Editor’s note: Each of the candidates has received the same 10 questions. Their responses have been unedited and will be posted online as they are returned.
Bryan McKeldin Ziegler
Senior Deputy County Counsel, Special Deputy District Attorney, Reserve Sheriff’s Deputy
See Resume Attached (Please do not post my personal address)
- I was asked by Mayor Kristin Gaspar and the Chairman of the Republican Party to run for Encinitas City Council. If not for their prompting I would not have run at this time due to the severity of my current medical condition.
- My three biggest priorities are: 1) Public Safety, 2) Fiscal Responsibility and 3) Environmental Preservation. I have been a prosecutor in multiple jurisdictions for ten years. I have also been a reserve law enforcement officer for over 12 years. I spent 7 of those years working in the City of Encinitas and know the city and the daily challenges it faces. With this experience I will be able to bring law and order to city council. Public Safety will be my #1 priority. I want to make sure we have enough Deputies on the streets to make sure our emergency response times are as fast as they can be and that we have enough Deputies available to handle any given emergency situation and save lives.
With the current climate on City Council right now we may not have enough money to fund law enforcement. We are seeing more and more wasteful spending, which puts us in danger of losing Deputies on the street. Recently, they wasted $10 million dollars on Pacific View Elementary. The dilapidated old school building on prime real estate by the ocean is doing nothing right now but sucking money out of our budget. If we continue to waste money like this we will not have enough money to keep our community safe and take care of our basic infrastructure needs.
This leads me to my second priority on City Council, which is fiscal responsibility. We need to go back to the basics and save our money for our true needs like public safety, maintaining our roads and streets, and building parks for our children which create jobs.
As a Senior Deputy County Counsel and a Special Deputy District Attorney for the past 6 years I have prosecuted many cases that resulted in millions of dollars in penalties. I have handled air pollution cases, environmental health, code enforcement and worked directly with the Sheriff’s Department to prosecute and shutdown almost all of the illegal marijuana dispensaries in the County.
This experience has provided me with skills to work effectively within government, understanding what it takes to get things done in an environment that requires collaboration, leadership and vision to accomplish important goals.
As a husband and father of four children, I believe we have an obligation to preserve our quality of life by protecting the environment, which is my third and final goal as your next City Council man.
- & 4. In the last election I was an outspoken proponent of the Encinitas Right to Vote Initiative. I gathered almost 1000 signatures myself because I believe in it. Much to my dismay some of the other City Council candidates said they were in favor of the Encinitas Right to Vote Initiative, including Tony Kranz who is now running for mayor. Once they were elected they turned their back on the citizens who elected them and flip flopped their position. If elected then I would not have turned my back on the people of our great city and I won’t do it now either. I was happy when the initiative became Prop A and was passed by a majority of the citizens of our city. If you elect me to City Council I promise to be an unbiased zealous, outspoken proponent for our citizens. I am not being funded by any special interests and frankly do not want their money. I want nothing more than to be the voice of the people. As a prosecutor for ten years that’s what I have been doing. When I appear in court I say Bryan Ziegler for the People of the State of California your honor. That’s who I am and that’s who I am volunteering to be for you the citizens of our city. Bryan Ziegler for the People of Encinitas.
- As a prosecutor for over ten years I am in the best position to handle the problem bars in the City of Encinitas. As a former Deputy City Attorney for the City of San Diego, I had much success prosecuting the problem bars in downtown San Diego. We coordinated a joint task force with San Diego Police Department, Alcohol Beverage Control and the Fire Marshall. Our task force involved going into one bar at a time and citing, arresting any violators and referral of the case to City Attorney’s Office for me to prosecute. Through my prosecution of the cases, we were able to recover thousands of dollars in penalties against the offending nusiance bars. I believe this strategy will correct the problem bars in Encinitas. I do not believe we need any new laws, we have sufficient laws on the books to more than adequately handle the situation. Once the offenders know the City means business then they will fall in line. We have to make the penalty sufficient enough that it is not just the cost of doing business. The penalty should include jail time or at least significant enough penalties that means they are not making money off of their bad business practices.
- The cost of Pacific View Elementary was more than any of our citizens would have bargained for or accepted. We need to sell the property to a private endowment fund for the arts and let the private sector handle it. Government is the problem not the solution here. Now we are in jeopardy of not being able to pay our bills and provide for Fire, Sheriff, Lifeguard and basic infrastructure needs.
- We definitely need improvement in this area. This need to be a priority over wasting money on Pacific View.
- I do not believe we have enough money in the budget to address this situation at this time. It should be revisited in the future.
- N/A, I believe this question is only for mayor candidates.
- I am not going to negatively comment on the jobs of appointed officials. If I was the City Attorney I would take a much more proactive and aggressive approach towards prosecuting violators in our City such as the problem bars in Encinitas.
- I believe this was a typo and should be #11. Please see my answer to #3 & #4. I believe that addresses this answer and I may be exceeding my word count.
