SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) - The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors began the new year Tuesday morning by officially appointing a new chairperson for the 2026 term.
At the top of the meeting, District 3 Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg, who has held the position of board chair over the past year, gave way to District 4 Supervisor Supervisor Jimmy Paulding.
"Today we had the reorganization of the chairmanship and the vice chair," said Ortiz-Legg. "This is a transition that we've done. It's a peaceful transition. It's a rotational amongst all five members. We get to be chairperson at one point in time, and the way that we've done it is that we've kind of gone down line one, two, three, four or five."
Next in line for the board chair for 2026 was District 4, meaning Paulding will hold the position for the next year, while District 2 Supervisor Bruce Gibson will become the vice chair.
"I'm grateful for the honor and the privilege of serving as the chair of the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors," said Paulding. "My focus is simple, clear direction, steady leadership, and making sure county government works best for the people we serve."
Ortiz-Legg explained board chair is much more than a symbolic position and the person who has the seat plays a vital role in the operation of the county government.
"The position of board chair is basically you get to oversee the agenda that the board is discussing every week when we meet," said Ortiz-Legg. "The board chair runs the meetings, gets to have the privilege of deciding the time allotment for the different subjects. Also, the board chair gets to decide what is actually on the agenda, so if there's something that they don't really want to have on the agenda, it doesn't go on the agenda, so it can be a powerful tool should one decide to use that power."
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