scott emails SCLC members, Kienow and Wallace a near "final" draft MOU, with clean and
redline copies, after "a couple of months of collaboration and some negotiations." It will go to
the 9/21 meeting, with adoption expected at the next. He writes that the MOU "was under
performing" and needed revision to "fix the grievance at hand," and thanks Crawford and
Kienow for their work on it. He calls the main change the end of RQN placing at-large
members "without nomination, vetting, or vote," replaced by up to five at-large seats that
SCLC nominates and votes on. No other seat on the SCLC is determined by vote of the
committee.
Date Event Exhibit
Note: The MOU allowed Neighborhood Associations (Chairs of Alta Vista, Monterey Heights
and Neighborhoods North of Foothill) to confer to choose members for those seats, not
RQN as stated in Scott s email.
Also note: It has been extremely challenging to recruit community members for the SCLC. Abe
Lincoln resigned after about one year and the at-large seat remained vacant until fall 2026.
RQN resigned its seat in April 2026 with its reasoning partly outlined in this document,
including backroom coordination and lack of transparency, and the failure to collaborate to
solve the issues SCLC was originally formed to address.
9/21/2023 Kienow texts Scott that she saw his SCLC email, is "not 100% in the loop," and has asked
Wallace to connect with him. Scott replies: "We laid quite the groundwork to move past this
issue with RQN but appears we are continuing to entertain RQN's dissatisfaction which is
damaging the group." Kienow answers that she hopes "today is an opportunity to close it all
up and move on into clearer guidelines and expectations."
9/21/2023 During SCLC, Rowley asks that the designated representative be seated as an added at-large
member, with Lincoln remaining. Scott, who had told Rowley during a meeting there was
room for both, does not support the motion at the SCLC meeting. Cal Poly Chief of Staff Tyler
Coari tells Rowley she is wasting time and taxpayer money. Rowley s request is not honored.
Phase 4: Code Enforcement asks; lists not shared (Oct 2023 to Mar 2024)
Date Event Exhibit
Oct 2023 Weekly lists sent to SLOPD by Cal Poly show 1350 Stafford as Theta Chi, hosting fraternity
parties there. (496 Kentucky is on the same lot.)
10/19/2023 At SCLC meeting, Vujovich-LaBarre reported that illegal fraternity houses have overtaken
residential neighborhoods. Wallace and closed the
conversation. Wallace is SLOPD s liaison to Code Enforcement.
11/8/2023 Brett Cross (RQN) and Walker meet Community Development Director Timmi Tway and Code
Enforcement Supervisor John Mezzapesa about the disruptions by fraternities in residential
neighborhoods where they aren t legally allowed. Cal Poly's AB 524 reports confirm
addresses for fraternity parties held during the previous academic year, 2022-2023. Tway
says enforcement will start once a new employee is trained because they are understaffed.
Mezzapesa says he will speak with Wallace about the issue.
Note: Several new fraternities in the appeared in the neighborhood in fall 2023 and are not
listed in the AB 524 report because it only listed addresses for the previous academic year.
1350 Stafford and 1275 Stafford are two examples. Both addresses are listed on the weekly
lists of approved fraternity parties sent to SLOPD by Cal Poly.
Dec 2023 Walker emails Mezzapesa on behalf of her 89-year-old neighbor Edith Jakes about Theta Chi
moving in next to Jakes at 496 Kentucky / 1350 Stafford. Mezzapesa says he spoke with
Wallace about that address. Wallace does not disclose the lists to SLOPD specifically show
that 1350 Stafford is a fraternity and holding fraternity parties as recently as October 2023.
Mezzapesa is unable to confirm fraternity use at the property through Cal Poly.
1/15/2024 On a federal holiday (off work and school, and plans to sleep-in) residents are woken at 7:30
a.m. by a power saw cutting out a sliding door next door, close to their bedroom windows.
Date Event Exhibit
They call SLOPD and video surveillance shows Officer John Stevens telling the worker that
"Residents for Quality Neighborhoods" goes out and looks for noise to call in to the police
department and that long-term residents in neighborhoods near Cal Poly are sensitive to
noise. Neither the neighbors nor RQN know Stevens so it is not clear where has received this
messaging.
(Officer Stevens is the son of Personnel Board Chair, Cal Stevens.)
2/2/2024 Lt. Aaron Schafer raises Cal Poly-approved fraternity events as a concern with Wallace. She
offers to update him the following Tuesday about her talks with Community Development
and Code Enforcement.
