North County Report: Escondido Council Opposes State’s Redistricting Measure

The Escondido City Council is once again weighing in on proposed state legislation, and this time it’s California’s redistricting measure. 

Councilmembers last week voted to oppose Proposition 50, the Election Rigging Response Act that will go before voters on Nov. 4. But residents at the meeting questioned why the City Council was discussing it in the first place. California voters will soon decide whether to redraw political boundaries to create five more Democratic seats. The measure is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s response to an effort by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Trump Administration to redraw district boundaries in Texas and add more Republican seats. 

If Prop. 50 passes, the 48th and 50th Congressional Districts, which both include portions of Escondido, would be redrawn. The 48th district, currently represented by Rep. Darrell Issa, will see the most significant change and is one of the five seats Newsom said he wants to flip from Republican to Democrat. 

In the new 48th District, the balance of voter registrations would shift to strongly favoring Democrats, which would make Issa’s bid for reelection a difficult one in 2026. Multiple Democrats, including Ammar Campa-Najjar and San Diego City Councilmember Marni Von Wilpert, have already announced plans to run for the proposed 48th District.  

Escondido Mayor Dane White put the resolution to oppose Proposition 50 on last week’s agenda, and several residents who spoke at the meeting questioned why he and the City Council were even weighing in on the issue.  

“You’re here to serve Escondido, not Trump, not Issa and not Washington D.C.,” one resident said at the meeting.  

“Don’t do the resolution; let the citizens vote. There’s no problem with you as an individual to say, ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ but as a City Council it’s none of your business,” another resident said. 

Other residents pointed out that some of the language in the resolution was misleading. For example, the resolution says Proposition 50 “could result in the city being divided among multiple congressional districts, potentially diluting local voice and influence at the federal level,” but Escondido is already divided into two congressional districts – the 48th and 50th Congressional Districts. 

White acknowledged that the language regarding multiple congressional districts could have been clearer, but he said he’s ultimately thinking about Escondido and the potential funding the city could lose with new congressional representatives. 

“It’s totally okay if you do support what Gov. Newsom is trying to do and at the same time admit that this map is bad for Escondido, and that’s what it is,” White said. “It’s terrible.” 

He added that “ironically,” Rep. Scott Peters, a Democrat, has been one of the best representatives Escondido has had, and it would hurt the city to lose him. White and three out of the four other members on the Council are Republicans.  

Peters currently represents the 50th Congressional District. If Prop. 50 passes, Peters’ district would still include Escondido, but the new district will include more registered Republicans, therefore becoming more competitive in 2026.  

White didn’t mention Issa, who is a Republican and risks losing his re-election bid in 2026 if the voters approve the new maps. 

Deputy Mayor Consuelo Martinez said during the meeting that she wishes the Council wasn’t voting on the matter, and that it “seems like a partisan maneuver.” 

“I don’t feel it’s appropriate for the Escondido City Council to weigh in on the issue,” Martinez said. “This is really not something that my constituents reach out to me about … it’s not what I hear about on the ground. Things I hear about on the ground are issues like homelessness, need for affordable housing, protecting our immigrant residents.” 

Councilmember Christian Garcia said he’s concerned about how much this special election is costing the county, and how the new district boundaries will impact Escondido’s representation. 

“Our district right now is currently almost entirely in San Diego County, except Temecula and Murrieta – those are border areas that share economic and infrastructure interests with us,” Garcia said. “We are going to be redistricted to cities like Hemet and Palm Springs that we have no connection to, and we have no shared interests with. And potentially, in two years or four years, we’re going to have a representative that lives several hours away that may have never even visited Escondido.” 

The Council approved the resolution 4-1 with Martinez opposed. 

Around Town: Del Mar Council Denies Seaside Ridge Appeal  

A proposed housing project called Seaside Ridge finally had its day in the Del Mar City Council chambers … and was once again rejected. 

On Monday, Del Mar councilmembers considered an appeal from developer Carol Lazier, whose team has been pushing for three years to build the affordable housing project on an ocean bluff near Del Mar’s dog beach. But in the end, no councilmember voted to move the appeal forward, leaving city staff’s denial of the project in place. 

Del Mar officials have long argued that the application is incomplete, doesn’t meet the city’s general plan and zoning requirements and that the city already has enough affordable housing projects in the pipeline to meet its affordable housing goals.   

Lazier’s team argues that the city has to approve the project because of a state housing law called the Builder’s Remedy, which says that if a city doesn’t have a state-approved housing plan, or Housing Element, in place by the time a project application is filed, then the city can’t deny it. When Seaside Ridge first proposed the project, Del Mar didn’t have an approved Housing Element. 

Del Mar officials disagree. They argue that the Builder’s Remedy doesn’t apply because Seaside Ridge’s project size increased by more than 20 percent from the first application to later applications, which would make the first application void, according to state housing law. The Seaside Ridge team says the increase in size was actually less than 20 percent, and therefore the first application still stands. 

The back and forth led Seaside Ridge developers to file a lawsuit against Del Mar last year, but a judge dismissed it in June, ruling that Seaside Ridge must exhaust all administrative remedies at the city level before the courts can intervene.  

That sent the issue to the City Council this week. After a staff presentation and three minutes of remarks from a Seaside Ridge representative, the Council chose not to move the appeal forward, which means the original denial of the project stands. 

“We are disappointed that the City Council based its decision on a presentation by city staff that was laden with erroneous information,” said spokesperson Darren Pudgil via text. “The future of Seaside Ridge now rests with the courts.  As the judge in our case requested, we have exhausted all administrative remedies with Del Mar. We are preparing to re-file our lawsuit against the city of Del Mar as soon as possible.” 

Politifest Solutions Showdown: Real Solutions to San Diego’s Issues 

Our annual public affairs summit Politifest is 10 days away!  

This year, we’re doing a special Solutions Showdown where you’ll hear proposals and cast your vote on which solutions you think could solve the biggest issues facing San Diego, like homelessness, making water and electricity more affordable and more. 

I’ll be moderating a panel with housing and development experts to answer the question: How do we build more housing people can afford? 

Get tickets here, and I’ll see you on Oct. 4. 

In Other News 

• The Vista City Council narrowly adopted immigration enforcement restrictions that proved to be controversial for many residents, like prohibiting city employees from sharing sensitive information with immigration enforcement agencies unless required by law, implementing a “Know your Rights” campaign and more. (Union-Tribune) 
• The Oceanside City Council reversed an earlier decision approving tenant protections that would have gone beyond state law to help tenants facing evictions, provide relocation assistance and more after one councilmember changed his vote. (Union-Tribune) 
• An executive at the Del Mar Fairgrounds is suing the 22nd District Agricultural Association, which manages the Fairgrounds, for facing retaliation from leadership after she complained about alleged illegal conduct, racist remarks and other violations. (Coast News) 

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