The 101 on North County elections

Hellooooo North County, 

I’m back! This is my second edition of the 101. If you signed up in the last two weeks, I’m so sorry you didn’t get the first one! The long story short is that this is a new newsletter dedicated to giving you everything you need to know about coastal North County, sprinkled with some inland news, too. There was talk of ice cream last time. 

Enough about last edition, though. This is an extra extra big week. As I’m sure you and your likely very full mailbox have heard, it’s election week! And North County features some of the most highly watched contests in San Diego County. 

If you haven’t voted yet, you still have until polls close Tuesday. Here’s a list of voting centers. Voting officials will also still count your ballot as long as it is postmarked by Election Day and arrives within seven days. (Speaking of which, if you’re not following inewsource’s reporting on the fight between the feds and those voting officials, you should be.)

On election night, you can find me with other inewsource staffers at Election Central, at 401 B St. from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. I’ll be reporting on results from there. 

Here are some of the races I’m following in North County:  

The 48th Congressional District race features Republican San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond and Democratic San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert. The district includes San Marcos, Vista and parts of Escondido and Oceanside as well as unincorporated areas. 

Our partner CalMatters described the race as a “time warp to pre-Trump politics,” von Wilpert as a “true blue establishment type” and Desmond as a “a budget-hawk style conservative.” Choose your fighter!

Whoever wins, Desmond’s departure means the 700,000 residents of the San Diego County Supervisors’ District 5 in Escondido, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and several unincorporated communities and tribal nations in northeastern San will have a new representative come January. 

That will be either Republican San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones or Democrat and former chair of the Democratic Party Kyle Krahel. 

A win by Jones would leave the district in a Republican’s hands. A win by Krahel would give the board a Democratic supermajority and more power over budget and bureaucratic decisions. Check out my Q&A with the candidates to see what they care about. 

There are more City Council races in North County than I can cover on my own, but the reporters at KPBS put together a comprehensive voter hub with information on all the candidates, including their endorsements, their fundraising and their priorities.

I’ve been writing about some of the elections, though.

Check out my piece on the Oceanside sales tax measure. It explains what the additional money would be used for, and some of the concerns voters have with the proposal which, in part, would repair the city’s pier.

Some races have had recent developments. In Oceanside, I wrote about a potential violation of a law aimed at reducing political pay-to-play by Councilmember Rick Robinson, who is up for reelection. He took money from someone and then voted to approve a conditional use permit for growing cannabis on his property. That prompted an investigation with the Fair Political Practices Commission. No update on the status. 

In Escondido, I broke the news that Councilmember Joe Garcia had reused a photo that he was told in his 2022 election was against the law. The photo shows him in a police uniform — he is not a sworn police officer but an inactive volunteer chaplain — and it’s against the law for an employee of a local agency to participate in political activities while in uniform. 

There are two big issues at stake in these Escondido City Council races: immigration and Kit Carson Park. Check out what our Documenters put together on a recent candidate forum to know where the candidates stand on putting an ice rink in the city’s Kit Carson Park.

On Wednesday, community members showed up at City Hall to protest escalating immigration enforcement in the community as well as federal agents’ use of the city’s gun range. Two Democratic candidates, von Wilpert and Krahel, addressed a crowd of a few dozen people. 

Immigration was also at the center of politics in Encinitas that night. There was a vigil before a City Council meeting and nearly 30 speakers criticized an escalation in immigration tactics.

The City Council hearing went past midnight when the council approved six measures aimed at protecting the community and increasing transparency from the federal government. Staff will return with a draft ordinance regarding restrictions on city property and community centers. 

If you want to know more about the politics of Encinitas heading into the election, read my in-depth report here. This election centers housing and local control like the last one, and it has gotten pretty nasty. 

The school district race has also gotten some attention. KPBS reports that Encinitas Union School District candidate Summer Boger has a history of “far-right activism and espousing anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.”

One photo shows her with a sign reading “Pardon all J6 Hostages Day One.”

In other news, I returned to a favorite last Thursday — Necessity Coffee in Encinitas, where I drank pour-over coffee. It was separated into two pink ceramic cups and I felt very elegant. I love the fancy coffee at Necessity Coffee, even when my simple palate gets overwhelmed by all the decisions. But what I really love is the music.

When I went a few months ago, it was nonstop MJ Lenderman, who happens to be one of my two favorite male artists. This time the barista played a much wider range, though equally indie. There was that song about Ohio that I can’t get out of my head even though I can’t quite remember the words.

Maybe next time, I will include a video singing. 

I didn’t have time to try any new good food, but one council meeting attendee did tell me I looked “very organized” while I was scarfing down my salad in between City Council agenda items. He credited my blue lunch box. 

That is not a compliment I get often, but I took it gladly. He also gave me a brown butter cookie. I’m disclosing that formally. 

This weekend, I published a story about renewed concerns over potential flooding at Lake Hodges due to storms from El Niño this winter. 

Then I saw much flooding this weekend in Mission Beach. It all got me thinking.

What questions do you have about El Niño? Have you already seen the effects? 

Send me your pictures and videos. What are your thoughts about it? How is it affecting you? 

On that note, I’d like to interview some interesting people in North County and spotlight them in this newsletter. Who should I interview first? 

Now for a humble brag.

My project rating the accessibility of local governments in San Diego County with our Documenters program won a first place award for general news at the San Diego Press Club’s annual banquet last week. If you haven’t read it, you should. inewsource also won for overall body of work and got two best of show awards, and many of my colleagues won awards as well.

Well, that’s all for now. 

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