2/15/2024 At SCLC, Vujovich-LaBarre reported that several residents had expressed neighborhood
frustration about lack of enforcement by SLOPD, giving the example of a large, noisy party at
348 Hathway on 2/9/2024. Calls were made to SLOPD but there was no response. Wallace
said that was not accurate and the house was cited when tenants refused to open the door.
Vujovich LaBarre was correctly referring to a noisy fraternity party on 2/9/2024 (later
acknowledged by Chief Scott that it was erased from the log by Officer Sandovol, responding
to another noisy party at a different fraternity at 274 Hathway) and Wallace was referring to
a different call at the same fraternity house the following day, on 2/10/2024.
Wallace walked Vujovich-LaBarre to her car and told her to never criticize SLOPD during the
SCLC meeting again.
2/16/2024 SLOPD Chief Scott emailed chair of RQN, Rowley, Vujovich-
LaBarre for being critical of SLOPD. Chief Scott also said that the RQN Representative, Brett
Cross, left early so SLOPD did not have the chance to speak with him about their displeasure.
The implication was that SLOPD would not cooperate with RQN if perceived criticism did not
stop.
3/11/2024 An unruly gathering citation was issued to 299 Albert Drive, which Wallace calls a "satellite"
fraternity house, and Wallace tells FSL's Elizabeth Aiello-Coppola she checked the approved-
event address list sent by Cal Poly and that 299 Albert was not included, so needed to adjust
her record keeping. Aiello-Coppola confirms Cal Poly approved a fraternity party at 299
Albert.
Phase 5: Messaging, statistics and residents (Apr to Oct 2024)
Date Event Exhibit
3/16/2024 St. Fratty s day draws 7,000-8,000 people to the Alta Vista neighborhood.
4/15/2024 Wallace tells Kienow "neighborhood civility" has not been a City priority since 2019 and
shows no interest in anyone from the City, including Council, replacing Keinow's termed-out
seat on the International Town Gown Association board.
6/5 to
6/6/2024
Wallace tells Kienow the Party Registration Program name suggests users can "rage without
consequences" and proposes "Good Neighbor Program." Kienow opposes the change and
the program name is not changed.
6/10/2024 Jeff Eidelman (and partner Sky Bergman) are increasingly impacted by noisy parties in their
longtime home in Alta Vista neighborhood in SLO. Dr. Eidelman sends emails to City officials,
Date Event Exhibit
pleading for help because of the increase in noisy parties, calling the neighborhood "
kitchen, ground zero." Eidelman has had his windshields smashed and a rock thrown his
front window after reporting noisy parties to SLOPD.
6/11/2024 Wallace forwards a video of harassment directed at Walker to Chief Scott and Kienow. The
video names one of the participants of the harassment as "JB" but the matter is never
investigated (ie. Fraternity member logs reviewed for the name JB )
7/19/2024 Wallace tells Kienow and Crawford not to allow incoming ASI President Ashleigh Spragins to
meet with RQN Chair Sandy Rowley, as planned. Wallace offers to talk Spragins out of the
meeting and when asked by Crawford if she is kidding or serious, Wallace says she is "100%
serious." Crawford says she will give Spragins s phone number to Wallace. The meeting
scheduled between Rowley and Spragins is subsequently cancelled by Spragins.
8/1 to
8/6/2024
Wallace, Kienow, FSL staff and Mickel arranged a Scout Coffee meeting on a "unified
response" to residents reporting noise.
8/6 to
8/7/2024
Wallace estimates one resident, named in Kienow's recap as Walker, makes 30% of noise
calls, then later corrects the figure to 8% after she audited Walker's calls to SLOPD. She then
says the messaging could identify the caller "in a shrouded way"; Mickel edits the wording
that will be in a public presentation.
8/8/2024 Wallace tells Kienow January to June 2024 noise calls are 17% above the same period in
2023. She sends list of top noisy party complaints to Kienow and notes that most are
unpermitted fraternities in the residential neighborhoods. Kienow asks what can curb that;
Wallace says she will think about a solution.
8/22 to
9/2/2024 that fraternities lose party approvals for the remainder of the academic year after three
noise citations, or that neighborhood parties no longer receive approvals while events at
On August 28, she asks that the proposal be discussed above the FSL staff level; on
September 2, Kienow reports referring it to campus leadership.
Wallace also says noise citation fines are ineffective.
8/15/2024 At SCLC Meeting #25-01, Cross reports that Cal Poly erased the list of fraternity addresses
where fraternity parties were being held in the City s residential neighborhoods in violation
of the City s laws and asks why the information is not shared with the City. Chair Ashleigh
Spragins says she will follow up.
