Carlsbad Backs Away From Vote on Migrants

Deciding that it’s not the city’s financial responsibility, the Carlsbad City Council on Tuesday night rejected a proposed ballot measure to see whether voters support spending city funds to house migrant workers.

Mayor Bud Lewis asked the council to consider placing the question on the November ballot, but there was so little enthusiasm that he withdrew his proposal.

In fact, Lewis wasn’t keen either on the idea of using city funds or its land for migrant shelter, saying, “I do not think a city is a social agency.”

Lewis added, “This is not our responsibility, and somehow you have to make the county and the state realize this.”

The council’s cool response to an advisory vote was a clear signal the city will insist that outside government agencies and the private sector must be central to resolving migrant problems.

Carlsbad has anywhere from 500 to 3,000 migrants, most of whom live in canyon campsites and appear along El Camino Real in the mornings, seeking employment.

A 50-member citizen group, Caring Residents of Carlsbad, has won the council’s backing to seek state funding to shelter the migrants. The council has also supported providing a hiring hall. But that’s where the council has drawn the line.

Councilman Eric Larson saw an advisory ballot as dividing the city. “We have a great opportunity to cause a rift in the community as to whether the city should be involved” in funding solutions to migrant problems, he said.

Councilman Mark Pettine said, “I’m not sure an advisory measure in general terms would tell us a lot.”

Previously, Lewis said he hoped that asking voters directly whether they favor using city money or land would help neutralize the migrants as a potential political issue in the upcoming council elections.