Letters: A mayor for all Encinitas

The issues facing Encinitas in this election cycle include the motives and political ladder climbing of our prior mayor, the appointment rather than the election of three of the five current council members, which has resulted in a rubber stamp process to embrace our city being designed, planned and run by Sacramento and special interests rather than the actual residents of Encinitas.

The desire for local communities to have a say over that community’s living experience is as old as the hills, as is the desire for power brokers, both governmental and private enterprise, to exploit desirable areas to enhance their own personal objectives or financial coffers.

Outside money is pouring into this local election. One council candidate who has only lived here for two years is finding primary support from outside PACs.

Similarly, another has raised roughly 50% of her money from the outside. It is obscene for our local politics to be so heavily influenced and pressured by the special interest groups now wishing to carve out their little piece of heaven we residents have created over the decades, only to have these outside interests abandon us after their financial harvest.

Encinitas has become a desired destination for guests from around the world precisely because of the sense of place and culture built over the last many decades. No one is coming here saying, “I just can’t wait for this place to be like Santa Monica.”

Encinitas residents generally agree on at least this one point: the desire to retain a certain quality of life and lifestyle in Encinitas and the desire to do everything possible to maintain the character of the 5 original unique areas that make up this city.

After all, the main reason voters of these five unique areas — Old Encinitas, New Encinitas, Olivenhain, Cardiff by the Sea, and Leucadia — voted by a majority of 70% of their residents to incorporate was to wrest control from an exploitive San Diego County government bent on unbridled development.

The desire to manage development via local influence remains an aspiration of most residents today. The manner and degree of compliance with state mandates matters. Doing compliance right is much more important than doing it fast. The surety of success or effectiveness of state mandates is not assured, as it remains an experiment and, like most new ideas, will have unintended consequences.

Over his civil service career, Bruce Ehlers has had the courage to ask questions, request supportive data, and generally resist “rolling over” to Sacramento’s commands. Bruce has a right, a responsibility, and the courage to do so.

Bruce Ehlers, a veteran of Encinitas government, and two fresh faces, Luke Shaffer and Jim O’Hara are running for council as true “locals” — energized and smart and uninterested in the influence of special interests.

Luke Shaffer and Jim O’Hara have also put themselves out there and “stepped up” as candidates to be elected, not appointed, to our Encinitas City Council. They should be heard. This City can use some fresh independent thinkers, uncontaminated by the politics of old.

This current council has its record to run on. If most of the residents in Encinitas like the way things have been going, their positions are secure. Otherwise, it’s likely to be a fresh start in search of the best path forward by some very capable new faces.

Mike Lewis
Leucadia