Encinitas appears to be heading in a sharply new direction when it comes to how it will handle housing issues — the three candidates who vowed to aggressively fight state mandates on higher-density housing projects all appear to have won their races.
On late Friday afternoon, with nearly all of San Diego County’s votes counted, the mayoral candidate and the two City Council candidates who ran as a slate declaring that they would fight back against Sacramento appeared to be beating by significant margins their opponents, who were all endorsed by the Democratic Party. A city-sponsored, sales tax ballot measure also appeared to have lost.
The latest results indicate that:
- Bruce Ehlers, a current City Council member, will become the city’s next mayor. Ehlers was winning 52.51 percent of the vote in his race against incumbent Mayor Tony Kranz. The mayor serves a two-year term, while council seats are four-year positions.
- Luke Shaffer, a La Costa Canyon High School coach, will become the city’s next District 1 council member, representing the city’s northwest coastal region. As of Friday afternoon, he had nearly 57 percent of that district’s vote, besting appointed incumbent Allison Blackwell.
- Jim O’Hara, the owner of the Race San Diego L.L.C., will become the city’s next District 2 council member, representing the city’s coastal central regions. By late Friday afternoon, he had 55.38 percent of that district’s vote, running against Destiny Preston, a California Transportation Commission employee. The incumbent council member for District 2, Kellie Hinze, did not seek re-election.
- Measure K, the city-sponsored ballot measure that would have increased the city’s sales tax by 1 percent, appeared to have lost. It needed a 50 percent yes vote, and it had 47.7 percent late Friday afternoon.
The San Diego County Registrar of Voters web site indicated 56,000 ballots countywide still remained to be counted by late Friday afternoon. The office had processed 1.45 million ballots by that point and expected to provide its next ballot count update Nov. 21.
“I would make the claim that the electorate turned the ship significantly — it was a sweep in no uncertain terms,” Ehlers said as he discussed the Encinitas election results Friday afternoon.
Ehlers, who celebrated his 66th birthday on election night, said that the vote margin between him and Kranz was wide, but it was even wider in the other two races. Mentioning that his campaign knocked on 18,000 of the city’s some 25,000 doors, Ehlers said residents’ most common complaint was housing overdevelopment. Reducing homelessness problems and improving the city’s infrastructure were second and third, respectively, he said.
“People are not satisfied with where the city is going and they made it very clear,” Ehlers said.
Kranz, who served 10 years on the council before being elected mayor two years ago, agreed that housing was a key issue in this campaign, saying that’s been the case for the last 12 years. He said he believes Ehlers and the two council candidates won because they made promises regarding fighting the state that they won’t be able to keep. Kranz, Blackwell and Preston all declared during their campaigns that the city’s hands were tied when it came to state housing regulations, which aim to increase state’s housing supply, particularly for low-income people, by easing some development standards. They argued that fighting would only led to costly lawsuits that the city would lose.
“He’s a very good politician, and I think that’s what the voters got is a politician,” Kranz said of Ehlers.
Kranz, 65, said he won’t run again in two years when the mayor’s spot is up for election, declaring, “I’m an old guy … I think the future belongs to younger folks.” He listed among his accomplishments the land purchase and ultimate opening of the Pacific View Art Center, the ongoing Leucadia Streetscape project, railroad corridor improvements, storm water control projects and new bike facilities.
The likely new District 1 representative, Shaffer, said there was no doubt how Encinitas residents felt about current city conditions.
“I think Encinitas spoke pretty loudly, pretty clearly, they don’t like what’s happening,” he said, adding that he wants to change the city’s direction to “a more Encinitas-first approach.”
His opponent, Blackwell, wrote in a statement that she was “deeply honored to have served” as a council member; said her campaign focused on “the right priorities for our community,” including infrastructure, homelessness, affordable housing and the environment; and said she was “realistic about what it will take to make progress on these,” adding, “A lot of promises get made during elections, and I am hopeful that the mayor-elect and new council members will be able to deliver.”
O’Hara wrote that he was grateful for the hours and hard work that his campaign team and volunteers provided; thanked his opponent for “a very well-contested election campaign;” and said the new council had a great deal of work ahead of it.
“I want to invite all Encinitas to stay engaged past this election,” he added, encouraging people to show up to City Hall and voice their views. “When you come to City Hall, we will be listening.”
His opponent, Preston, wrote that she was “honored to have received the votes of thousands of District 2 residents” and pleased she had run a “positive, issues-based campaign,” adding that she looked forward to continuing to be active in Encinitas community issues.
