Since incorporation of Encinitas in 1986 the positions of Mayor and Deputy Mayor have been held by a member of the City Council, selected each December by a majority vote of their peers on the City Council to serve for the next year.
This is not an unusual method for new cities to select their Mayor and Deputy Mayor; However, over the years many attempts at changing the system have been proposed, but none have succeeded in garnering a majority vote.
At the Special City Council meeting held on December 13, 2011 to select Mayor and deputy Mayor to serve for 2012, it was clear that a majority of the City Council once again wanted to explore a different approach, including a more “criteria” based process to determine who would hold these positions.
Encinitas is a General Law City, and while that designation precludes a “strong Mayor” system as currently in use in the City of San Diego, it doesn’t preclude Encinitas having a directly elected Mayor. This is what occurs in the General Law Cities of Lemon Grove and Poway, just by way of example.
In fact, of the 18 incorporated cities in San Diego County, 15 have directly elected Mayors, with only Del Mar, Solana Beach, and Encinitas retaining some form of annual selection process.
I am pleased to report that on Wednesday, February 15th the Encinitas City Council voted 3-2 to change the Mayoral selection process.
For the first time in Encinitas’ history, the voters will have a real say in who serves as Mayor, and the whole turn-taking stuff is over.
“The person serving on the City Council who received the most votes in their election to the Encinitas City Council shall serve as Mayor the final two years of their 4 year term in office.” The Mayor will name their Deputy Mayor.
No more annual rotation, no more personality driven politics each December. The voters will choose by virtue of the vote count and there will be a rational and predictable Mayoral determination with 2 year terms.
Jerome Stocks
Proud to be the last “selected” Mayor of Encinitas.