Who will represent the new District 2? Here’s a round-up of the supervisor candidates so far
The primary election is still four months away, but three candidates are already in the race to represent the county’s recently reconfigured District 2.
The current contenders are, in order of their campaign announcements:
• District 2 Supervisor Bruce Gibson, of Cayucos, current chairman of the board.
• Bruce Jones, a retired orthopedic surgeon who chairs the Templeton Area Advisory Group.
• Geoff Auslen, a longtime Atascadero businessman who led the development of a playground where physically disabled and able-bodied children can play side by side.
A supervisor must reside in the district they represent.
There may be other contenders in that race by the time filing for the June 7 primary closes in mid-March, but for now, District 2 appears to be a three-person race.
That, of course, assumes that a recently filed lawsuit against the county’s new redistricting map fails. The next San Luis Obispo Superior Court date on that issue is set for Feb. 10.
The current District 2 stretches south along the coast from the San Luis Obispo and Monterey County line, encompassing Morro Bay, Los Osos, Cayucos, Cambria, Harmony and San Simeon, along with some rural areas. The district also dips a representational toe into northern San Luis Obispo.
The redistricting map the supervisors adopted in December divvies the North Coast into three different districts.
The new District 2 combines Cambria, Cayucos and San Simeon with parts of the current districts 1 and 5, such as Atascadero, western Templeton, Oak Shores and the Lake Nacimiento area, San Miguel, Garden Farms, Santa Margarita and rural parts of Paso Robles west of Highway 101.
The new map also separates Morro Bay and Los Osos from the rest of the North Coast. Morro Bay winds up in District 3, and Los Osos in District 5.
In the meantime, because the legal outcome of the map challenge likely won’t be known for a while, the three announced candidates for the District 2 seat are gearing their campaigns toward the premise that the new boundary will go into effect with the next election.
Who are the candidates for District 2 supervisor?
Gibson and Auslen have lived in the new district area for decades and have longtime ties to the county.
Jones moved to Templeton after he retired from his medical practice in 2017.
Gibson told The Tribune in August that he was running for his fifth term in the seat he’s held since 2006 almost entirely to combat a board majority he believes is “(undermining) local democracy and our democratic values.”
Jones launched his campaign during a Republican Party of San Luis Obispo County meeting in Atascadero on Jan. 17. That group has endorsed him. He’s been active in the Templeton advisory group for three years.
Auslen said in a Jan. 27 phone interview he had originally planned to run in 2024 for the District 5 seat, but that the redistricting prompted him to modify his plans. The owner of three Atascadero businesses announced his candidacy on Jan. 31.
Gibson seeks re-election after 16 years on Board of Supervisors
The 69-year-old Gibson is proud of his achievements during 16 years on the board, which range from his involvements in: public ownership of and permanent access to the popular Dog Beach (between North Morro Bay and Cayucos); preserving 3.5 miles of coastal terrace now known as Estero Bluffs State Park; saving and renovating the Cayucos Vets Hall (in progress) and the Cayucos Pier; replacing an antiquated Cambria bridge; and the permanent conservation of 83,000 acres of the Hearst Ranch.
Gibson’s a fifth generation Californian, a geophysicist, farmer and exploration-seismology researcher who has lived on the North Coast since 1989. He served as a county planning commissioner and president of the board of the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County. He, wife Cherie Gibson, and their two rambunctious Australian shepherds live in Cayucos.
Among priorities for what he hopes will be his fifth term, Gibson homes to talk about homelessness and how it can interrelate with challenges of mental health and addictions, the fight for clean air water and marine resources, housing affordability, protection of coastal lands, agricultural resources and scenic open spaces, among many other concerns, according to his website.
He told The Tribune he’s “passionate about using state and federal funding to improve child-care accessibility and affordability in all our communities.” He added it’s “been a top priority” at the state’s First 5 Commission, on which he represents the Board of Supervisors.
He also serves as second vice president of California State Association of Counties.
