Reflections on attending the Paulding/Compton debate 

I learned incumbent San Luis Obispo County 4th District Supervisor Lynn Compton is a small business owner and challenger Jimmy Paulding is an attorney with a degree in city and regional planning from Cal Poly.

Compton spoke of her accomplishments on the Board of Supervisors but was very vague about current needs and goals other than avoiding things with a price tag, especially if it means higher fees for small businesses. She spoke of working with the current sheriff to obtain better mental health services at the jail. I was not impressed with this as I feel this is a case of "too little, too late."

Paulding had many specific goals, such as addressing our environmental issues to deal with climate change. He does not want fracking or oil rigs on our coastline.

When they were asked how the board could work together better, Compton did not feel this was possible, noting that one of the board members is "mentally ill." (Wow!) Paulding stated that a collaborative approach is his strong point. Compton wanted your vote in order to maintain a 3-2 advantage on the board, which I suspect contributes to their current dysfunction and polarizing.

At one point Compton condescendingly referred to Paulding as a "good kid" (Wow, again).

On character alone, I would give Paulding an A and Compton a C-minus.

Marvin Gross

San Luis Obispo