Registered voters in San Diego County have started receiving their election ballots in the mail this week, which means the voting process has officially begun.
Oceanside’s mayoral race is one of the many I’ll be watching. Incumbent Democratic Mayor Esther Sanchez is running for a second term. She is the first woman and Latina to be elected mayor of the city of Oceanside. Sanchez’s challenger is Republican Ryan Keim, a councilmember and current deputy mayor.
Key issues in Oceanside: Oceanside is facing a rapidly growing rate of homelessness and a lack of affordable housing. And as a coastal city, it also faces shrinking coastlines and beaches.
Oceanside has the second-largest unsheltered homeless population in North County, according to this year’s point-in-time count. The city saw a 24.5 percent increase in unsheltered homeless people from 2023 to 2024, increasing from 290 people to 361 people. However, the point-in-time count is widely understood to be an undercount, which means the number of unsheltered homeless people is likely much higher.
The cost of housing is also on the rise. The median rent in Oceanside is $3,400, according to Zillow, with Oceanside renters paying around 77 percent of their income on rent. And Zillow lists the city’s median home price as around $800,000.
The city is also facing climate change concerns with its coastline facing erosion and rising sea levels. City leaders have tried different sand replenishment projects over the years with little long-term success. Oceanside’s next proposed sand replenishment endeavor is expected to cost $30 million, and it is still unfunded, according to a report by KPBS.
The candidates: Sanchez and Keim have similar priorities, but the two have differing visions.
They have often been at odds at City Council meetings, especially during discussions about housing.
Sanchez has advocated for more affordable housing projects like Greenbrier Village, a 100 percent affordable housing project that opened last year, and the protection of rent control. However, she’s often the only councilmember opposed to big development projects, echoing residents’ concerns about increased traffic or changing community character.
Keim, on the other hand, has a more pro-growth stance and has acknowledged that state law requires him and the council to approve most housing projects.
He also places a greater emphasis on reducing crime among the city’s homeless population, but he also wants to provide services to homeless people who will accept them.
Sanchez wants the city to create more supportive services for homeless people, like more permanent supportive housing and shelters that allow for longer stays. She also said at a recent homelessness panel with other North County mayors that she has concerns about policies like public camping bans that can criminalize homeless people.
Around Town: Homelessness Dollars and Camping Bans
Carlsbad gets more state homelessness dollars: The city of Carlsbad will receive more money from the state’s latest round of the Encampment Resolution Fund, a series of state grants first announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021.
Carlsbad received $2.9 million to address concerns about people living in their vehicles in the Downtown Village and Barrio area, KPBS reported. The money will help city officials create a vehicular homeless outreach program.
Back in April, Carlsbad and Oceanside received a joint grant from the state to move hundreds of homeless people camped along State Route 78 into shelter and housing. I previously wrote about how the two cities are planning to do that.
These grants from the state come with one major requirement: Cities must document exactly how the money is being used and what outcomes they see, otherwise, they risk receiving future state funding.
Oceanside will consider stricter public camping rules: The Oceanside City Council will consider approving stricter regulations for its existing public camping ban on Wednesday night. If approved, police officers enforcing the city’s public camping ban will no longer be required to offer shelter prior to moving a homeless person.
The change would be in line with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling back in June that granted cities more power to arrest, cite and fine people who camp in public places regardless of shelter availability.
Since then, many North County cities, including San Marcos, Encinitas and Vista have either adopted new camping bans or have tightened their existing camping regulations. The Carlsbad City Council is set to consider tightening its ban in the coming months.
Oceanside officials would still recommend that officers offer available shelter options or homeless resources when enforcing public camping regulations, but not as a prerequisite for enforcement.
The new rules would also reduce the amount of time officers give homeless people to collect their belongings. Currently, officers are required to give people camping in public 48 hours to remove their belongings before they are seized and put in a storage area. That time would be reduced to 24 hours.
Have news tips or stories to share? Email me at tigist@vosd.org.
In Other News
- ICYMI: The Encinitas mayoral race comes down to Encinitas’ most recurring and contentious issue: housing. Whoever wins will determine if and how the city complies with state housing laws. Read about it here. (Voice of San Diego.
- Oceanside police are investigating attacks on two homeless men who were fatally beaten in separate attacks last weekend, and a third homeless man who was nearly stabbed to death last month. It’s unclear if there is any connection between the attacks. (Union-Tribune)
- Sand replenishment projects will start in Carlsbad this winter. The effort is expected to produce as much as 400,000 cubic yards of sand. (Union-Tribune)
- Encinitas approved the Quail Meadows Apartments project, which is the largest apartment complex in the city’s history. (Coast News)
Correction: This post has been updated to correct that Carlsbad hasn’t tightened it’s camping laws. The City Council is set to consider tightening the ban in the coming months.
Is there a report to go with that 77% figure? That is crazy