Gibson stressed the need for progress on water management, especially in the Paso Basin, saying it was time “to take some big steps” forward in Los Osos.
The supervisor also emphasized the need “to secure our local democracy” and “push back on purveyors of the Big Lie and elect a qualified Clerk-Recorder.”
“We need to watch the board majority’s push to make us a charter county — where they could use their ill-gotten majority to appoint positions that would otherwise be elected,” he said.
Retired doctor said he wants to bring ‘integrity and fairness’ to board
The retired doctor said in an email to The Tribune on Jan. 27 that he did orthopedic surgery in Missouri for 35 years before he and wife JoAnn Jones moved to Templeton “to be close to family.”
They’ve been married for more than five decades, have three adult children and nine grandchildren. Three generations of the Jones family live in District 2, he said.
The retired surgeon was recruited in 2018 to be an alternate on Templeton’s advisory group, and was subsequently elected to be a delegate in March 2019.
He doesn’t believe the wide spread of geography, diverse politics and other potential divisions between North County and the North Coast are insurmountable problems.
Jones said “most county issues are similar from one part of the district to another, such as public safety and roads.”
For example, he said “homelessness and affordable housing are issues that all of us care about.”
“I will work with other board members and subject-matter experts in seeking solutions to these problems,” he wrote.
Jones said “issues related to the pandemic and drug abuse fall into an area where I have real-world experience as a physician.”
“When the health department and mental health experts make their recommendations ... I will be able to ask the appropriate questions,” he said. “Having an elected official with this background would be useful to the Board of Supervisors.”
One issue that’s garnered a lot of opposing opinions on either side of the Santa Lucia range is camping; Jones said ordinances on that topic should be “respectful of adjacent properties regarding fire safety, lighting and noise and appropriate setbacks from adjacent properties.”
“Often, when there are differences, it has to do with land use,” he said. “I will listen to my constituents who live in these areas and evaluate each project based on the sentiment of the neighbors there — I believe balance is important.”
Jones concluded that what was most important to him if he were elected would be “that the public’s opinions are respectfully heard and that the Board of Supervisors deals with issues with integrity and fairness.”
Atascadero businessman said county is at ‘a crossroads’ this election
The 55-year-old Auslen, who has owned Glenn’s Repair & Rental for 10 of its 54 years, grew up in the community before traveling outside the state for some time.
Auslen said in a phone interview with The Tribune that he was raised on an apple farm on Highway 41 and graduated from Morro Bay High School in 1985 before attending Cal Poly for three years. He eventually received a bachelor’s degree in recreational administration from Western State University in Colorado.
After a few years away in Boston, New York, Alaska and Colorado (where he dealt with water-supply and water-rights issues), the business owner returned to the Central Coast.
In the two decades since then, he’s owned several businesses, has rescued two German Shepherds and has been a foster parent, community leader and member of various clubs and boards.
That leadership has given him insight, he said, into “the tremendous breadth of issues and the environment in our county.” Those include homelessness, housing, economic development, infrastructure, water, childcare, agriculture, drug issues and mental health, to name a few, he said.
His involvements in business, government and Atascadero, and the fact that the city’s population “makes up about 60 percent of the new district” gives Auslen confidence he’d make a good supervisor.
The foster parent said he’s most proud, however of his leadership and involvement in the Joy Playground, which resulted in Atascadero’s first inclusive children’s playground where all youngsters, “regardless of their disability, can play safely outdoors” with each other.
In the press release announcing his candidacy, Auslen defined his political philosophy by saying the county is at a crossroads.
“To our left is a type of destructive, progressive politics that eats away at our rights and liberties, defunds our local law enforcement and makes it more difficult to find a job, raise a family and start a business,” he said. “To our right is an inclusive government that respects our rights and celebrates our community’s history, fully-funds and respects our public safety community and makes it easier to find a head-of-household job, raise a family and start a business.”
This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 9:00 AM.
