When Jimmy Paulding announced his candidacy for San Luis Obispo County 4th District Supervisor Lynn Compton's seat, I was intrigued. He seemed like a nice young man on his way up with a good gift of gab. But after finding out that Supervisors Adam Hill and Bruce Gibson were pushing his candidacy, the blush went off the rose.

Paulding's parroting of the Gibson/Hill agenda evaporated my interest in his candidacy. Consider these truths:

• Paulding supports state regulation of our local groundwater, while Compton successfully retained local control of our precious water resources.

• Compton's cautious approach to regulating an emerging cannabis industry was resisted by the Hill/Gibson cabal that sided with carelessly expanding cannabis operations countywide regardless of the consequences.

• Paulding supporters blame Compton for the Phillips 66 rail spur project when she cast the deciding vote against it.

• Compton effectively secured $1.5 million for South County parks after discovering Gibson/Hill had hijacked nearly $10 million of development impact fees generated in the South County for projects in their own districts.

Hill and Gibson will do anything to defeat Compton in seizing power for themselves. The perils of Paulding are there for all to see. Let's keep an effective Lynn Compton as our supervisor.

Phyllis Stout

Arroyo Grande