Vista Mayor to Take Stab at Eckert’s County Seat

VISTA — Mayor Mike Flick on Friday formally announced his candidacy for Supervisor Paul Eckert’s seat, brushing aside concerns about lawsuits pending against him and promising to fight for a realistic growth policy in North County.

Flick, 41, a real estate investor, said that his turbulent career as a Vista council member and mayor has earned him the experience needed to challenge Eckert, his former employer, for the 5th District seat on the Board of Supervisors.

He served as an aide to Eckert for about 18 months before entering politics. Recently, Flick was the leader of a city redevelopment program to revitalize Vista’s urban core--an issue which found voters split and which won by only a few votes in November. The redevelopment vote is now in court, awaiting a ruling on whether the actions leading up to the vote and the vote itself were conducted legally.

Flick said Friday that he plans to conduct a campaign free of name-calling and personal attacks. He refused to compare himself with Eckert, but said he thinks he is more in tune with thinking of average families than the two-term county board member is.

Suits filed against Flick by former business associates have alleged that he bilked them of their rightful share of the firms’ assets, but Flick said the litigation has been exaggerated by the press, spiced with “speculation and hype” and “very inaccurate” reporting.

He said he had decided to run after “prayer and consultation with a lot of people” in the far-flung supervisorial district, which extends from the coastal cities of Oceanside and Carlsbad east to the Imperial County line.

Listing growth as the major issue in the June 3 election, he said that he would hire a qualified planner for his supervisorial staff to review the county’s general plan and community plans. From this information, he explained, growth could be contained only in areas where it is compatible with surrounding development and where it would not add to the increasing traffic congestion prevalent in North County.

“I could be an effective supervisor from Day 1,” Flick claimed, explaining that his political experience in Vista and his knowledge of the workings of the county would allow him to function as a veteran in the supervisorial post.

He said lack of leadership is the major cause of low morale and inefficiency in county government operations.

Flick said that his canvassing of North County voters in the last few weeks indicated that his legal problems had not tarnished his image.

“If Tom Hayden can do it . . . then I certainly have the right to be on the ballot, to run for office,” the former Marine said. “And that’s what I plan to do.”