8/22 to
8/28/2024
Wallace asks Kienow to edit her SCLC memo answering Brett Cross's questions about the
Civility Report, and comments Oh (sic) contrère, mon frere! meaning that he is wrong
about the report. The final memo admits missed town halls and no SCLC effectiveness
reviews.
9/16/2024 Spragins emails Crawford and Wallace the 9/19 SCLC agenda, which she and Vice Chair Lucia
Landeros, Cuesta ASCC President, approved "after much discussion with Courtney (Kienow),
Christine (Wallace), and Meghan (Schuler-Jones). She will read a statement from Kienow
and CSU Legal Counsel on why fraternity addresses are no longer published. She says neither
Date Event Exhibit
she nor Lucia will answer questions and that no students will comment because she will brief
them beforehand not to discuss.
This also raises the issue of a potential Brown Act violation, because it appears from the
record that she communicated this information and arranged for this behavior with a
quorum of those present at the meeting.
Spragins says she will tell the committee that questions go to Tway (City) and Kienow (Cal
Poly), and she notes "Neither of them will be in attendance, so I am not expecting much
discussion." Wallace replies: "No suggestions from me, great job Ash."
9/19/2024 SCLC Meeting #25-02. The agenda lists the Chair/Vice Chair report, Wallace's Civility Report
update and Cross's RQN report. The planned statement says Cal Poly first published event
addresses in October 2023, then switched to listing only the city San Luis Obispo , citing
privacy, security and consistency with other CSUs.
9/17/2024 Wallace confirms early removal from the no warning list for noise citations for the
fraternity property at 348/350 Hathway after she says there was a tenant-turnover request.
After Walker warns the same fraternity remains and continues to operate, Wallace confirms
unpermitted houses can get early removal to clear their noise citation history (and start over
with eligibility for DAC) but permitted ones cannot. Council and the City Manager receive the
exchange.
9/17/2024 Wallace sends Aiello-Coppola a Greek Life slide describing residents who "focus on calling in
noise complaints," noting others outnumber them and that a violation is a violation, which is
the wording Mickel suggested.
10/3/2024 Asking an officer to help with a fraternity presentation with fraternity members, Wallace
writes: "These are fun, not like the Creekside Mobile Home Park."
Appx early
Oct 2024
The Grand Jury contacts the City about its investigation into Greek life disruptions in the
residential neighborhoods and the City s response to St Fratty's Day.
Phase 6: Removals continue; oversight and denial (Nov 2024 to Jun 2026)
Date Event Exhibit
11/1/2024 After a property manager says the fraternities have left 12 Hathway (Lambda Chi Alpha) and
322 Hathway (Kappa Sigma), Wallace sends forms for early removal from the no warning
list and offers to clear the citation history before the weekend. Both properties keep
operating as fraternities and drawing noise complaints for large, noisy parties.
11/5/2024 Scott agrees that illegal fraternity properties should not receive DACs, qualify for early
removal, or register parties. He says SLOPD is evaluating a method for identifying nuisance
-removal
practices in the spring and confirms that known nuisance properties had been excluded from
registration since the previous spring.
Note: Documented fraternity locations within residential neighborhoods still receive
response from SNAP students, who cannot issue citations.
11/15/2024 Scott states that SLOPD does not yet flag illegal fraternity houses and is beginning an
Date Event Exhibit
integrated process using locations validated by Code Enforcement. Later that day, he says
deny registrations. These statements should be compared with the weekly Cal Poly event-
location lists already received by SLOPD for over two years use of them for
record keeping. Those addresses continue to operate as fraternities in 2026.
1/22/2025 Walker sends City Attorney Christine Dietrick and cc d Tway, and Mezzapesa, records
a SLOPD report
requested by impacted residents, and asks whether residents can initiate a comparable
complaint through SLOPD. Walker also describes difficulties obtaining fraternity-event
addresses from Cal Poly.
1/23/2025 City Attorney Dietrick confirms that misdemeanor prosecution remains an available
enforcement tool. She says her office and other departments are exploring enhanced
enforcement and seeking fraternity-activity information legally required from Cal Poly. She
requests continued resident documentation and proposes exploring a centralized repository
to prevent fragmented communication. Chief Scott is included in her response. [It does not
appear that any centralized repository was ever created, and enforcement of fraternities in
residential neighborhoods did not result in abatement as the same addresses continue to
operate and hold fraternity parties in 2026.]
2/21/2025 Wallace tells Kienow: "I'm skipping ITGA this year. I don't want to go to Kent, Ohio." Kienow
says she will skip too if no one from the City goes.
3/5/2025 In an exchange about St. Fratty's Day concert tickets, Wallace replies "STFU" to Kienow. This
shows a certain comfort and familiarity in the relationship to use that sort of language with a
Cal Poly official.
