Tonight the Encinitas City Council voted 3-1 to appoint Encinitas Fire Chief Mark Muir as the candidate to fill the City Council vacancy created by the death of Council Member Maggie Houlihan.
Encinitas is blessed with a very involved and active electorate and as such pulled 13 great applicants for this position during the two week window when people could apply. Had the Council not been able to agree on an appointee, a special election would have cost over $300,000 to conduct and the results would not have been certified prior to March 2012 for an interim term which expires in November 2012. Thank goodness three votes and common sense prevailed!
City Council appointee Muir has more than 30 years of service to the public starting as a firefighter and ending as a highly respected Fire Chief serving the communities of of Del Mar, Solana Beach, and Encinitas owing to a shared manpower agreement that he helped create and which saved the public millions of dollars and continues to save the agencies money each year.
In addition to his duties as Chief, Mark is also an elected Board Member of the Olivenhain Municipal Water District, and is their representative to the San Diego County Water Authority. This experience will serve the City well because on our City Council we all sit as the Board of the San Dieguito Water District, in addition to our City Council duties and other regional appointments. Mark knows water issues.
Mark will be sworn into offfice next Wednesday, but before that can happen he’ll need to retire as a Fire Chief and resign from the OMWD.
I have every confidence that Mark will do a great job for the people of Encinitas and the San Diego region as a City Council Member, just as he did as a public safety professional.
Comments 4
Jerome, there was talk during redistricting that Muir may run for Assembly. May we assume that’s not going to take place in 2012?
Jerome: will Mark Muir’s wife’s position on the school board that is suing the city be a problem? If he and Kristen recuse themselves from any votes on Pacific View, is the Council really able to represent the public’s interests?
Great appointment.
Great questions / comment, thanks Duane.
A) Council Member appointee Muir is officially not running for the Assembly.
B) I haven’t had a chance to speak with the City Attorney re Mrs. Muir’s EUSD Board membership and any conflict of interest. If I had to guess I would opine that a conflict does exist, and yes last time I looked 3 members of a 5 member City Council can indeed represent the public interest.