SLO County supervisor says housing group could sway District 4 race. Will it?
San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Jimmy Paulding alleged a local housing advocacy organization plans to use its political action committee to sway the District 4 race, but the founder behind the group said it will not direct any funds into his opponent’s coffers.
In a Friday campaign email, Paulding said Generation Build “was originally created to support the Dana Reserve project and has now evolved into an independent expenditure committee that is expected to spend heavily to influence this race.”
He also mentioned that his opponent, Adam Verdin, was recently sighted at the SLO Housing Summit with Michael Massey — the creator of the committee and the former leader of Generation Build.
However, Massey told The Tribune that the PAC has not raised a single dollar as of Tuesday. According to its latest finance filing, the committee received no monetary contributions nor spent any funds throughout 2025.
The future of the committee also remains murky since Massey stepped down as Generation Build’s leader on April 1 to run for a seat on the Paso Robles City Council, he said.
Massey said he was irked that Paulding chose to personally name and attack him in his latest campaign letter.
“I think it’s just beneath the elected office to be going after private citizens,” he said.
But Paulding argued that Massey is a public person.
“He formed a political action committee. He has been critical of my votes for the last two years, having authored multiple op-eds. He has put himself in this space,” Paulding said.
The Tribune looked into the Generation Build PAC and Paulding’s allegations as part of its Reality Check series.
What is the Generation Build PAC?
Generation Build is a pro-housing and growth advocacy organization that launched in San Luis Obispo County in 2023.
The group originally created the political action committee to hold politicians accountable, Massey said.
Formed in November 2025, the PAC was meant to aid housing-supportive candidates and oppose anti-housing politicians. According to Massey, the intention of the committee was to raise funds and donate around $500 to $1,000 to local city council and mayor races in San Luis Obispo County.
The group considered getting involved in some council races this November or contributing funds to 2028 campaigns, but the current race for the South County supervisor seat “was not on our radar,” he said.
“We started the PAC with no intention of being involved in the District 4 race whatsoever, like that was never a plan,” Massey told The Tribune.
The SLO County supervisor said he expected the PAC to spend heavily for his opponent after Massey told New Times that Generation Build would file a complaint against Paulding alleging “political ethics violations and the improper use of taxpayer resources,” according to a Feb. 19 article.
“This race is being influenced by a network of developer-backed interests supporting my opponent, including individuals who have actively advocated for projects like Dana Reserve and others that raise real concerns about water, traffic and environmental impacts,” Paulding said in a statement to The Tribune.
Ultimately, Massey said Generation Build decided to not go through with the complaint.
“That was something I thought about, and then decided I just do not want to continue being in the narrative of this race,” he said. “It’s dumb, stupid politics. ... It’s just beneath anything we’re doing here on a local level.”
As for the future of the PAC, Massey said the organization may decide to dissolve it, however, that decision will be made by other members on the board.
Paulding, Massey clash over campaign allegations
After Paulding’s allegations, Massey wrote a letter to the candidate — and posted it on Facebook — calling for the “false statements” to be retracted and the record corrected.
“Dragging private citizens into campaign messaging using half-truths and innuendo is exactly the kind of politics that erodes public trust,” he said in the letter. “Our community deserves better. Local politics should be a place where residents feel safe to participate, not one where showing up to a policy summit gets your name used as a prop.”
Paulding said he had “absolutely” no intention to withdraw his statements about Massey and Generation Build.
“Mr. Massey is not a private bystander. He is a political advocate, the head of a pro-development organization, and now a candidate for public office himself,” Paulding said in a statement. “When you step into that arena, your role in shaping policy and elections is fair to examine.”
Massey has personally endorsed Verdin in the race, according to the candidate’s campaign website. Verdin told The Tribune that it’s “abhorrent” Paulding is targeting his supporters.
“An elected official attacking supporters of his opponent is a form of political retribution and has a chilling effect on democratic participation,” he said.
Paulding questions if District 4 opponent took ‘double developer’ donations
In the same newsletter, Paulding accused Verdin of “skirting contribution limits.”
“The real question is how many ‘double-developer’ donations he took and how much he will actually give back,” Paulding said in the email. “We will find out soon. The filing deadline is April 18, and reports will soon follow.”
In February, Paulding accused Verdin of breaking campaign finance rules and taking twice the county’s legal limit of campaign donations from SLO County developer Covelop Inc. According to campaign finance records, the developer donated $5,900 to Verdin’s primary election campaign and $5,900 to his general election campaign, adding up to $11,800 in total.
In SLO County, donations to electoral campaigns from individuals, businesses and committees are capped at $5,900 per election.
Paulding filed a formal complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, but the commission ultimately dismissed it, The Tribune previously reported.
Now, he’s suggesting that his opponent may be violating campaign finance regulations.
“Clearly, my opponent was comfortable with taking donations and earmarking them for a general election that was never going to happen and is not going to happen,” Paulding said. “We don’t know how many of those he took and earmarked for that election until the next campaign finance disclosures are reported.”
Verdin said he had no idea what donations his opponent was referring to. He hypothesized that Paulding was attempting to extend the Covelop narrative, “but I can’t read the guy’s mind,” he said.
“My opponent’s allegations were reviewed and rejected by the FPPC within 24 hours. His claim that he somehow forced compliance with a law that was never broken doesn’t hold up,” Verdin told The Tribune in a statement. “There are no double donations.”
