Morro Bay engineer announces candidacy for SLO County Board of Supervisors
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Engineer Michael Erin Woody launches campaign for SLO District 2 in 2026 race.
- He has a background in local government and sits on the Salinan Tribal Council.
- Woody promotes environmental reform, government transparency and oversight.
Another candidate has entered the race for the District 2 seat on the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors, but he isn’t a totally new face.
Michael Erin Woody, a civil engineer from Morro Bay, has a history in local politics. He ran as a Republican against Salud Carbajal for his seat in Congress in 2018, and previously intended to run for the District 2 Supervisor seat in 2022, but was pushed out of the race due to redistricting.
Woody left the Republican party six years ago during the first Trump administration and now has no political party affiliation, he told The Tribune.
He also sat on the Fresno City Council for one term in 1992, The Tribune previously reported.
Woody, who sits on the Salinan Tribal Council of SLO and Monterey counties, is running on a platform of environmental stewardship, government transparency and giving voice to coastal communities who have been “ignored by local politicians,” he said in a news release announcing his campaign.
“For too long, District 2’s coastal communities from Los Osos to the Monterey County line have not been heard by local politicians,” Woody said in the release. “This election will decide the future of this region, and we cannot afford to destroy our Central Coast values and lifestyle.”
District 2 encompasses SLO County’s northern coastal communities including Los Osos, Morro Bay, Cayucos, Harmony, Cambria, San Simeon, parts of San Luis Obispo and Ragged Point extending to the Monterey County line.
The seat has long been held by Supervisor Bruce Gibson, who in May announced he would not seek reelection after 20 years on the board.
Instead, Woody will go up against local business leader Jim Dantona, president and CEO of the SLO Chamber of Commerce, who announced his candidacy last month.
The primary election will be held on June 2, 2026.
“This is a perfect fit with my background, profession and education, and my cultural background,” Woody said. “I think this would be a great fit for me in order to serve this community as a whole and see what I can do to affect some real change out here and give voices to people that candidly don’t have voices out here.”
District 2 candidate has a background in local government and tribal leadership
Woody studied civil engineering at Fresno State and earned his master’s degree in public administration from Harvard. He has been a licensed civil engineer in California for over 25 years and founded Struct One Engineering & Construction in San Luis Obispo in 2014.
He previously sat on the Fresno City Council for one term, serving as vice chair of the Fresno County Transportation Authority and holding other appointments in the city’s police, fire and retirement agencies. In 2016, he served as senior policy advisor during Katcho Achadjian’s congressional campaign.
Woody’s community engagement also extends beyond his background in local politics.
As the Salinan Tribal Council’s primary liaison to multiple state and federal government agencies, Woody worked with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, through which he helped the tribe apply for federal acknowledgment, which is pending, he said.
As an indigenous tribal member, Woody said he brings with him a very different perspective from the other county supervisors and candidates.
“When people talk about what’s going on in the oceans or what’s going on out here, we see it differently, and a lot of times, those unique voices have been lost,” he told The Tribune. “ I’d like to share that with people and give that different perspective to our public discussions.”
In Morro Bay, Woody has served on multiple city lease review and budget review committees and as vice chair of the Citizens Finance Committee, he said in the release.
He is also involved in the Carrizo Plains Native American Advisory Council and previously served on the Morro Bay Maritime Museum Board of Directors, he said.
“My unique combination of education, professional experience, and community involvement brings to this office the qualifications needed to represent District 2,” Woody said in the release. “As both an engineer who understands infrastructure and environmental impacts, and a tribal leader with deep roots in environmental stewardship, I have the technical knowledge and cultural perspective to protect our coastal communities while ensuring responsible development.”
What is Morro Bay candidate’s platform?
Having intended to run for District 2 Supervisor before, Woody has a clear vision of how he would use his time on the board.
His largest concerns involved the environmental protection of SLO County, government transparency in public works projects and enacting local campaign and governance reforms.
“As both an engineer and a Salinan Indian who serves with pride on his tribal council, I take very seriously the idea of environmental stewardship,” Woody said in the release. “I will give a voice to our coastal communities that are not being listened to.”
One recent example he pointed to was the recent Moss Landing battery fire in Monterey County. The company that ran the facility wants to build a similar plant in Morro Bay, but Woody said coastal residents’ concerns with the project have gone unheard.
“A similar fire in Morro Bay would force evacuation of over 10,000 residents across Morro Bay, Los Osos and Cayucos,” he said in the release.
As supervisor, Woody would propose updating county code and zoning to prohibit battery storage facilities within three miles of sensitive areas including schools, neighborhoods, parks and coastlines, he said in the release.
He also called for more transparency in major public works projects, calling out the proposed offshore wind project off the coast of Cambria and San Simeon for engaging in “bait and switch” tactics.
“Initially presented as 100 turbines at 600 feet tall covering 70 square miles, the project has grown to upwards of 600 turbines at 1,100 feet tall covering nearly 400 square miles,” Woody said in the release. “This type of deception has become all too common in San Luis Obispo County.”
Lastly, Woody calls for comprehensive campaign finance and governance reforms, including enacting term limits for supervisors, limiting campaign contribution to $500 per donor and banning corporate and Political Action Committee donations.
“It really is time that we start having such things as term limits contribution limits and completely banning all PAC and corporate donations,” he told The Tribune. “To me, these are just common sense things to do in order to start making these offices more responsive to the community as a whole.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
