Third candidate enter SLO County District 2 supervisor race

February 3, 2018

Former District 2 supervisor and coastal commissioner Steve MacElvaine has decided not to challenge Supervisor Bruce Gibson in the June election. Even so, Gibson is slated to face at least two challengers after Morro Bay real estate broker and attorney Patrick Sparks joined the District 2 supervisor race earlier this week. [Cal Coast Times]

Sparks, a Republican, said he decided to run for office after being asked by several members of the community to join the race.

Sparks graduated from the University of California San Diego with a bachelors degrees in political science and economics. He then went on to teach urban studies and design before receiving a masters degree in political science. After attending law school, he passed the state bar in 1995.

Through his experience as a real estate broker, Sparks discovered there is a need for planning that supports an aging population, he said.

Sparks supports a balanced cost based approach for public projects. He criticized Gibson’s promotion of a $183 million Los Osos sewer project.

“Gibson cost the city of Los Osos in excess of $100 million for a sewer project that could have built a different way for less,” Sparks said. “The same problem is now occurring in Morro Bay.”

As for issues with hostility among current board members, Sparks said he would try to build unity through peace not animosity.

Last month, Jeff Eckles, a small business owner and the former executive director of the Home Builders Association of the Central Coast, filed papers challenging Gibson for the District 2 seat.

Gibson has served as a county supervisor since 2006 and has been subsequently re-elected twice. Gibson and Supervisor Adam Hill, both Democrats, generally vote together and regularly oppose the boards three-person conservative majority. Eckles is registered as no party preference.

District 2, which runs along the coast from San Simeon to Los Osos and includes a portion of San Luis Obispo, has 4,751 more Democrats than Republicans.