Trib Notices Settle

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It took longer than it should have, but a few days after my last comments regarding the New Times follow-up to my comments on Councilman Allen Settle's home in Arroyo Grande, someone woke up at the Tribune and sent a reporter, Sally Connell, to check it out (Sunday, April 6). In an interview, Settle said that he "treats the Drake Circle address as his primary residence and domicile."

According to Connell, "He [Settle] said foreign students attending Cal Poly also stay at the Drake Circle address and that he collects some money from them for utilities, but he does not report it as rent on economic papers filed with the City Clerk’s Office."

One has to wonder if he reports it as income when he files his taxes with the IRS.

Connell wrote that "When asked how many nights he stayed at one residence versus the other recently, he wouldn’t answer, saying that isn’t the issue."

Actually, it is the issue. Most adults would find it absurd to believe that Settle lives with his wife in the modest Drake Circle home with its driveway filled with student vehicles when he owns a hilltop McMansion in Arroyo Grande.

But then as Connell noted, "Councilman Paul Brown said nobody knows the ins and outs of city government better than Settle. But Brown is not sure spending so much time outside the city is what residents expect of a councilman." I could not have said it better myself.

But wait, that's not all. A few days later (Tuesday, April 8), the Tribune asked, "Where do you live, councilman?" in an editorial. The editorial started off:

"San Luis Obispo City Councilman Allen Settle may treat his home on Drake Circle as his primary residence because he gets his mail there and is registered to vote there.

But the question remains, does he actually live there? That shouldn’t be a hard question to answer—despite what the convoluted state Election Code may or may not have to say about residency.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, a philosopher or even an attorney to provide a definition of domicile. All it takes is common sense."

The editorial then proceeds to ask a series of questions that would seem pretty straightforward to most of us but are apparently quite complicated for many politicians and most lawyers. For those of us used to relying on common sense, they are easy to answer. In fact, I'll bet that most (if not all) of Settle's neighbors in Arroyo Grande are pretty darned certain that they live in Arroyo Grande and not in San Luis Obispo.

The editorial sums things up nicely:

". . . to be the most effective representative possible, we think you should actually live in the city that you were elected to represent. That’s the best way to get the intimate, day-to-day knowledge that comes from driving city streets, talking to neighbors, buying milk at the corner grocery, mailing a package at the post office, listening to the whine of police sirens on a Friday night.

We aren’t saying that council members shouldn’t own multiple residences. And we certainly understand that they may have to spend extended time outside the city—be it for business, pleasure or family commitments.

But we strongly believe that council members should honor the spirit of the law — not just the letter of the law — when it comes to residency requirements. That means San Luis Obispo should be your primary home—not just the place where you work, or pick up your mail or claim a homeowner’s exemption on your taxes."

Thank you Tribune. I could not have said that better myself, either.