BOS Chair Paul Teixeira dead at 57 

click to enlarge

• FILE PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER
• ‘MR. NIPOMO’: San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors Chair and District 4 Supervisor Paul Teixeira died on June 26. There was a planned 11 a.m. funeral mass on July 3, followed by a reception at 12:30 p.m. at the Alex Madonna Expo Center.

San Luis Obispo County is in mourning following the sudden announcement that Board of Supervisors Chair and District 4 Supervisor Paul Teixeira has died.

Teixeira died the night of June 26 after being taken to Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria. He was 57 years old.

While the official cause of death has been announced as natural causes, the SLO County Sheriff’s Department’s Coroner’s Unit announced following an autopsy that Teixeira suffered a heart attack resulting from a blocked artery.

The morning of June 27, supervisors Adam Hill and Debbie Arnold held a press conference to confirm Teixeira’s passing. Both solemnly expressed their “deepest condolences” to his family and shared their personal experiences working with the man.

“He was just a big, lovable galoot. He was Mr. Nipomo,” Hill said. “He was one of those guys you just really want as your neighbor.

“I’m really going to miss him,” he added.

Arnold said that she had seen Teixeira as recently as around 8:30 p.m. on June 26, and he gave no indication of any health problems.

Teixeira was a longtime resident of Nipomo and was elected to the board of supervisors in 2010 and appointed chair in 2013. He is survived by his wife and five children.

The role of board chair will go to current vice chair Bruce Gibson, who was away on business in Washington, D.C., but it’s up to Gov. Jerry Brown to appoint a new District Four supervisor, who may provide the swing vote on a recently divided Board of Supervisors.

Interested parties may apply for the position through the appointments application on the governor’s website. They must, however, be residents of the district.

According to Brown’s spokesman, Evan Westrup, the governor is aware of the vacancy on the board and “will move expeditiously to fill the seat with the most qualified, capable, and committed individual.”

As of this article’s writing, a visitation was planned for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 2, at St. Joseph Church in Nipomo, followed by an 11 a.m. funeral mass on July 3. A reception was planned for 12:30 p.m. at the Alex Madonna Expo Center.