San Luis Obispo’s mayor is apologizing for forwarding a confidential Grand Jury report to a Cal Poly staff member before its public release.
Mayor Erica A. Stewart issued the two-minute apology ahead of public comment during Tuesday night’s San Luis Obispo City Council meeting, noting she wrote it down to ensure she included all of her key points.
“I want to take a moment to apologize for the handling of the release of the Grand Jury report. I am sorry that I did that, and I take full responsibility for my actions. When the draft report was provided to the City in June 2025, my intent was to ensure we had comprehensive, accurate, and collaborative feedback ready for the Grand J ury and for the community. Since the initial report had focused on both Cal Poly and the City, I had mistakenly assumed that Cal Poly was included in the draft distribution. I sincerely apologize to the members of the Grand Jury who worked on this report. I sincerely apologize to my city colleagues,” Stewart said, pausing and appearing to compose herself before continuing, “for the discomfort that this has caused, and I apologize to the San Luis Obispo greater community."
The San Luis Obispo County Grand Jury report, titled "Round & Round with Town & Gown," addressed the increasing student population at Cal Poly, nearby campus neighbors' complaints about noisy, large, unauthorized street parties, and allegations that the city and Cal Poly leadership failed to enforce ordinances.
In her statement, Mayor Stewart said she remains committed to resolving the issues between the city and Cal Poly.
She concluded, "During my seven-plus years on this council, serving as a council member and serving as mayor, I have taken this job very seriously, and I am committed to ensuring the mistake is never repeated again. I want to thank you to everyone who has provided me with encourage and support during these last few months.”
The apology follows a California Public Records Act (CPRA) inquiry that resulted in the public release of the mayor’s text and email communications with city staff and Cal Poly employees, and an interview with KSBY's San Luis Obispo Community Reporter Jessica Roe earlier this month in which she said she made a "good faith error" when she forwarded the report.
Labeled "Confidential," the report was sent to Stewart’s City email on June 13, 2025. It stated that it was an advance copy from the Grand Jury foreperson, "two days in advance of its public release," mentioning that responses are due according to California Penal Code 933.
Stewart previously said that she interpreted that as her responses were due in two days and she was unclear if that meant business days or 48 hours. In reality, as the penal code states, she had 90 days to respond.
“I’m not just passing it on to everybody," Stewart told Roe. "I thought that Cal Poly was an affected agency, was an entity that should have received the report, so there wasn’t a 'Hey, I want to just give this to Cal Poly.’ That is not what I was doing.”
Public records posted on the City's website show Stewart shared texts with a Cal Poly staff member and forwarded the report.
Stewart said she assumed Cal Poly would also be getting an advance copy, only later learning that the city was the only party to receive it.
"I didn't think at the time... I mean, it was a solid good-faith error. I had no idea that I was doing something wrong," Stewart said.
She added that she should have sought legal counsel and gone through proper channels to communicate.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow has not confirmed or denied whether his office is investigating. Court records do not show any cases in San Luis Obispo County involving Stewart.
During public comment Tuesday night, one man called on the city manager and mayor to resign over the issue, while adding he feels they should “at the very least” be put on administrative leave until the issues are resolved.
Stewart has said the city is already working on ways to ensure she and other staff handle this type of situation more professionally in the future.
