These SLO County campaign flyers are toxic. Trash ’em | Opinion

The race for South County supervisor has taken a turn for the worse, with both sides throwing around accusations and counter-accusations, even as the campaign clock winds down.

The hardest to ignore are those sleazy flyers landing in our mailboxes, reeking of hyperbole, half-truths and lies of omission.

Here’s one example, taken from a Jimmy Paulding mailer attacking his opponent, Adam Verdin, for accepting large donations from developers.

It also points out that Verdin was actually employed by a developer.

“He worked as a project manager for the developer behind the controversial Dana Reserve housing project,” it says, referring to developer Nick Tompkins.

Given that voters often spend only 10 seconds or less perusing campaign mailers, they might conclude that Verdin played an integral role in planning the Dana Reserve development.

He did not.

He worked for Tompkins’ company, NKT Commercial, 15 years ago, mostly as a private pilot. Verdin was never a project manager for the Dana Reserve, though he did manage a much smaller NKT project in Santa Barbara.

Paulding wasn’t done bending the truth. In the same flyer, he once again baselessly accused Verdin of a campaign violation.

“He (Verdin) got caught circumventing contribution limits and had to give the money back to his developer donors.”

Verdin didn’t get “caught.” He accepted a donation from one developer for both the primary campaign and the general election campaign, which is perfectly legal. He then returned one of contributions when it became apparent that there would be no runoff.

Yet Paulding turned things around to make himself out to be the hero for “creating transparency” — even though his original accusation against Verdin fell flat when the Fair Political Practices Commission failed to open an investigation.

Adam Verdin lands punches of his own

Verdin — a first-time candidate for public office — is giving as good as he gets, especially when it comes to painting Paulding as a member of the out-of-touch, liberal, spendthrift elite.

One flyer (unfairly) blames Paulding for the high cost of living in California.

County supervisors have nothing to do with gas prices or grocery bills or tax increases, which require voter approval.

Verdin also accuses Paulding of undermining Proposition 13 — a favorite tactic of Republican candidates. Merely mentioning “Prop. 13” in any context can land Democrats in trouble.

That’s not all.

A recent flyer, paid for by the Lincoln Club of San Luis Obispo County, claimed Paulding gave himself a 26% raise, as if this were some sort of unilateral decision to enrich himself.

Again, there’s more to the story.

Paulding was one of three supervisors to vote in favor of the raise, and there were plenty of justifications for the increase: At the time, board members were earning 22% below the median for comparable positions and were making just 5% more than their administrative assistants. Also, the 26% was doled out in increments over a two-year period.

And here’s the kicker: Paulding, along with Supervisor John Peschong, opted not to accept the raise. So, no, he did not vote to give himself a 26% raise. He voted to give other supervisors a raise. Big difference.

Igniting fear with images of fiery explosions

The most incendiary flyer sent by the Verdin campaign concerns a more than year-old controversy over a battery energy storage system (BESS) in Nipomo.

There has been an ongoing debate over how much support Paulding provided to the company that installed the system and when he knew about it.

Verdin accuses Paulding of helping the “out-of-town developer” behind that scenes. Paulding says his office responded to “a routine request that my office fields pretty much every week.” He’s also made it clear that he never voted on the project; it was approved by the county Planning Commission.

Verdin implies that Paulding cavalierly supported what amounts to a ticking time bomb — his flyer features a couple of dramatic photos of BESS fires.

“Across California, battery plants have burst into flames. Jimmy Paulding ignored these concerns and now Nipomo is stuck with a battery storage plant that our community opposed.”

Debating about the approval process is one thing. Fearmongering is another, and that’s what this flyer is doing.

California has the largest BESS fleet in the nation. There are hundreds of utility-scale battery plants. While there have been a handful of high-profile fires — primarily at older plants, such as the Vistra plant at Moss Landing — claiming they are “bursting into flames” across California is simply not true, and it’s giving cover to opponents of a technology critical to a clean-energy future.

Incidentally, Verdin’s flyer was reminiscent of one Paulding sent out in 2018, when he first ran against Supervisor Lynn Compton. It included an offshore oil rig on fire — implying that Compton’s position on offshore oil could cause a similar catastrophe on the Central Coast.

Voters deserve better

By the way, we aren’t giving District 2 a pass.

Candidate Jim Dantona has been recycling statements his opponent, Michael Erin Woody, made eight years ago, when he ran as a Republican for Congress.

Since then, Woody has left the Republican Party and has publicly abandoned some of his conservative views, along with his support for Donald Trump.

But there is no statute of limitations on quotations, and Dantona is fully playing into the belief that leopards don’t change their spots.

Woody has not taken his opponent’s bait.

“There were many times in the last year I could have gone after Jim Dantona over inconsistencies or past statements, but I don’t want people to vote for me based on not liking Jim,” he wrote in a text. “I want to earn their vote because they believe in a new direction in political discourse.”

Candidates should point out their opponents’ weaknesses, but their criticisms should be based in reality.

Blaming a county supervisor for high gas prices is absurd.

So is accusing a candidate of campaign violations when none exist.

It underestimates the intelligence of voters and says more about the candidates who put out the drivel than it says about their opponents.

It will only change when voters make it clear that they are not going to fall for such cheap tactics.

The next time a sleazy flyer lands in your mailbox, do not stop. Head straight for the trash.