Two people are vying for the San Luis Obispo County District 4 Supervisor seat in the June 2 Primary Election.
Incumbent Jimmy Paulding and challenger Adam Verdin were both born and raised in southern San Luis Obispo County and have similar reasons for running.
“I think that we can make better decisions that's tied not just to the folks that live here today, but also for the next generation of people that are trying to build their lives here,” Verdin said.
“I have rolled up my sleeves and put everything into this job,” Paulding said. “It is about public service. I enjoy serving this wonderful community that I grew up in, and there's a lot more work to be done.”
District 4, shown in purple on this map, covers most of southern San Luis Obispo County and extends into the Cuyama Valley.
Paulding is looking to be re-elected to the position for a second term. He said if that happens, he’ll spend the next two years continuing the projects he’s started.
“Public safety will always be my top priority and we have made some progress,” Paulding said. “We've got a strategic plan that we need to implement that calls for more fire stations and more firefighters. We always need to continue to work on this regional desalination project to secure a new source of water for our future. So there's a lot that I'm working on that I want to continue to, to work on.”
Verdin said one of his top priorities is making housing more available to District 4 residents. He said the county is trending in the wrong direction but he understands the struggle for available space.
“It's a tough puzzle because where do you put that additional housing and then how do you support that?” Verdin said. “You have to support that with additional investments in infrastructure, which means reprioritizing certain things in the budget.”
The District 4 race has been heated since the start, with one group called out for appearing to only support Paulding after claiming to represent multiple candidates in the county, while Paulding publicly accused Verdin’s campaign of taking more donation money than allowed.
“I think I've run a pretty positive campaign focused on my vision for the future, focused on what people want to see me do for this community,” Paulding said. “I think my opponent has run more of a negative campaign.”
“Running for public office is interesting in the sense that it is so public,” Verdin said. “Those kind of theatrics is something I'm not used to but at the same time, I hear they come with the territory.”
Since only two candidates are running, the June 2 Primary will determine who takes the position.