5/28/2025 The Grand Jury sends its Findings to City Manager, Whitney McDonald, asking specifically for
any factual inaccuracies. The letter cites Penal Code 933.05(d) and states Please note that
you may not share the contents of this report with others at this time italics included in
letter). It also includes an opinion by the Attorney General Opinion to reinforce the
legal consequences.
5/29/2025 The Grand Jury Findings are distributed to about a dozen City staff, including witnesses who
testified for the Grand Jury (Scott, Wallace, Tway, Mezzapesa) and responses from City staff
are coordinated through a shared Word document.
6/4/2025 The City sends its response to the Findings to the Grand Jury. After reading the responses,
the Grand Jury withdraws its request for a response.
6/13/2025 The Grand Jury sends its final report, Round & Round with Town & Gown, to the City
Manager and the Mayor citing the Penal Code and admonishments that it is confidential. The
Mayor forwards the entire Grand Jury package to Courtney Kienow.
6/16/2025 The City Manager asks the Grand Jury for more time to make some corrections.
City Attorney, Christine Dietrick, converts the Grand Jury report to an editable Word
document and distributes it to the same staff who received the Findings on May 29,
requesting their comments and edits.
Date Event Exhibit
6/18/2025 Kelly Holcomb, the City s legal analyst, imports all the comments from City staff made for
the Findings document in May to the new spreadsheet regarding the report.
6/20/2025 Holcomb says she will remove some notes and comments to prepare a clean copy of the
spreadsheet. The City s clarifications are included in a 27-page document and are sent to
the Grand Jury.
6/23/2025 The Grand Jury publishes its final report online. The final report was not revised to include
the edits suggested by the City.
7/30/2025 Copying Scott and Kienow, Wallace tells Cal Poly's new Police Chief Robert Plastino that
criticism of Civility Report work is "categorically false" and cites her noise presentation. The
Aug 2024 memo is attached to her email.
Compare to prior statements by Wallace to Kienow about her concerns that noise
complaints increased 17% in the first six months of 2024, and noisy party complaints
statistics increasing year over year.
7/30 to
7/31/2025
Chief Scott sends a department-wide email, saying the Grand Jury report "unprofessional,
factually incorrect, and lacks substantive detail" and claims noise complaints are down 50%
over the past decade. Wallace replies "A+ Chief" to his email, and he responds, "I will
continue to fight for us!"
Note: In October 2026, a resident on Tassajara who is adversely impacted by a fraternity
behind his home on Rafael Way and called SLOPD five times in one night for a noisy party
that continued for hours, went to SLOPD on Monday after the weekend to discuss the
situation with an officer. The officer told him, complaints are down," which is not
true, but is consistent with the statement made by Chief Scott to his entire department in
the email sent last summer.
11/20/2025 After hearing comments from mayor Erica Stewart to Cross that he is taking up too much
SCLC time on fraternity issues, Cross proposes an ad hoc committee on neighborhood noise
and presents a PowerPoint for it on 11/20/2025. SCLC votes against the ad hoc committee,
including Mayor Stewart. RQN and the one community seat vote in favor, and one Cuesta
representative abstains.
12/11/2025
morning
The City sends Cal Poly a 300-page Code Enforcement report on fraternity operations during
fall rush, covering three weeks of enforcement and more than 100 hours of staff time.
Fraternity members told Code Enforcement events were not fraternity events, however, the
report cites evidence that they were. No disciplinary action was reported to the City.
Subsequently, Cal Poly claimed that Code Enforcement was "targeting students" when, in
fact, the property owners are responsible for the land use violations.
12/11/2025
afternoon
Kienow wrote to City leadership without acknowledging the Code Enforcement report that
she received that morning from Mezzapesa. She highlighted in bright yellow the items that
she wanted the upcoming meeting with the City to cover, such as revising the City s zoning
code, allowing an overlay zone for fraternity houses within the neighborhoods, revising
Conditional Use Permits so they work for fraternities, and the City providing a Greek row
for Cal Poly s fraternities.
1/8/2026 Before her SCLC noise presentation, Wallace tells Crawford and Kienow, sarcastically, that
Date Event Exhibit
she is excited to hear how her noise data is wrong and that it is "hells kitchen, ground zero."
Wallace is mocking Dr. Eidelman's use of the term "hell's kitchen, ground zero he used
in his emails about his neighborhood when asking for support from the City to eliminate the
fraternity use and large, noisy parties that have increased in the neighborhood.
