He's the lone conservative in SLO supervisors District 2 race. How he stands on the issues

Though the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors is officially non-partisan, District 2 candidate Patrick Sparks makes no secret of his political affiliation — at a recent candidate forum, Sparks used the occasion to remind voters.

"I'm the Republican in the group," he said.

An attorney and real estate broker, Sparks' campaign also makes note of his faith.

"A candidate that will pray for you, not prey on you," a supporter is quoted as saying on Sparks' campaign page.

The candidate calls his political newcomer status an asset in the race against three-term incumbent Bruce Gibson and fellow challenger Jeff Eckles.

"Unlike the incumbent, who has served 12 years as supervisor and is seeking another four-year term, Patrick is not a professional politician," Sparks' campaign page states.

Sparks declined to return a candidate questionnaire sent by The Tribune asking his position on key issues facing the county.

On the issues

Though Sparks declined to respond to The Tribune, he has made some of his policy positions known at political events and on his website.

Sparks has been an outspoken opponent of the Los Osos sewer project, and he has a similar position toward the underway Morro Bay sewer project.

Sparks says he is the only candidate in the three-way race with the ideas to tackle the county's affordable housing crisis. At a candidate forum, Sparks said he was researching technology in the Netherlands, "where you can actually build a home with a four-man crew in two days with a crane."

Sparks has been largely supportive of Sheriff Ian Parkinson, and said the sheriff has taken steps to address the county jail's series of in-custody deaths.

Sparks said he supports drilling for oil in the Carrizo Plain National Monument if it can be done "in a wise stewardship way."

"I think that it's still, in terms of cost-benefit analysis, a reasonable thing to consider," he said at a candidate forum.

However, Sparks' campaign page describes him as having "the common sense and fortitude to stand up to big oil companies that want to perform fracking and off-shore drilling on the Central Coast."

Campaign finance

Sparks has not registered a campaign committee and has no financial filings on record.

This story was originally published May 3, 2018 at 4:55 PM with the headline "He's the lone conservative in SLO supervisors District 2 race. How he stands on the issues."