Attorney to Run Against Eckert for Supervisor

Proclaiming 1986 the time for “new directions” in county government, Escondido attorney Clyde Romney on announced Tuesday that he will try to unseat Paul Eckert on the county Board of Supervisors.

Romney, a former aide to Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside), called for a “cleaner, more open, more accessible county government” and pledged to fight for a new growth-management plan that he would then strive to enforce.

Romney also said he would work to improve traffic conditions in the rapidly growing North County, beginning with California 78.

In a speech at the County Administration Center on Pacific Highway, the fifth stop on a six-stop campaign tour, Romney, 42, said he would serve no more than two terms as a supervisor. Eckert is seeking his third term.

“I am running because I sense it is time for new leadership in North County,” he said. “I am running because I know it is time for new direction for North County.”

His first priority, Romney said, would be to “renew and revitalize” the growth management process and to have a new plan written for North County.

“And here is one person who will say no when people come looking for exceptions, variances and amendments to that plan,” he said.

A 15-year resident of North County, Romney was elected to the Solana Beach school board in 1981. He left that job a little more than a year later to run Packard’s Washington office.

Romney said he expects to raise about $150,000 for his primary campaign against Eckert, which will end with an election June 3. Already in the race are Oceanside City Councilman John MacDonald, and Carlsbad City Councilman Richard Chick. Cardiff private detective Richard Rapasky and Escondido resident Edmund Fitzgerald, an auto parts manager, have also said they plan to run.

If no candidate polls more than 50% of the vote in June, the top two finishers will advance to a general election in November.