1/15/2026 At SCLC, on the day IFC winter rush begins, Cross says about 40 citations were written during
fall rush and asks whether the City is communicating with Cal Poly. After a silence, Wallace
says, "I'm not code enforcement." City Manager Whitney McDonald says she is not sure
what he is asking and is not ready to discuss it. Neither mentions the 12/11/2025 report.
(The meeting is recorded.)
1/29/2026 Wallace tells Rowley calls about registered parties are coded "citizen assist," not "noisy
party," and are left out of annual noisy party statistics reported by SLOPD. She offers to get
the totals from Records; no follow-up is on record.
Apr 2026 The 2022 to 2024 weekly lists provided to SLOPD by Cal Poly are given to Code Enforcement.
May 2026 The City learns of the 2025-26 Grand Jury Compliance Report that cites the 2024 -25
embargoed confidential report leaked to Kienow in violation of the Penal Code, and the
outgoing Grand Jury s strong encouragement that the incoming (current) Grand Jury
investigate whether the City actually implemented the recommendations that it said were
implemented regarding bringing "illegal fraternities" into compliance with the law [not
operating in residential neighborhoods] because the 2025-26 jurors were unable to verify
implementation, which had not been accomplished during the Grand Jury s term.
6/1/2026 Mezzapesa writes that Wallace was SLOPD's liaison to Code Enforcement and told him she
was not aware of the weekly lists of fraternity party addresses sent by Cal Poly. She told him
that the lists were given to patrol officers. Mezzapesa says he did not know about the weekly
lists until April 2026.
10/21/2026 Walker hears from Edith Jakes s family that she was not doing well and had given up on life.
Jakes did not have any terminal disease but felt hopeless and had stopped eating.
The Theta Chi fraternity is still operating next door to Jakes at 1350 Stafford/496 Kentucky,
even though the City has known about its unlawful operation since 2023. Another fraternity,
Pi Kappa Phi, had begun operating directly across the intersection from Jakes at 501
Kentucky Street, also documented by Code Enforcement and not abated. And another
fraternity emerged in August 2026 behind Jakes at 440 Kentucky Street.
Edith Jakes died on Saturday, October 23, 2026.
Phase 7: Unabated Fraternity Uses and the 2027 2029 Financial Plan (November 2026)
11/10/2026 City Council considers the framework for the 2027 2029 Financial Plan and 2027 2031
Strategic Plan, including community priorities, basic municipal services, and allocation of
financial resources.
Attachment D, Major City Goals Status, reports that Council directed staff at its May 26, 2026
Code Enforcement Study Session to continue enforcing regulations concerning unpermitted
fraternity and sorority houses. The same attachment reports that staff is researching
fraternity and sorority zoning regulations in other jurisdictions and plans to propose a work-
Ex.
11/10/2026
Agenda
Item 7b,
Attach. D
(MCG
Status),
plan item in the 2027 2029 Financial Plan to amend the City's zoning regulations.
Despite years of resident complaints, documented fraternity gatherings at properties where
fraternity use is prohibited, Code Enforcement investigations, and Planning Commission
revocations of five fraternity Conditional Use Permits, unlawful fraternity uses have not been
abated.
The City is now considering changes to the regulations governing fraternity uses while
documented unlawful operations continue in residential neighborhoods.
The proposed Strategic Plan emphasizes measurable outcomes, accountability, and
performance indicators. However, the budget materials do not provide an accounting of how
many unlawful fraternity uses have been successfully abated, how many remain active, or
what enforcement measures will be taken to achieve compliance.
Attach. E
(Draft
Strategic
Plan
Outline),
Attach. C
(General
Plan
Implemptati
on Status).
Key record pairings
Thread What was said What the records show
Fraternity party lists
that identify
fraternity addresses
within residential
neighborhoods
Wallace told Walker no Fredericks Street
addresses appeared in her records (Ex.
14). Mezzapesa reports Wallace said she
was unaware of the lists (Ex. 54).
Wallace received weekly lists from 2022 to 2024
(Ex. 9) and checked them against SLOPD weekend
noise logs on Monday (Ex. 29). Lists named some
Fredericks Street addresses, and also 1350
Stafford, which was mentioned to Wallace by
Mezzapesa in Dec 2023 but the SLOPD liaison,
Wallace, did not disclose this information to Code.
SCLC appointments Chief Scott wrote that the prior MOU "was
under performing" (Ex. 20) after the
committee voted to approve at-large
neighborhood representative brought
The original MOU gave Neighborhood Associations
the two community appointments (Ex. 12). The
redline of the MOU by SLOPD Chief Scott, ASI Exec
Director Michelle Crawford, SLOPD Neighborhood