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Two challenging Kersey for San Diego City Council seat

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City Councilman Mark Kersey is facing two challengers in the June 7 primary who also want to represent Rancho Bernardo and rest of District 5 for the next four years.

If neither Kersey, a Republican, nor Democrats Keith Mikas or Frank Tsimboukakis receives more than 50 percent of votes cast, the top two will advance to the Nov. 8 general election.


Kersey, 40, is a Black Mountain Ranch resident who has lived in the city for eight years and county for 15. He is divorced and has a 10-year-old son. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and attended the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management.

He is a small business owner completing his first four-year term in office, having run unopposed in 2012. His campaign website is MarkKersey.com.

“I have spent the past three years working hard every day on the needs of District 5 constituents,” he said. “We have handled literally hundreds of calls, complaints and questions on issues ranging from potholes to permits. Nobody else in this race understands the needs of my district better than I do.

“My leadership style is very collaborative, much as it has been in my small technology research business. Local government lends itself well to finding common ground with people across the political spectrum and my reputation is that of a consensus builder.”

He said his top three priorities are rebuilding San Diego’s crumbling infrastructure, investing in public safety and growing the local economy.

To address these, Kersey said he would continue leading efforts to invest in streets and other infrastructure without raising taxes through Proposition H (also on the June ballot), fight for increased police and fire protection, and advocate for City Hall to be a partner with the local business community.

Regarding Rancho Bernardo’s overflow parking problem in Westwood and how to prevent a similar problem elsewhere, Kersey said, “I have actively supported the Westwood community’s efforts to get relief from the parking congestion arising from the Waterbridge condo conversion. This is truly a community-driven effort that by law relies on local residents gathering signatures from their neighbors to impose some kind of parking restrictions on their own community. Once in place, overnight parking in that part of Westwood will be restricted, providing homeowners with more peace of mind regarding the street parking in front of their homes.”

As for protecting Rancho Bernardo’s quality of life when Palomar College opens there in 2018, Kersey said, “I firmly believe that any parking required by Palomar College should be provided on the college’s campus. I have vocally opposed the college’s efforts to count street parking in Westwood as available parking spaces ... While the city has no direct jurisdiction surrounding the college expansion itself — the state has jurisdiction over community colleges — I would support the city filing a lawsuit against Palomar if they do not revise their parking plans.”


Mikas, 46, is a Rancho Bernardo resident who grew up there (1977-95) and returned in 2007 with his family. He is married and has two sons, ages 10 and 13. He earned a bachelor’s degree in radio, television and film from California State University Long Beach and a master’s in sustainability management from National University.

He has been a grocer at Trader Joe’s for 16 years. This is his first attempt at political office. His campaign website is Keith2016.com.

“I would like to see local representation on the city council, someone who’s actually lived, worked and enjoyed the community within the district prior to election,” Mikas said. “We (have) been represented by outsiders for too long, our last two representatives.

“San Diego City Council is all about quality of life, the life of the residents in the districts,” he said. “I believe, as someone who’s been brought up within this district, I know the district better than anyone.”

He said the top three issues impacting the city are affordable housing, parking and public safety.

Mikas said the city needs to earmark the 10 percent penalty fee developers pay in lieu of building affordable housing and spend it on building affordable housing. Regarding parking, he said the city needs more and better public transportation, a clear vision on how zoning changes will affect the surrounding communities and, if needed, to litigate a project “that has been unduly impacting a community.”

To improve public safety, Mikas called for an overhaul of the city’s 911 system, addition of a 311 system to create a single point of contact for the entire city, and for the council and police department to find ways to retain police officers by implementing other cities’ strategies. He said the city is underserved by fire stations and needs more ambulance service.

“The parking problem ... in Westwood has only gotten worse because each project is looked at as an individual project,” he said. “We need ... to see how all the projects within this area will affect each other in terms of parking. I would be open to litigation with Waterbridge owners to come to terms on a way to fix this issue. ... 10 years of just talking has done next to nothing.”

Mikas, who lives near the Palomar College site, said, “I would like Palomar to extend its offer of free parking for the first year to free parking forever for this campus. Once (they) start charging the students for parking, they will find other areas to park. Westwood is ground zero for this increased new overflow parking from Palomar. I do believe that the Palomar College site in Rancho Bernardo has the opportunity to become an outpost of the Palomar College system if done right from the beginning.”


Tsimboukakis, 56, is a Scripps Ranch resident who lived there from 2002-09 and returned in late 2014. He has been a San Diegan for 29 years. He and his wife have two sons, ages 27 and 23. He has bachelor’s degrees in mass communications and sociology from UC Berkeley and a master’s in business administration from National University.

He is a real estate securities investment manager, a licensed investment adviser and landlord. Tsimboukakis has been on the San Diego County Democratic Party Central Committee since 2013 and had an unsuccessful run for the California Senate’s 38th District in 2014. His website is FrankForSanDiegoCouncil5.com.

“I decided to run last January ... because (for) the last seven years this district has been ignored by the last two councilmen, with no end in sight,” Tsimboukakis said.

His top three priorities are doubling the district’s police presence; reigning in developer abuses in the area “under the guise of affordable housing to pack the units in” and preserve park, open and parking spaces; plus repairing and maintaining infrastructure on a permanent basis.

Tsimboukakis said he would increase police hiring while reassigning two additional officers to the district every six months from over-served areas, with the goal of having at least 16 officers per shift. He would stop density increases in zoning plus require and respect community input, “making sure that there is adequate parking provisions, park space, public transportation means and available roads to service” and eliminate ministerial projects. To fix infrastructure he said the city should issue 20-year general obligation bonds to upgrade all infrastructure, including Balboa Park, within five years. His repayment plan includes the city imposing a half-cent sales tax for 10 years.

Regarding Westwood parking, Tsimboukakis said he would issue free parking permits for residents and their occasional guests and limit street parking for non-permitted vehicles to one hour. “Cutting down on uncontrolled development will limit these issues,” he said. “We need to make sure the city obeys the set rules on parking, parks and open spaces, (and) that parking rules as set by both traffic and the fire departments are enforced.”

As for Palomar College, his stated solution is “adding patrol officers and instituting parking laws for the surrounding area. We need to be good neighbors to the college and vice versa them to the community.”

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