Both Marti Emerald and April Boling, running in City Council District 7, have told me that they oppose Proposition D, which would make permanent the ban on drinking alcohol at city beaches.
Sherri Lightner in District 1? She’s for the ban. She moved to La Jolla Shores after that La Jolla neighborhood banned booze there. But she says she’s heard the “horror stories” of what it was like before that.
Phil Thalheimer, Lightner’s opponent, hasn’t called me back yet.
And in District 3?
Todd Gloria says he opposes the beach booze ban. Stephen Whitburn is having a bit more trouble with it.
Whitburn’s spokesman, Sean Wherley, e-mailed that the candidate is “neutral” on the booze ban.
So I pressed him. I mean, what is “neutral?” You are either for it or against it, no?
Whitburn called and said that he was against the booze ban when the City Council first voted on it. Remember, the City Council banned booze on the beach for a trial period of one year. He said he would have voted against doing that.
But now, he won’t say either way and that he’s happy to let voters decide.
“It’s precisely one of those questions that should be decided by the people. I am perfectly comfortable with whatever the majority of the citizens of San Diego decide,” he said.
So how is he planning to vote? After all, everyone’s going to fill in a bubble Nov. 4. He repeated his point:
“In this particular case, this is precisely the sort of issue that that the people should decide and I’m comfortable however they go,” he said.
So I pointed out he didn’t have similar misgivings about expressing support or opposition to the other measures on the ballot (he supports Proposition A, opposes Proposition B, and supports Proposition C). If he won’t pick a side on Proposition D because he’s comfortable leaving it to the voters does that mean he’s uncomfortable leaving the other initiatives to voters?
He paused.
“I feel more strongly about the other three. You know, Prop. D, it strikes me as a personal preference of the residents. I don’t feel a need to weigh in,” Whitburn said.