The two people running for mayor differ over proposed changes to Santa Fe Drive and whether Encinitas should have applied for a state grant program to help homeless people.

The two candidates — incumbent Mayor Bruce Ehlers and challenger Rimga Viskanta, a San Dieguito Union High School District board member — discussed their positions during a Tuesday forum sponsored by the Cardiff 101 Main Street’s Cardiff-by-the-Sea Town Council Committee. About 130 people, including a number of San Dieguito Academy High School students attended the event.

Ehlers, a former council member and former city planning commissioner, said a new protected bike lane, which runs along the south side of Santa Fe Drive near the high school, is dangerous because of the many driveway access points along its route. It should be removed, along with a number of other recent Santa Fe Drive roadway changes, which were approved by a prior council, he said.

Ehlers added that he’s not a big fan of protected bike lanes, generally.

“They are not a panacea, they don’t automatically make things safe,” Ehlers said, mentioning that the city has had two deaths on other roadways where protective bike lane devices are now being blamed for causing the accidents.

Challenger Rimga Viskanta, a San Dieguito Union High School District board member who’s also a former Encinitas Union School District board member, said she too thought some changes ought to be made to the recently renovated roadway.

“When I first saw it unveiled, I was a little shocked,” she said. “I had trouble with the back-in parking … it seemed like there was a lot going on in a small area.”

However, she said, “completely ripping out a protected bike lane” is not something that she would support. She mentioned that city staff members had low-cost suggestions for improving the bike lane, but the current council majority is pursuing the costly removal instead.

The two mayoral candidates also over whether the city should have applied earlier this year for a $3.9 million state grant to eradicate homeless encampments.

In late June, Ehlers voted along with the council majority not to apply for the grant. At Tuesday’s forum, he reiterated his view that if the city had gotten the grant, the state would have required Encinitas to fund a “housing first” program where drug-addicted people would gain housing before they had to attend treatment programs.

Ehlers said Encinitas has made great strides since he was elected mayor two years ago in reducing its homeless population. He said one huge factor has been recent enforcement of the city’s ban on camping and problem behaviors, such as urinating in public. Drug-addicted homeless people can refuse help from city service providers, but “at a minimum they have an obligation to abide by our laws,” he said.

Viskanta said Encinitas should have applied for the grant, calling it a “real missed opportunity.” She said she believes the majority of the council didn’t apply “for political reasons” — the state Legislature is dominated by Democrats, and none of the new council majority belongs to that political party.

She mentioned that the San Diego Rescue Mission, which Encinitas recently began contracting with to provide homeless services, had recommended that the city apply for the grant. Rescue Mission representatives told council members during the June meeting that they hadn’t had any issues with the state when using grant money to do a treatment-first program in Vista, she noted.

The two mayoral candidates answered some 15 pre-submitted questions during Tuesday’s event. One question that a person leaving the event said he wished had come up was why the mayor’s race was once again on the ballot. That’s because in Encinitas, the mayor serves only a two-year term, while council members serve four year. In addition to the mayor, two council seats — the District 3 and 4 positions — are on the Nov. 3 ballot.