SLO County Supervisor Paulding’s dark money supporters exposed

April 22, 2026

San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Jimmy Paulding

By KAREN VELIE

A political action commitee was formed on March 26 to support the reelection of San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Jimmy Paulding, a man who fought against big money donors impacting our local elections.

On April 13, the “South County Coalition” reported it spent $10,174 to support Paulding’s reelection, while it failed to disclose the source of those funds. Paulding’s opponent Adam Verdin then questioned the source of what he dubbed dark money.

While the South County Coalition was required to report donations of $100 or more on its April 13 Form 496, it failed to report that retired attorney Ray Mattison donated $18,000 on March 24, while his former law partner, attorney Don Ernst, donated $22,002 on March 25, a day before the coalition filed its statement of organization.

In an odd twist, the South County Coalition’s treasurer is Dorothy Hines, a Nipomo woman who served as treasurer for Jimmy Paulding’s 2022 campaign committee.

During the 90 days before the June 2 Primary Election, all individual donations of $1,000 or more must be reported within 24 hours on a Form 497.

On April 21, the South County Coalition filed a Form 497 listing three donations all of which should have been reported within 24 hours after they were made: the $18,000 from Mattison on March 24, the $22,002 from Ernst on March 25 and $5,000 from retired attorney Carla Haynie on April 20. The coalition properly reported the Haynie donation within the 24 hour window.

Before Paulding was elected to office, former County Counsel Rita Neal recommended the board vote to have Ernst represent the county in a multi-million class action suit against an opioid company, with a national law firm at the helm. Neal previously worked for Ernst.

The Board of Supervisors then agreed to a contingency fee contract with Ernst.

Ernst then allegedly warned former Supervisor Lynn Compton, after Compton voted against renewing Neal’s contract with the county, that if she did not agree to support Neal he would put enough money into Paulding’s campaign to defeat her in the 2022 election. Ernst’s wife and Mattison then donated heavily to Jimmy Paulding’s successful campaign for supervisor.

In July 2022, the SLO County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to remove Ernst from the case, with supervisors Bruce Gibson and Dawn Ortiz-Legg dissenting.

Shortly after Paulding won a seat on the board of supervisors, he pushed to change donation limits from individual donors to candidates, but not to political action committees like the one Ernst and Mattison funded, from a $25,000 limit to a $5,500 limit.

Multiple public speakers argued against the limit if it did not include political action committees. The board then voted 3-2 to pass the limit on individual donors but not independent committees with supervisors John Peschong and Debbie Arnold dissenting.

Earlier this week, KVEC radio host Dave Congalton questioned Paulding about the alleged dark money donations.

“I have no affiliation with that group,” Paulding said. “I tried to get the influence of big money out of elections.”