Incumbent Mayor Tony Kranz s a November ballot measure that would increase the city’s sales tax rate by 1 percent, saying it will pay for desperately needed upgrades to the city’s aging storm drains, sewer lines and roadways.
His opponent in the mayoral race, Councilmember Bruce Ehlers, opposes it, saying now isn’t the right time to ask voters for more money given the nation’s high inflation rate and the region’s recent double-digit utility bill increases.
The two men also differ when it comes to how they would approach residents’ conflicts over large housing developments, and even how they would handle adding bike lanes to city streets, they said during a voter education forum Tuesday.
Hosted by the Cardiff 101 Main Street organization, the event at Ada Harris School drew a crowd of about 100 people. Organizers required all questions to be submitted before the event began, then consolidated those submissions into 14 -asked questions. Many of the questions focused on housing projects, roadway upgrades and storm water drainage issues.
Throughout the event, both men stressed their city government experience and deep roots in the community.
Ehlers was elected to the council two years ago, but prior to that he served multiple on the city’s Planning Commission and was the key author of the city’s 2013 growth control initiative. He noted that he’s lived in Encinitas for four decades.
Kranz moved to Encinitas as a baby, served as a council member for a decade and then was elected mayor two years ago. He’s up for election now because the mayor’s spot is a 2-year term, while City Council serve 4-year .
At Tuesday’s event, Kranz listed recent city accomplishments, including the grand opening of the Pacific View Arts Center, the purchase of the Surfers’ Point open space property and the partially completed Leucadia Streetscape project.
He said he knows there’s been a great deal of community discontent recently about the number of large housing projects being built by private developers, but said the city’s hands are pretty much tied when it comes to what it can do about these projects because they are permitted under state law. Suing the state, as the city of Huntington Beach tried to do, would be a “terrible waste of money,” he said.
“I think we’re doing a decent job, given the circumstances,” he said as he described the city’s efforts to preserve its community character.
Ehlers said he thinks there’s a great deal of room for improvement, saying early in the evening, “Many people feel we have lost our way.”
Encinitas needs to do a better job of listening to its existing residents, needs to emphasize “local control, not Sacramento-control,” and needs to require high-density housing project developers to set aside more of their units for low-income people, he said.
“We need somebody here that will fight for our citizens,” he said.
When it came to a question about e-bike safety and bike lanes, the two men also had their differences. Ehlers said he did not eliminating vehicle lanes to create bike lane areas, adding that vehicles remain the primary way that people get around town. Kranz said that lane eliminations are one tool the city can use to promote bicycling and slow vehicle speeds, adding this has worked along part of Leucadia’s Coast Highway 101.
