Under scrutiny, SLO County political commitee amends filings

April 28, 2026

Supervisor Jimmy Paulding

By KAREN VELIE

Amid allegations a political action committee that supports the reelection of San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Jimmy Paulding was not complying with election laws, the South County Coalition changed its filing to include several other candidates.

Paulding’s 2022 campaign committee treasurer Dorthy Hines formed the coalition on March 26, after retired attorney Ray Mattison donated $18,000 and attorney Don Ernst donated $22,002 to seed the political action committee. Initial reporting showed all spending focused on supporting Paulding’s reelection

On April 22, SLO County District Attorney Dan Dow sent Hines a letter putting her on notice regarding serious concerns over the committee’s compliance with election laws.

At that time, the committee’s focus on Paulding’s reelection would make it a primarily formed committee with stricter reporting requirements.

On Monday, the committee amended its filings to show support for four other candidates: Jim Dantona for the SLO County Board of Supervisors, Greg Hart for California Assembly, Dawn Addis for California Assembly and Salud Carbajal for the U.S. House of Representatives. Of the $13,573 the committee spent, $6,706 was in support of Paulding’s reelection.

And while Hines reports the plan was always to include other candidates, during the 2022 election, the Mattison and Ernst households funded a general purpose political action committee in support of Paulding’s election that did not include other candidates.

Filed by a resident of Santa Barbara County on March 18, 2022, Central Coast Residents for Good Government focused on promoting Paulding and disparaging his opponent, then SLO County Supervisor Lynn Compton.

Because it was listed as a general purpose committee, it did not file any pre-election Form 460 disclosures of  all donors and expenditures, which would have been required if it was properly labeled a primarily formed committee focused on only one race.

On April 12, 2022, Don Ernst’s wife Teri Ernst donated $25,000 to the 2022 committee which if properly filed as a primary formed committee would have been reported on April 13, 2022. Instead, the committee did not report Teri Ernst’s donation until May 30, 2022.

On May 10, Mattison donated $10,000 to the committee, which should have been reported on May 11. Instead, it wasn’t reported until May 30, 2022.

On May 16, two unions donated $5,000 each to the committee which should have been reported on May 17, 2022, but were also reported on May 30, 2022, The primary election was held nine days later.

Committee treasurers are required to file Form 463 verification under penalty of perjury attesting their independent expenditures are truly independent under state law. However, the committee did not file any 463 reports.

In comparing the 2022 Central Coast Residents for Good Government and the 2026 South County Coalition political action committees, it appears both initially followed the same path. They were both filed as  general purpose committees and late reported the independent expenditures on 496 forms. In addition, their first 496 filings failed to disclose any donors, and were only corrected following public scrutiny.

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