Voters Send Mixed Signals on Growth Controls in North County

Across North San Diego County, from the biggest municipality to the smallest, growth was the prime political theme of Election Day, 1988, with growth-control measures or slow-growth candidates appearing on nearly every ballot.

But, if anything was proven by the electorate, it was that the mere presence of developer-busting propositions or growth-savvy candidates does not a slow-growth revolution make. Indeed, the returns were decidely mixed throughout the county’s northern reaches.

The growth-control movement got its biggest boost in Poway as an open-space preservation plan marched to a resounding victory. But, in Vista, a $63-million bond issue to build new schools needed to accommodate growth fell 7% short of the necessary two-thirds vote. Oceanside voters, meanwhile, put a slow-growth supporter into one of two open council seats.

Biggest Shocker in Encinitas

By far the biggest shocker, however, came in Encinitas, where a pair of slow-growth measures were handed a stunning defeat by an electorate that just two years before had embraced the growth-control concept during a successful effort to incorporate the city.

In unofficial returns, Proposition AA, which called for an annual construction cap of about 220 dwellings for the next 25 years, received about 41% of the vote, while Proposition BB, a rival measure that proposed a less-stringent 10-year cap, garnered just under 35%.

Although slow-growth candidate Pam Slater was the unofficial top vote-getter in the Encinitas council race, the defeat of the two propositions represented a tough setback for the city’s growth-control stalwarts, in particular Councilwoman Marjorie Gaines, a co-author of Proposition AA.

Before the count had ended, however, Gaines was back at the drawing board. On Wednesday, the councilwoman began discussing the possibility of fielding another slow-growth measure in 1989.

But next time, Gaines said, there will have to be changes.

Chief among them, the city’s slow-growth slate will have to unify behind a single measure that can act as a focal point for anti-developer sentiment in the community, Gaines said, noting that three-quarters of the electorate backed either AA or BB.

“We ate ourselves alive this time around,” Gaines said Wednesday. “We split the slow-growth vote between AA and BB. . . . I think what we have to do is consolidate a slow-growth plan and try another initiative at the next possible opportunity.”

Opposition Vowed

Opponents of AA and BB, however, said they were not about to sit idly by as another slow-growth campaign is mounted.

Bob Bonde, an opposition leader, said there is “always a possibility” that his group will put a growth-management measure on the ballot to challenge any attempt by Gaines and her cohorts to get a building cap in Encinitas.

In the meantime, Bonde and others plan to demand that the City Council remove provisions of Proposition AA that were incorporated as part of the city’s fledgling general plan, the municipal land-use constitution that is scheduled for final approval in December.

“The council needs to take another look at the general plan,” Bonde said. “The people have made it clear they don’t approve of Proposition AA, and it shouldn’t be part of it.”

Gaines said she hopes such backtracking does not occur. Her efforts to retain slow-growth provisions in the general plan will likely be bolstered by the addition of Slater, a planning commissioner and staunch growth-control advocate.

Joining Slater, who had 15.9% of the vote in unofficial returns, is incumbent Councilwoman Anne Omsted at 15.2%. The third opening is not expected to be decided until a reservoir of late-arriving absentee ballots is counted today.

Incumbent Councilman Greg Luke, with 12.84% of the vote, trails Planning Commissioner Gail Hano (12.85%) by just five votes, and challenger John Davis has 12.69%.

In Poway, the electorate pushed Proposition FF, a measure backed by Mayor Bob Emery requiring voter approval for any zoning changes of rural and open-space lands, to an impressive victory with nearly 65% of the vote. A competing measure, Proposition GG, garnered only 26%.

Happy at Measure’s Win

Emery said he was ecstatic over the outcome, crediting the simplicity of the measure as the key to victory. The mayor also won reelection with 28% of the vote, joining top vote-getter Jan Goldsmith, who got more than 30%.

“I think this overwhelming win (by Proposition FF) should send a very strong message to the development community that they can’t mess with Poway,” Emery said. “Communities all over have watched their City Councils give away higher and higher density development. But, in Poway, it will be the voters who make the decision to change density.”

The Oceanside electorate, fresh off the approval last year of the toughest slow-growth ordinance in the county, pushed slow-growth advocate and former Councilwoman Melba Bishop, with about 15.5% of the vote, to a second-place victory behind incumbent Sam Williamson, who got more than 20%.

Slow-growth backer Nancy York finished third in the race for two council seats with 14.5%, while incumbent Walter Gilbert failed in his bid for a third term, garnering 13%.

Bagley Retains Seat

Mayor Larry Bagley, with more than 47% of the vote, held onto his seat with a decisive victory over slow-growth candidate Don Rodee, who got about 28%, and three other challengers.

For Bishop, it was a case of third time being a charm. After one term in office from 1980 to ‘84, she lost to Bagley in the mayoral contest, then lost again in the council race in 1986 before winning this year.

But the once and future councilwoman may have a tough time with her four new colleagues, who opposed the city’s successful 1987 slow-growth measure that was the springboard for Bishop’s political revival.

Bagley said he felt “Melba and I will get along fine,” and Williamson said he expects few problems, commenting, “I don’t have to agree with somebody, and I don’t have to like somebody to work with them.”

Bishop said she would not have run “if I didn’t think I could work with them,” but promised to vote against “any development that does not meet the letter and intent” of the city’s tough slow-growth law.

Elsewhere, a Ramona Water District proposal requiring directors to go to the people for approval of projects costing more than $1 million--a method of making development pay for growth--was approved with 60% of the vote.

In Carlsbad, incumbents Eric Larson and Ann Kulchin retained their seats with about 32% and 30% of the vote, respectively. Slow-growth challenger Dan Hammer fell short, capturing nearly 25%. Meanwhile, a proposed hotel bed-tax increase of 2% to finance parks and golf courses in Carlsbad got 62% of the vote, falling short of the necessary two-thirds required.

Solana Beach Race Bitter

A bitter council race in Solana Beach, marked by many disputes over the use of candidate mailers, ended with the three incumbents in a position to retain their seats unless absentee ballots change the picture today. Marion Dodson led with more than 24% of the vote, Richard Hendlin had about 20% and Celine Olson had nearly 17%. Challenger Teri Renteria trailed with about 16%.

Mayor Lee Thibadeau recaptured his post in San Marcos, winning nearly 64% of the vote, and incumbent Corky Smith was returned to the council with about 37%. Mike Preston got the second opening with more than 29% of the vote.

Gloria McClellan easily won reelection to the mayor’s seat in Vista, posting more than 55% of the vote, while council incumbents Bernard Rappaport, with 31%, and Nancy Wade, at 29.5%, were leading in the race for two openings.