Jimmy Paulding’s campaign consultant’s ploy backfires

May 31, 2022

By KAREN VELIE

A Jimmy Paulding campaign consultant’s attempt to disparage San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Lynn Compton for blocking her on Facebook appears to have backfired, with locals condemning the Paulding campaign.

“If this is the kind of campaign you guys are going to run, I hope you lose historically,” said Nipomo resident Andy Andersen. “You are abhorrent with the politics you guys are doing. This is ridiculous.”

Late last year, Compton organized a GoFundMe page for a Nipomo family who lost their teenage daughter Carly Krauk in a fire. Sandee Hunt-Burns, a consultant Paulding’s campaign hired to run his social media, criticized Compton claiming her support was a publicity stunt that took Compton away from her role as a county supervisor.

The Hunt-Burns’ Facebook post prompted several Paulding supporters to attack the grieving parents, with one questioning the parents’ faith and another falsely claiming the teenager did not live at home with her parents.

Compton, who said she found the Hunt-Burns posts sickening and unconscionable, blocked Hunt-Burns from commenting on the “Compton for Supervisor” campaign Facebook page. Hunt-Burns then accused Compton of restricting access.

Andersen, a retired assistant chief of law enforcement for Cal Fire and friend of Carly Krauk’s family, criticized Paulding for allowing and tolerating Hunt-Burns’ social media ploy, in a message he left Paulding’s campaign on Monday.

“The simple fact that you guys are going to allow someone to make comments publicly that she did not live at home, and you guys are condone attacking the parents. You are an embarrassment.

“That someone in this community, who passed away, and Lynn was trying to help — that you guys can even tolerate this and you haven’t said anything,” Anderson added. Being retired law enforcement and all the games he is playing, trust me he does not support law enforcement.”

Paulding quickly responded, telling Andersen that he had recently hired Hunt-Burns and did not have time to vet her, Andersen said. However, according to his financial disclosure forms, Hunt-Burns worked for Paulding in 2021.

Also on Monday, an attorney for the Krauk family sent Paulding a warning to cease and desist social media posts that disparage their family.

Later Monday evening, Paulding announced Hunt-Burns had resigned from his campaign. Paulding then inaccurately claimed CalCoastNews attributed the questionable post to his campaign, and not to his consultant.

“Unfortunately, due to the publication of a recent CalCoastNews article, I am hearing from community members that they feel I somehow made this tragedy political,” Paulding posted on Facebook. “A person I hired to work on the campaign made these statements in their own personal capacity without my knowledge.”