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Jimmy Paulding wins SLO County supervisor seat, board majority undecided

July 2, 2022

Jimmy Paulding

By KAREN VELIE

Arroyo Grande resident Jimmy Paulding has won the District 4 Board of Supervisors’ seat displacing incumbent Lynn Compton, which places the board majority at stake as Bruce Gibson and Bruce Jones head to a runoff in November.

Even though the board seats are nonpartisan, in our nation’s politically polarized environment voters generally select candidates along party lines. The supervisors control land-use and governmental issues such as cannabis regulations and money set aside for public safety.

Union money along with a late infusion of cash from a political action committee run by Mollie Culver, a longtime Democratic strategist and cannabis consultant from Santa Barbara, helped Paulding significantly outspend his opponent. Central Coast Residents for Good Government, Culver’s political action committee, was primarily funded by people associated with the Ernst Law Group.

Attorney Don Ernst recently received a multi-million dollar contract from County Counsel Rita Neal’s office, a contract Compton has contested.

On the other side, another political action committee, Back the Badge, mailed fliers critical of Paulding in support of Compton. Developer Nick Tompkins, who has a large project in the Nipomo area working its way through the system, helped fund the pro-Compton committee.

In January, Paulding will take his seat alongside fellow liberal Dawn Ortiz-Legg and Republicans Debbie Arnold and John Peschong.

Gibson, a Democrat, is headed to a runoff with Dr. Bruce Jones, a Republican, in the Nov. 8 midterm election. Anticipate well-funded and aggressive campaigns from both sides.

After nearly a month of sporadic counting, the San Luis Obispo County Clerk’s Office finished tallying the majority of the ballots on Friday. With only 262 ballots remaining to be counted, these are the winners in the primary election:

SLO County District 2 Supervisor

With 47.63% of the vote, Supervisor Bruce Gibson is headed to a runoff with Dr. Bruce Jones, the second place candidate.

SLO County District 3 Supervisor

The voters elected Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg to continue representing District 3 for the next two years.

SLO County District 4 Supervisor

Attorney Jimmy Paulding will take his seat in January, with 51.53% of the vote.

SLO County Clerk Recorder

Appointed last year, Elaina Cano easily held her seat.

SLO County Superior Court Judge # 12

Deputy District Attorney Mike Frye, the voters’ favorite, is headed to the bench.

Oceano fire tax (2/3 needed to pass)

For a second time, the voters of Oceano rejected the proposed fire tax.


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Jimmy Paulding has shown great restraint and very effective and practical leadership in his role as an Arroyo Grande city council person. Voters recognize that and that’s why he won in a district that was gerrymandered to put him at a disadvantage.


-11

Jimmy Paulding’s $580,000 backers did not do this out of the goodness of their hearts. They expect to be repaid in more than in full, x10 at the least. SLO County pay-to-play. Expect a lot of the money to now flow to Gibson.


13

Here come more regulations for the little guys and higher costs associated with Jimmy paying back his debt to his union buddies. Back we go in to the alphabet agencies that only serve to keep government workers busy and make things more cumbersome and expensive for the ratepayers.


22

Yeah great. When your taxes and fees are raised yet again to pay for more government and more crazy salaries for government employees you can proudly think you helped elect this guy. A lot of this mess is set by the Board of Supes and its done in secret. Paulding doesn’t seem like a fellow who can say “no”.


23

Mr. Paulding has an Easily verified record of frequently saying “no” when it is appropriate. I believe you owe a public apology to Mr. Paulding


-5

Thank goodness. Buh bye Lynn.


-159

Those will also be my sentiments for the corrupt and angry Bruce Gibson after he is soundly defeated in November. He is going bye, bye.


31

ANOTHER Trump red versus Blue thangy … 2 BARKING DOGS! Geeze wheezy never pleasey. Maybe that is the way Trumpy KPRL and “The Shredder” eco fanatics see it, but how about another angle? Like more of the well done Ernst Law Group and Nick Tompkins interests? Would like to know more. How do we get County vendors out of the donating process?

“Even though the board seats are nonpartisan, in our nation’s politically polarized environment voters generally select candidates along party lines”. Respectfully, THAT is the heart of the failure of the Patten Map. We do not! If you think that way, Trumpets, KPRL and the RP SLO have just been angry jilted slapped.

So what do we really have?

LOCALLY, from my perch, we want water, housing for folks NOT vacation rentals, and fiscally restrained gov’t … How is this so #&@^ complicated?

Personally, I am very happy with the vote because I very much like Ortiz-Legg, Paulding and very much Jones as a way out of this red versus blue, spy versus spy, circus slap clown BS.

In summary, listen to the past … “The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.” Aristotle


-150

So Rita Neal is deciding a supervisor’s race by giving county money to a law firm that in turn donates it to her preferred candidate? Wow.


62

Jimmy Paulding is a weasel, but not as much so as Geoff Auslen, =Hill, =Gibson. I’ll take the results and campaign like hell for Bruce Jones


33

Agreed on Jones versus 16 years and counting Gibson but how is Paulding a weasel? Man, the guy hasn’t even taken office yet. Substantiate with facts pls.


-2

Great job by Paulding to unseat a sitting supervisor. It doesn’t happen very often, but hopefully this year will see two incumbents go down. Good luck to Mr. Jones. And to the candidates who challenge Mr. Peschong and Ms. Arnold in two years. Let’s make it a clean sweep and elect a board that is more inclined to work on county issues and less inclined to always vote their ideologies.


-180

I like Arnold, very effective groundwater advocate.


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