DEL MAR — Many Del Mar residents were left frustrated on Monday evening after the City Council failed for a second time to reach a consensus regarding an appointee for the council seat left vacant by Dwight Worden.
The council will consider a resolution at its next meeting to hold a special election via mail-only ballot to fill the seat, ideally by early next year. This could cost the city up to $225,000. Leaders must take action by Nov. 23 if they want to fill the seat before the next regularly scheduled election in 2026.
Monday marked the city’s second candidate interview process after the council interviewed Del Mar Finance Committee member Jeff Sturgis and former Planning Commissioner Ted Bakker on Oct. 7 and came to a split vote. The council agreed to reopen the application process in hopes of finding more candidates.
Bakker withdrew his application, and on Monday, Sturgis, along with Planning Commissioner Jas Grewel and attorney Nicole Gesher, put his name forward again. Council members Terry Gaasterland and Dan Quirk voted for Sturgis, and Mayor Dave Druker and Councilmember Tracy Martinez voted in favor of Grewal.
No council members were willing to change their vote in order to reach a majority agreement.
“I’m disappointed at where we are, but it’s clear we have two absolutely amazing people before us. Each of us, for our own reasons, whatever they may be, are deadlocked,” said Gaasterland.
According to City Clerk Sarah Krietor, the city could hold a special election with in-person voting in March 2025 or November 2025 or hold a by-mail election, with a date still requiring approval by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters. The by-mail election would likely be the cheapest, with costs ranging from $150,000 to $225,000 versus an estimated $250,000.
The city must call a special election by Nov. 8 to hold it next March.
Residents criticized the council for not being able to reach a consensus, leaving the city with the option of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a special election or leaving the seat empty for two years.
“Think about how much time you guys have spent arguing over $10,000, $5,000, $1,500 — and yet you’re willing to say, ‘because my position is so dear to me, I cannot make a change for the good of the city here.’ You have two extremely qualified candidates,” said resident Karen Lehr. “This is your job. Please figure it out.”
“You cannot let four seats go until next general election … it’s too bad that we have to go to this degree,” said resident Greg Rothnem.
Some council members also expressed reservations about spending such a large sum. Druker and Martinez said the city should open the application one more time to see if there is another candidate they could all agree on, and Druker added that he would prefer to leave the seat open if they still cannot agree.
“We have a whole lot of other projects that we need to be spending money on,” he said.
Quirk said he had no issue spending a quarter of a million dollars on a special election and that the city should encourage the democratic process through an election rather than an appointment.
“This is not something that we’re gonna do repeatedly; it’s a one-off. One hundred thousand to $250,000 is meaningless,” Quirk said.
City Manager Ashley Jones said city staff are neutral on how to proceed but noted that spending this much money on an election could present the council with difficult financial decisions down the road.
“There are prioritized projects that currently have a funding gap,” Jones said. “That is a lot of money, and there would be an impact, but again, it’s totally up to the council to decide how you want to spend your money.”
The council ultimately voted 3-1, with Druker opposed, to bring back a resolution for a by-mail election at their Nov. 18 meeting.
Martinez also said she would support having a special meeting before Nov. 8 so residents can give more input about spending money on a special election.