SLO LIFE Jun/Jul 2017

| Q&A
@ Pease
The other day, freshman San Luis Obispo City Council Member ANDY PEASE bicycled
over to our office for a conversation that bounced around topics ranging from the
proper way to swing a pickaxe (use your legs) to speculation about the fate of mankind
(the jury’s out) and everything in between. Here is some of what she had to say…
Let’s take it from the top, Andy. Where are you from
originally? I grew up in the Bay Area. I was in the
Santa Cruz mountains when I was really young, Ben
Lomond. My parents were hippies. They split up when
I was very young. I spent my school years with my mom
and brother in California, the Palo Alto/Redwood City
area. During the summers, I’d go to Oregon where we
had a big family, stepmom, stepsiblings. My dad taught
architecture at the University of Oregon in Eugene. He
was into a New Urbanism approach in terms of wanting
to design communities for walkability. I remember as a
kid him showing me site plans with homes and talking
about the role the front porch plays, and the importance
of having the kitchen window placed so you could look
out and be engaged with what was happening on the
street. We were all riding our bikes back then; we didn’t
get shuttled around by our parents like we do now. So, I
think I had an awareness of the built environment just
by being in it, and by talking with my dad.
Tell us about college. I did a gap year. I was really
burnt out after high school. I did the California
Conservation Corps for a year. I wasn’t sure that I
wanted to go to college, but I felt renewed after that
experience. I was ready for a new challenge. I went
to M.I.T. It was really a reach school for me, but it
was at a time when they were looking for diversity.
I’m no genius, but I was smart and hardworking, but
also female and low-income from California; plus I
worked. It was a good experience. I loved going to
school in Boston. I did gymnastics there, but it wasn’t
that big of a deal; it was a Division III program. But, it
was definitely an anchor for me. It helped me through
some tough times. Out of college, I was recruited by a
contractor and worked in Atlanta for a couple of years
doing construction management. I love construction. I
did construction jobs during the summers—carpentry,
painting, pick and shovel work, you name it. It was
a really good experience. I think that it gives us
architects a better appreciation for who we are drawing
for to get the thing built. I tell young architects all the
time, kids who are considering going into architecture,
to do some jobs in construction first, don’t just jump
into architecture.
How did you end up here in San Luis? I have a cousin
who was living in L.A. and was getting married and
I was debating about making the trip and I thought,
“Well, his cute friend Frank might be there.” I had met
him a couple of times before. Anyway, I flew out for
the wedding and that was it. Frank and I were long
distance for a year. Then I moved out to L.A. We were
in Santa Monica, and I worked for an architect there.
We decided that we wanted to do a Peace Corp-type
thing, so he found a job as the ophthalmologist for a
Caribbean island called Dominica, which at first we
confused with the Dominican Republic. We went
there for a year. It was an island of 70,000 people and
he was the only ophthalmologist. He was hired by the
government. We made just enough to cover expenses.
I taught AutoCAD to the six people on the island
that needed to learn it. While we were there, we had a
lot of time to reflect on life and think about where we
wanted to settle down. We had no ties; we could have
gone anywhere in the world. We talked about how
important family was to us; his in L.A., my mom in
the Bay Area. So, we pulled out a map and looked
at all the towns we may want to live in. We had
been to San Luis once before on Earth Day. It was
magical; we loved it. We did a little research and
there were so many ophthalmologists, and so many
architects. But, Frank was able to find a job here, so we
made the move. It’s been about 20 years now.
And what did you do for work? I was at R.R.M.
[Design Group] for seven years. Then I went out on
my own. I wanted to focus on green building. I didn’t
really have enough work, so I remember taking on
this project for a new Kentucky Fried Chicken, which
was ironic because I was a vegetarian at the time.
[laughter] Then things started to pick up and I
took on a partner. There are five of us now. Since I
became a city council member, I’ve cut back to half
time. I’m thinking a lot these days about housing.
For me, it’s about that triple bottom line that I
think we can have: a healthy economy, a great
way of life, and environmental stewardship.
We need to do all of those things. I think that
housing pivots on all of those pieces. It’s a social
justice issue that we are employing people in town,
but not providing an opportunity for them to live
in town if they want to. For those who are being
crushed economically, to try to afford to live here,
or truly cannot find a place even if they have the money,
it’s not responsible; that’s not taking care of each other
as a community.
So, how do you do that? The thing that I find most
challenging is how are we getting along with each
other? The personal relationships that we have,
especially as a country; there’s so much division. The
more that we can learn to come back together and
have good discourse, to be able to disagree in
a respectful way; I think that is foundational.
And, I do think you have to be optimistic. I don’t think
I’d function well if I thought we were going in the
wrong direction. I heard a great quote basically asking
about the world, “Are we all going to be fine? Or, are
we definitely doomed?” To answer either way isn’t really
helpful. If you say, “Yeah, we’re definitely going to work it
out,” then you become complacent. And, if you feel that
things are doomed, then you’re depressed and not doing
anything at all. It’s better to not know the answer and
just move forward in the best way that you can. SLO LIFE
34 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | JUN/JUL 2017