Escondido voters will select their mayor and two City Council members this November, and the city’s shooting range contract with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has become a key issue in their races.
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The contenders also weighed in on business retention and development challenges and the proposed ice rink facility at Kit Carson Park at a candidates forum Oct. 1 hosted by the Escondido Times-Advocate and Chamber of Commerce.
Mayor Dane White is running for a second term and faces challenger Elias Velazquez, an information director and volunteer coordinator at Brother Benno’s Foundation in Oceanside.
Seeking to represent District 1 are Vanessa Valenzuela, finance director for a local nonprofit, and Tanner Horsley, a communications manager with the U.S. Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station in San Diego. Deputy Mayor Joe Garcia is up again for the District 2 seat against Anthony DiMartino, director of government affairs at Californians for Safety and Justice.
Velazquez, Valenzuela and DiMartino each drew a hard line on the contract with ICE, saying the council should listen to community safety concerns and end the agreement.
Escondido awarded a one-year lease agreement to ICE in January for $22,500 with two optional one-year extensions for a potential total of $67,500. The council will review the contract at a future meeting — but that is not expected until after the election, making it a key topic as candidates make their pitch to voters.
“I vehemently believe that we need to get that contract canceled,” said Velazquez, suggesting city cooperation with ICE poses a public health and safety issue for residents.
Mayor White, who previously said the city would see retaliatory action if it canceled the contract, questioned the accountability of federal immigration enforcement agencies, but disagreed with his opponent.
“If there is not a threat to public health or public safety, the city council should not intervene, especially when it comes to politics,” he said.
For DiMartino, the council’s decision in February to keep the contract was the final push for him to run for council, he said.
“We need more than (Councilmember) Consuelo (Martinez) to stand up and say that we are here to protect residents, and I would absolutely be opposed to continuing an ICE contract,” Valenzuela said.
Garcia said he is waiting to see if the agency will request to extend the contract, and he does not state how he intends to vote ahead of issues. Horsley said he supports law enforcement officers but would want more information if a contract extension comes forward.
Candidates found common ground on the city’s slow permitting process posing the biggest challenge to conducting business in Escondido.
Valenzuela and Velazquez said they should look to nearby cities for guidance.
“I talk to business owners who not only have businesses here, but across one county and they’ll tell you this: It’s one of the hardest cities to do business with,” Velazquez said. “And I think that it doesn’t make sense if we have these sister cities across (state Route) 78 that somehow can do it better than us, that we’re not learning from that and adapting so that our businesses can thrive here in Escondido.”
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White said “a lack of leadership under previous administrations” led to that reputation.
He and Garcia said they should see improvements through recent changes the city made to streamline the permitting process by implementing new technology in the business licensing and development services departments.
Garcia pushed for continued communication among city departments following the change. DiMartino said he wants to see the city measure improvements, such as how quickly permits are approved, and Horsley called for a better system to track permit statuses.
A few of the candidates pushed for transparency regarding the ice rink facility proposed at Kit Carson Park that has been met with community pushback.
“When it comes to public land park space, especially in Escondido, we’re already deficient in that space and any kind of partnerships need to be clear,” DiMartino said. “We need to make sure there’s a lasting public benefit, there’s transparency and accountability.”
Velazquez agreed.
“Ultimately, we need to include the community and the voters anytime we want to do something with taxpayer assets,” she said.
The proposal was advanced in June, when the council unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with The Rinks Foundation to explore developing an ice rink complex that would serve as the practice facility for the San Diego Gulls. The facility’s proposed location is where the city park’s current adult softball fields are.
The city has been slower than anticipated to return to council with a lease agreement for the project, and members of the public have criticized a delay in public engagement for the project.
Horsley said assessing the project’s effect on residents nearby is an important part of the planning process.
“Obviously, if it’s negative, we don’t want to do it,” he said.
White is a major supporter of the project and said he does not have a preference on the location.
“If there’s a place that can be agreed upon where there are no impacts or lesser impacts, as well as not losing any current park amenities, I would be all for it,” White said.
The most recent campaign finance statements show White with a large lead over Velazquez, logging a balance of $73,569 compared to $23,608 for the challenger.
Horsley heads District 1 at a $48,819 balance over Valenzuela’s $18,251. For District 2, DiMartino was at $57,727, compared to Garcia with $31,385.
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Election ballots are scheduled to be mailed out to voters this week.
