DEL MAR — City leaders are putting out another call for candidates to fill a vacant seat on the Del Mar City Council after being unable to select between two candidates on Monday.
Finance Committee members Jeff Sturgis and Ted Bakker were both interviewed during Monday’s meeting as potential appointees to fill the seat left empty by Dwight Worden, who retired last month due to health concerns.
A majority consensus of at least three council members was needed to appoint someone. However, the four-person council was split down the middle on three separate votes, with Terry Gaasterland and Dan Quirk voting for Sturgis, and Tracy Martinez and Mayor Dave Druker voting for Bakker.
Council members agreed to put out another call for candidates, reopening the application on the city’s website through Friday at 4:30 p.m. At the Oct. 21 meeting, the council will conduct new interviews of Bakker, Sturgis and any other candidates.
“I think we’re doing the right thing today by reopening and giving ourselves some more time to think,” Gaasterland said.
Whoever is appointed will serve the remainder of Worden’s term through 2026. If no candidate receives at least three votes, the council will discuss whether to open the recruitment period once more, proceed to a special election for March 2025, or leave the seat vacant until the next regularly scheduled election in 2026.
The seat will remain vacant for the rest of the term if no action is taken by Nov. 24.
Candidates
Both candidates have served several years on Del Mar boards and commissions. Sturgis spent seven years on the Finance Committee and also previously served on the Airport Advisory Committee as well as the Historic Preservation Committee.
Bakker recently retired from 12 years of service on the Planning Commission, including several years as commission chair.
“I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed volunteering until walking home from my last meeting on September 10. I felt I still had more to give the community,” Bakker said.
Sturgis said that on the finance committee, he has spent a lot of time learning about the city’s pension liability as well as developing the city’s pension policy.
“Finance is interesting to me, because it involves everything that the city does. That’s why I started there and that’s why I continue to serve there, because I think that’s where my horse power was, to advise the City Council,” Sturgis said.
Several residents, including fellow Finance Committee and Planning Commission members who had worked with them in the past, came forward to support Bakker and Sturgis for the appointment.
Some speakers recommended that the council appoint Sturgis due to his financial expertise, while others said Bakker’s proven leadership on the Planning Commission, familiarity with the Community Plan, and measured temperament would make him the best fit for the seat.
However, two sets of neighbors also submitted Red Dot comments raising concerns about Bakker. One of these neighbors said they have had to file a Tree, Scenic View and Sunlight application against Bakker due to his home’s vegetation blocking their view and said his being on the council could pose a conflict of interest.
Bakker called these allegations attacks on his character and said the neighbor has become vindictive due to a dispute over his vegetation blocking the view from their ADU, which he said is not subject to view protection. He also denied an accusation from another individual who said he did not pay his share of undergrounding costs in their neighborhood.
Several other individuals, including some who identified themselves as Bakker’s neighbors, also spoke in his defense.
Considering a special election
With no one selected Monday, the council may have to consider whether to pay for a special election, which City Manager Ashley Jones said is estimated to cost between $190,000 and $250,000.
Quirk said Monday he would be in favor of calling a special election now rather than trying the appointment process again, arguing that the cost represents a small amount of money compared to other spending in the city.
“I think the cost of an election should have no bearing whatsoever,” Quirk said. “If you all think there’s gonna be some magical candidate that emerges that we’ll all agree on, or that we’ll get a majority on, I’m skeptical.”
Other council members disagreed, stating that the city should try to complete an appointment before spending so much money.
“I think we need to make our best effort before we spend a quarter of a million dollars. Another two weeks, I don’t think there’s any downside to that,” Martinez said.
Druker said there are much more important things to fund in the city than determining a council member.
Gaasterland said she would be in favor of calling a special election if someone is not chosen at the Oct. 21 meeting.
