Encinitas votes: Ballots set for November election

Encinitas Mayor and City Council, Measure L
In the November election, Encinitas residents will be selecting a new mayor and two new council members. Residents will also be asked to vote on Measure L, a city cannabis tax that will fund general municipal expenses including law enforcement, fire, emergency medical services, street improvements and recreation.

Four candidates are vying to be the next mayor of Encinitas including community volunteer Michael “Myekah” Blobe, small business owner Cindy Cremona, community advocate Jeff Morris and Tony Kranz, an Encinitas City Council member. The winner will replace Catherine Blakespear, who is running for state Senate.

In City Council District 3, community advocate Julie Thunder will challenge
appointed councilmember/businesswoman Joy Lyndes.

In District 4, four candidates will seek to take over Joe Mosca’s seat including
business owner Stacie Davis, educator/parent Pamela “Pam” Redela, scientist/community volunteer Daniel Vaughn and Bruce Ehlers, technology executive.

Encinitas Union School District
Six candidates will vie for three spots on the Encinitas Union School District board. Candidates include incumbent Emily Andrade, retired physicist Thomas Angel, parent Andre Johnson, appointed incumbent Raquel Pfeifer, incumbent Marla Strich and Justin Ried, a technology marketing executive.

In the Cardiff School District, three candidates are running for three seats: education business owner Andrew Howard, engineer Ash Swaminathan and appointed incumbent Shad Thielman.

San Dieguito Union High School District
Following Mo Muir’s withdrawal of her candidacy, two candidates remain on the ballot in Encinitas’ Area 1: businessman/dad/coach David Carattini and environmental policy analyst Rimga Viskanta.

In San Dieguito’s Area 3, the ballot will include software engineer Daniel Hale, businesswoman Sheila King and education board member/parent Jane Lea Smith. Area 3 represents portions of Del Mar, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, Encinitas and Cardiff.

In Area 5, which represents Carmel Valley and Pacific Highlands Ranch, there are three candidates: software engineer/parent Phan Anderson, incumbent Julie Bronstein and parent Georgia Ringler.

Olivenhain Municipal Water District
The Olivenhain Municipal Water District will hold elections for three board members. In Division 1, candidates are retired engineer Robert Max Kephart and business owner Marco San Antonio.
In Division 4, there are four candidates for one spot: retiree Albert Bates, retired CPA
Craig Forman, businessman/water advocate Matthew Hahn and retiree James Keyes.
In Division 5, appointed incumbent Neal Meyers runs unopposed.

Ballots for the Nov. 8 election will begin being mailed out no later than Oct. 10, according to the county clerk. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 24.

— Reporter Luke Harold contributed to this report