Posted on Wed, Jun. 09, 2010

County Supervisor Bruce Gibson breezed to a second term Tuesday night, while the supervisors’ battle in the South County evolved into a runoff, although it was not clear which two of the three candidates would make the cut.

Jim Guthrie, Paul Teixeira, and Mike Zimmerman were within 222 votes of one another at one point, with roughly 7 percent of the vote counted.

It was not close in the other supervisor battle. Gibson, who represents the North Coast’s 2nd District, defeated Marshall Ochylski, a land-use attorney who serves on the Los Osos Community Services District board of directors.

In early returns, Gibson had more than 70 percent of the vote.

Ochylski entered the race at the filing deadline and ran on a platform of being a better listener than Gibson, who took heat from opponents of the Los Osos sewer for, in their view, not listening to them.

Gibson said sewer opponents had been given near-unprecedented opportunities to express themselves.

In his first term, Gibson took the lead in support of a controversial ordinance that would protect views of the hillsides in the tourist-rich North Coast. He also led opposition to development of the Santa Margarita Ranch.

In South County, Zimmerman, an Arroyo Grande attorney, Teixeira and Guthrie were bunched together in early returns.

The winner will replace Katcho Achadjian, who is finishing his 12th year as 4th District supervisor.

Achadian chose to run this year for state Assembly. He won the GOP primary in the 33rd District and will face Democrat Hilda Zacarias and Libertarian Paul Polson in November.

Guthrie, general manager of the Spyglass Inn and an Arroyo Grande city councilman, stressed his experience in business and government.

Teixeira is a well-known community activist in Nipomo, with involvement in scores of community groups and events. He also is a member of the county Parks Commission and the Lucia Mar School Board.

Zimmerman positioned himself as a traditional conservative.