Mayor Dave Romero retires tomorrow

Posted: Nov 30, 2010 6:47 PM by Ariel Wesler
Updated: Dec 30, 2010 6:17 PM

His career with the city of San Luis Obispo spans more than 50 years. Tomorrow, that career will come to a close as Mayor Dave Romero retires.

A ceremonial city council meeting will be held at noon Wednesday in honor of Romero. He served on the city council for 16 years, the last eight of those as mayor. Before that, he was the city's public works director for 36 years.

All good things come to an end and for Mayor Dave Romero, December 1 marks his last day with the city of San Luis Obispo. After 52 years, Romero has left his own mark on the city. He says his biggest accomplishment is the Nacimiento Pipeline project--bringing a crucial water source to San Luis Obispo County.

"It'll take care of the needs of my great grandchildren for the next 50 years. It will assure our residents a high quality of life for the community," Romero said.

He also helped give world-class performers a place to play at Cal Poly.

"A fine first-class performing arts center. That is an unbelievable accomplishment for a community like ours," Romero said.

And established the Mission Plaza as the heart and soul of the community.

Of course, no career is without its pitfalls. Romero says his biggest disappointments are not getting a bypass built for highway one to relieve traffic congestion.

"There's so much cross traffic, we can't really solve it without major investment at this point," Romero said.

He also wishes he could have done more to prevent flooding around town, but all in all

"Being major of San Luis Obispo is the best elected job in California," Romero said.

As he prepares to leave, he admits greater financial challenges face his successor.

Romero looks forward to spending more time with his wife and family. He also plans to do some skiing, take a cruise next summer, and would like to take an R-V trip across the country.

The new city council will be sworn in at Wednesday's meeting. Jan Marx will take the reins as mayor after serving on the city council for the last six years.