1st District seat faces competition

After 19 years at the helm of San Luis Obispo County’s 1st District seat, incumbent Harry Ovitt faces stiff competition from Paso Robles Mayor Frank Mecham. With two years of experience as a Paso Robles planning commissioner, another two years as a city council member and 16 years as Paso Robles mayor, Mecham may be ready to move on to the county level.

The 1st District includes Atascadero, Santa Margarita, Creston, Carrisa Plains and part of San Luis Obispo.

Since 1989, Ovitt has presided over the area; he has stood up for property rights and private enterprise and maintained a focus on water resources.

His accomplishments include securing $500,000 from the San Luis Obispo County Public Works budget to fund studies of the Paso Robles and Santa Margarita aquifers, helping Shandon and San Miguel design community vision plans for future development, and advocating the North County Shuttle, which brought together Atascadero, Templeton and Paso Robles.

“With experience you have the main capability to find solutions and I can bring people together,” Ovitt said, while pointing out Paso Robles’ inability to find final solutions for parking and water use.

However, Mecham cited his familiarity with all the candidates up for supervisor this election – with the exception of Cal Poly lecturer Adam Hill – as one of the many reasons he would succeed in Ovitt’s current position. Mecham said his focus on individuals is at the heart of his campaign, which he describes as issue oriented as opposed to politically oriented.

“One size does not fit all,” Mecham said. “I want to preserve individual identities of the cities and protect those interests.”

Mecham’s goals include improving county planning standards to avoid inappropriate development, creating jobs, and working with neighboring communities to solve water and traffic issues. Most surprisingly, if elected, Mecham wants to repeal the pay raise for county supervisors.

While the two candidates offer different perspectives, the one thing they can agree on is that they’d like to see more Cal Poly involvement in community projects.

“My goal is to incorporate Cal Poly even more in the community,” Mecham said. Mecham cited positive experiences with Cal Poly students developing wastewater treatment in Paso Robles as a reason for wanting to extend and broaden involvement of Cal Poly students in the 1st District. In particular, Mecham expressed interest in working with Cal Poly for future alternative energy plans.

Ovitt added that the county continuously works with Cal Poly in regards to unincorporated agricultural lands owned by the school.

Ovitt also had advice for Cal Poly students voting in his district. “Get all the information on the issues before making a decision; it’s easy to be led one way or another.”

Mecham summed up his sentiments for students with, “Go vote!”