Lynn Compton
| Candidate Name | Lynn Compton (*incumbent) |
| Position Sought | San Luis Obispo County Supervisor, 4th District |
| Website / Social Media | www.LynnCompton.com Facebook: Lynn Compton |
| Why are you running for office? | For the last 7 years, I’ve had the honor of helping my community work toward solutions that make life better for those living in our County and particularly in the Fourth District. I’ve worked for the last 7 years to fulfill the promises I made when I first ran first for office, and have successfully delivered on major projects, such water supply and infrastructure projects, the new SLO airport terminal, the new Detox facility, thousands of miles of newly paved roads, the new County Animal Shelter, many new affordable housing projects, etc. I promise to continue to do my best to represent my constituents and to work toward attracting higher paying jobs, continued economic growth in light of the closure of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant and Phillips 66 closures, promote safer neighborhood programs, and to promote well maintained roads and the continued maintenance of our county infrastructure. Additionally, want to continuing to tackle affordable housing issues, while protecting our wonderful quality of life here on the central coast. I have always worked for transparency in government, and will continue to advocate for prudent spending of our taxpayer’s monies on programs that demonstrate positive returns and have measurable results. In my third term, you can expect the same focus and work from me in working toward solutions that make people’s lives better in our county. Please join me in continuing to make a difference in our county! |
| What makes you qualified for the job? | My past 7 years of experience on the Board of Supervisors, and all the past accomplishments we have achieved during that timeframe. |
| What are your two main priorities if you win? | Continue to make progress on the water/drought related issues in this county. Doing this involves continued work in the (nine) following areas: 1.) Extending our State Water Contracts until 2035. 2.) Eventually take ownership of the Salinas Dam and raise the flood gates essentially doubling the water holding capacity for storage. 4.) Continue collaborative discussions with Santa Barbara City to move joint desalination plant forward (right now emergency purposes). In 2015 plant was recommissioned, and in 2017 it began distributing water to city customers. 5.) Continue with our State Water Exchange: We have recently negotiated a water exchange program with Santa Barbara’s County’s Flood Control & Water Conservation District (their “Water Conservation District” equals our “Flood Control District”) and our San Luis Obispo County Flood Control district. SLO County has more water allocations from the state than other entities, but we don’t have the capacity or storage like Santa Barbara County does. So, we are basically exchanging capacity with them, for water allocation. The agreement (exchange) provides the opportunity to use their District’s excess State Water allocation (~14,000 AF) to provide agencies/cities with water above and beyond what we currently take only during a water emergency This is a multi-year exchange program with the ability to take water over a 10-year period. It utilizes existing pipelines, thus, no new infrastructure or expense is required 6.) Continue with water reclamation and reuse projects: South County Sanitation District is working on feasibility evaluations for reclaimed water. Combined, the two agencies (Pismo and S. County San District) currently treat and then dispose approximately 3,000 acre feet per year of wastewater into the Ocean. 7.) Continue our focus on preserving Lopez Reservoir: Lopez has the capacity to hold 50,000 acre feet of water. The last time it had this much water was in 1969. Currently at 11,000 a/f. (most current). Working on increasing the capacity. An average household of 5 uses - .5 an a/f of water per year. 8.) Nipomo CSD is working to bring 3000 acre feet of supplemental water to Nipomo. Supplemental water pipeline. $10M (Trilogy 3-4M). The Low Reservoir Response Plan (LRRP) – Helps manage water supplies in the Lopez reservoir as the water level lowers. – This plan was implemented in April of 2015. – At a trigger level of 15,000 AF, water supplies to contractors are reduced by 10 % – At trigger of 10,000 AF, water supplies to contractors are reduced by 20% Current storage in Lopez reservoir is at 11, 500 AF, we will likely get to 20% reductions in late December if no appreciable rainfall 9.) Groundwater: – Large portions of the Santa Maria and Los Osos Groundwater Basins have been adjudicated and are now in the initial stages of management. Efforts to balance those basins are underway. – The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires groundwater management over substantial parts of the County (Cuyama, Santa Maria Basin, San Luis Valley/Edna, Los Osos, Atascadero, Paso Robles). Work to meet SGMA deadlines towards sustainable groundwater resources is underway in all six basins. Continue to manage the California homeless population that resides in our County. The Board of Supervisors made this a priority last year, and just put forward a plan to manage homelessness with accountability and to reduce the numbers of homeless individuals in half with accountability. We consolidated agencies/responsibilities and created one person that is responsible and accountable, rather than it being multi jurisdictional. We have the "buy in" from all the seven incorporated cities and our partners such as Five Cities Homeless Coalition. Lastly, continue to move forward and support our law enforcement individuals who protect us every day. I intend to continue to fully fund the sheriff, and dedicate resources to the District Attorney's Office as needed. Continue to prioritize road maintenance and resurfacing projects without raising any new taxes. |
| How will you collaborate with other governments? | Of course. We work with our incorporated partners, the State and Federal government on many issues. In addition, we work with numerous other agencies to accomplish mutual goals. |
| What are the next two issues that are most important to you? | Protecting our water resources and protecting the quality of life we enjoy here. |
