S.D.County Elections : 6 Rivals Target Eckert on Rapid Growth Issue

The explosion of residential growth in North County has emerged as the central issue in the 5th District supervisor’s race, with all six challengers charging that incumbent Paul Eckert has failed to effectively manage the development boom, a Times survey of the candidates has found.

Although even Eckert concedes there has been “runaway growth” in some areas, he maintains that overall, the rate of development has been about right and within guidelines set by San Diego County’s growth management plan.

Eckert’s opponents in the hotly contested race, however, believe that North County’s growth rate has been too high, that fees developers pay to finance public services are too low and that a new blueprint for managing the region’s future is needed, the survey found.

“It is very clear that growth has increased to the point where developments are overtaxing existing facilities,” said candidate Clyde Romney, a former chief aide to Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad). “Developers have been drawn to the area because it is cheaper to build in the county than in neighboring cities with tighter restrictions. We can no longer give these people a free rein.”

In general, responses by the seven candidates in the 5th District campaign to a series of questions posed by The Times show the politicians tend to agree on most of the major issues facing North County today.

Indeed, despite their harsh criticism of Eckert’s record on growth since his election in 1978, the challengers appear to differ little from the 52-year-old supervisor--and among themselves--on other leading topics on the region’s agenda.

On transportation-related projects, a majority of the candidates favor the construction of a highway--route 680--that would split the community of Leucadia, and support a half-cent sales tax increase to fund the extension of the San Diego trolley and local road improvements.

Two controversial proposed water projects, the Pamo Dam east of Ramona and the Santa Margarita Dam near Fallbrook, also received the endorsement of most of the candidates, as did a proposal to turn over management of the county’s embattled mental health hospital in Hillcrest to UC San Diego.

Five out of the seven said they opposed the trash-burning power plant planned for San Marcos; Eckert expressed support for the project, which has aroused a storm of controversy in the host city, and candidate Richard Chick, a Carlsbad councilman, took no position.

The entire field of candidates rejected the federal government’s plan to permit oil drilling off the coast of San Diego. And on perhaps the most far-fetched question in the survey--whether U.S. Marines should be placed at the border to deter illegal immigration from Mexico--only Eckert, Chick and auto parts salesman Edmund Fitzgerald expressed support.

“There is no nation in the world that has as porous a border as we do, and that’s causing a big revenue drain for this county,” Chick said. “One of the federal government’s duties is to protect our borders.”

The other four candidates--Romney, Vista Mayor Mike Flick, Oceanside City Councilman John MacDonald and private investigator Richard Repasky--opposed the proposal, made earlier this year by Sheriff John Duffy.

Several questions did, however, split the pack of politicians whose names will appear on the June 3 primary ballot. When asked to evaluate the level of welfare payments for the county’s poor, four candidates said the funding is about right while three--Fitzgerald, Repasky and Flick--maintained the level is too low.

Queried about a prospective half-cent sales tax increase to finance the construction of new jails and courthouse buildings, Romney, MacDonald and Eckert supported the idea, Fitzgerald and Repasky were opposed and Chick and Flick declined to take a position.

Rent control for North County’s fleet of mobile home parks was another topic that divided the candidates--four oppose the idea while three, MacDonald, Fitzgerald and Repasky, favor the measure. Although Eckert was among those rejecting the tool, the supervisor has prompted the county to assist needy tenants by providing them with financial assistance should their park be converted from rental to individual ownership.

Other opponents agreed that government assistance to mobile home dwellers is preferable to rent control.

On one of the survey’s key questions, Eckert maintained that traffic congestion and a lack of funding for solutions to the problem constitute North County’s major quandary.

“This is the single universal problem facing North County and the one with the big dollar cost solution that simply isn’t available,” Eckert said. “On some roadways, the problem is already at a crisis point. Where is the money going to come from? We’ve got spiraling costs and tight budget constraints. It’s a big challenge.”

But all but one of the supervisor’s opponents agreed that growth and its threat to the quality of life in North County represent the region’s most critical concern. And even Chick, who cited lack of leadership as the area’s top problem, noted that “if we had proper leadership, we wouldn’t have worries over growth.”

Not surprisingly, the challengers say that Eckert, as the elected voice of authority for the 1,800-square-mile district, which stretches from Encinitas north to Orange County and inland as far as Borrego Springs, is to blame for the area’s growth-related woes.

“Mr. Eckert bears total responsibility,” Romney said. “Starting in 1978 we’ve seen a total turnaround in the willingness of the county to accommodate rapid growth. The problem is particularly critical in San Dieguito, where we’ve seen the equivalent of a nuclear plant meltdown over the controversy that has been generated over these wild density increases.”

Eckert counters that his opponents simply do not understand the mechanics of county development.

“They are uninformed,” Eckert said. “The growth management plan says growth should occur in areas where you have services. We have services in San Dieguito--libraries, schools, a hospital--so that’s where we’re putting the growth.

“Everything has been proper and in accordance with our plans.” Positions of Candidates in the 5th Supervisorial District Race

Chick Eckert Biggest issue facing Funding Need for county government mismanagement jails Biggest problem Growth facing North County management Lack of leadership Is rate of growth too high, too slow, about right? Too high About right Are developer fees too high, too low, about right? Too low About right* New growth management plan for North County? Yes No Are welfare payments too low, too high, about right? About right About right Should UCSD run county mental hospital? Yes Yes Half-cent sales tax increase for new jails, court buildings? No position Yes Rent control for mobile home parks? No No Should Pamo Dam east of Ramona be built? No Yes Should Santa Margarita Dam near Fallbrook be built? Yes Yes Should route 680 from Leucadia to Rancho Bernardo be built? Yes Yes Half-cent sales tax for trolley extension, new roads? Oppose Yes Incorporate San Dieguito? Support No position Incorporate Solana Beach? No position No position Should Marines be stationed at Mexican border? Yes Yes Should oil drilling be permitted off San Diego coast? No No Should trash-to-energy plant be built in San Marcos? No position Yes

Fitzgerald Flick MacDonald Repasky Romney Biggest issue facing Growth, county government New general plan Growth Management Lack of trust Lack of trust Biggest problem facing North County Traffic Growth Growth Growth Growth Is rate of growth too high, too slow, about right? Too high Too high Too high Too high Too high Are developer fees too high, too low, about right? Too low Too low Too low Too low Too low New growth management plan for North County? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Are welfare payments too low, too high, about right? Too low Too low About right Too low About right Should UCSD run county mental hospital? No position Yes Yes Yes No position Half-cent sales tax increase for new jails, court buildings? No No position Yes No Yes Rent control for mobile home parks? Yes No Yes Yes No Should Pamo Dam east of Ramona be built? Yes No position Yes Yes No position Should Santa Margarita Dam near Fallbrook be built? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Should route 680 from Leucadia to Rancho Bernardo be built? Yes Yes No position Yes No Half-cent sales tax for trolley extension, new roads? No No position Yes No Yes Incorporate San Dieguito? Support No position Support Support No position Incorporate Solana Beach? Support No position Support Support No position Should Marines be stationed at Mexican border? Yes No No No No Should oil drilling be permitted off San Diego coast? No No No No No Should trash-to-energy plant be built in San Marcos? No No No No No

* Eckert said growth is about right overall but too high in some places.