Vying for the San Luis Obispo County 2nd District supervisor seat next year, SLO Chamber of Commerce CEO Jim Dantona, like sitting Supervisor Bruce Gibson, is no stranger to recounts.
In 2000, the then-28-year-old Dantona, demanded a recount of votes cast in the race for a Rancho Simi Valley Parks District seat. Dantona lost to his opponent Kate O’Brien by three votes.
“I had three friends that helped me on the campaign that day, and said, ‘Oh, Jim, I forgot to vote today,'” Dantona said with a laugh. “Every vote matters, and especially local. I’m such a huge advocate for people being involved in government.”
Against the backdrop of the larger recount dispute in Florida’s Bush v. Gore presidential election, the Dantona v. O’Brien recount ended quietly, with Dantona conceding and congratulating the winner.
According to an LA Times article announcing the end of the recount, his father, Jim Dantona Sr.—a veteran political analyst who worked for Gov. Gray Davis when he was state controller—said he hoped to see his son get his “foot in the door politically.”
Twenty-five years later, Dantona is gunning for his political debut by throwing his hat into the ring for the SLO County 2nd District Supervisor seat.
Current North Coast supervisor Bruce Gibson will not seek reelection in 2026, putting an end to his tenure after 20 years.
Dantona told New Times that a community member convinced him to run for supervisor after Gibson announced his decision. He said he was sad to lose Gibson as a supervisor, given his decades of experience and advocacy for the district.
“I was just kind of bummed, especially as from the SLO chamber, we work closely with the county and cities,” he said.
Dantona’s been a front-row observer to politics for 15 years. Before moving to the Central Coast, he served as chief of staff to former LA City Councilmembers Nury Martinez, Tony Cardenas, and Wendy Greuel.
“Watching these elected officials who care deeply about their community think about what’s the appropriate levers to pull, what’s best for the bigger community, what’s best for the neighborhood, and are those things aligned … was incredibly valuable,” he said.
An aspect of Gibson’s tenure Dantona said he’d like to emulate is preserving open space. That’s something the lifelong Democrat thinks unites conservatives and liberals across the board.
“If you ask the far left and if you ask the far right whether they believe it should be used for agriculture or hiking or just preservation, you can bridge the gap there and find common ground that people are like, ‘Yes, I’ve had this ranch in my family for hundreds of years, and I want it to be preserved well into the future,” Dantona said. “You could do the same for somebody like ECOSLO or an environmental group, and they’d be like, ‘Yes, we want to do that.'”
The 2nd District stretches from the Monterey County line to Los Osos and parts of SLO, including San Simeon, Harmony, Cayucos, and Cambria.
To Dantona, homelessness is the priority to tackle if he wins the seat. Affordable rental housing and homelessness continue to be the most pressing needs for county residents, according to the 2025 Community Development Needs Assessment Report.
“The county is really the feet of that issue,” Dantona said. “When I talk about homelessness and the unhoused, it really goes back to the base of housing in general.”
Over Gibson’s tenure and even in the years prior, Los Osos has battled water issues and faced debates about the condition of the town’s only source of water—the Los Osos Valley Groundwater Basin. The area suffered from groundwater depletion, seawater intrusion, and nitrate contamination, ultimately triggering a building moratorium in the 1980s. Los Osos broke free from its nearly four-decade-long moratorium last year.
While Dantona said that the county needs to rethink water distribution, there needs to be planning to sustain aquifers and water levels for long-term resilience.
“We also can find places and the right places to think about building new housing and efficient housing, because a home built in 1920 is probably not as water efficient as a home built in 2025,” he said.
In December, Dantona will step down as CEO of the SLO Chamber of Commerce after seven years. He’s gearing up to attend community meetings, organize fundraisers, and get to know the North Coast community better.
Dantona might have competition in Morro Bay resident Michael Erin Woody. The Republican ran for the 24th Congressional District seat in 2018 and 2020, ultimately won by Rep. Salud Carbajal.
On June 20, Woody shared a screenshot on Facebook of his upcoming website for the 2026 supervisor race. He also posted photos of campaign signs. He didn’t respond to New Times‘ request for an interview.
South County voters will also get the chance to pick their supervisor next year. Incumbent 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding announced his decision to run for reelection on June 26. There were no official contenders for the 4th District race as of June 30.
The greatest lesson he’s learned since becoming supervisor in 2022, Paulding told New Times, was quickly adapting to find solutions to issues coming before the board.
“The most urgent issue facing District 4, I would say … is affordability, affordable housing, and making sure we have enough programs that support the vulnerable in our community,” he said. “On the other hand, dealing with issues like Lopez Lake and the litigation against the county with regard to water relief impact and trout—that’s a really top concern for South County, because it’s jeopardizing our water supply potentially.”
Paulding clarified to New Times after publication that the litigation against the county specifically involved the steelhead trout and impacts associated with forced water relief.
Recently, Paulding faced heat from some Nipomo residents living near the 100-megawatt Caballero battery facility. They were concerned about potential fires and other health risks after the Moss Landing battery plant in Monterey County caught fire in January.
Coalition of Labor, Agriculture, and Business Executive Director Andy Caldwell criticized the county in a Feb. 3 CalCoastNews opinion piece, adding that people living between the Five Cities Area and Orcutt are within the “toxic-gas blast zone.” Paulding called Caldwell’s information inaccurate.
“In any case, you’re never going to be able to mitigate all risks,” he said. “But technology of the Caballero battery storage project is very different than the Moss Landing facility. I think when people in the community learn more about the technology and the emergency response planning, they feel a lot better about it.”
During his term, Paulding led the update of Nipomo Community Plan to steer responsible future growth, advocated for senior citizen care by highlighting the Master Plan on Aging, kicked off the process for the Sheriff’s substation in Nipomo, and even conducted volunteer beautification projects around parks in areas like Arroyo Grande and Oceano. He’ll launch his campaign at a formal event in Heritage Park in Arroyo Grande on July 26.
“I’ve got a track record of success in my ability to deliver on a number of projects and tackle community needs,” Paulding said. “For example, we’ve seen a 19 percent reduction in homelessness over the course of my tenure in office. That’s because of the many partnerships and the hard work of staff and other community partners.” Δ
Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at brajagopal@newtimesslo.com.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly quoted 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding. New Times regrets the error.
This article appears in Jul 3-13, 2025.
“The most urgent issue facing District 4, I would say … is affordability, affordable housing…” then why did you vote against the most affordable housing project ever proposed on scale in SLO County?!? Paulding knows he’s in the minority in his party and the community on housing and is trying to save face. The generation that will suffer due to the housing crisis won’t forget about it come next year.