Encinitas City Councilman Marco San Antonio announced he will run for the District 4 seat in the November election. Courtesy photo
ENCINITAS —After months of speculation, Encinitas City Councilman Marco San Antonio announced he will run for his District 4 seat in the November election.
San Antonio was appointed to the City Council in January 2025 to fill the seat vacated by Mayor Bruce Ehlers after his mayoral victory in November 2024. San Antonio was elected to the Olivenhain Municipal Water District Board of Directors in 2022.
He is being challenged this year by Brad Lefkowits, who, along with six others, submitted their names to be appointed to the council in 2025.
San Antonio is a lifelong resident of “New Encinitas” and also owns a small business, One Day Signs, and is the first Filipino to sit on the council. He also served as a reserve firefighter with the Orange County Fire Authority from 2011-21.
San Antonio said his decision to run didn’t come easy as he had to discuss the matter with his wife, as the two are raising two small kids and he runs his own business. He said the time commitment can be overwhelming, especially with a young family, so San Antonio wanted to make sure that he and his wife were certain they could handle the commitment.
“It was a difficult decision,” he added. “I wanted to be sure with my family. I didn’t want to take anything away from my wife. The little meetings in the middle of the day, the phone calls at night, it’s all the things that add up to what a council member does, but I’ve definitely loved it.”
He said one of his primary focuses now and, should he be re-elected, is to fully fund and staff a permanent Fire Station No. 6 in Olivenhain. Currently, the city has a temporary station, while the new station is in the design phase, and is searching for a permanent site.
San Antonio said fire safety is one of his top priorities, noting Olivenhain is in a high-severity fire zone, and the station will finally provide the area a new level of protection. He initiated the push for an expanded Fire Station 6, a third full-time firefighter, and a full-sized Type 1 engine in Olivenhain, with the city signing the contract last month.
One of the most vocal issues in the city has been traffic safety, notably with several teenagers who have died after being struck by vehicles, he said. San Antonio said road safety is a top priority as the city has implemented several strategies such as reducing speeds, hiring two traffic sheriff’s deputies and implementing safer crosswalks and is working on other elements to enhance safety and build a streamlined circulation network.
“We were really trying to get everything to work together,” he added. “These deaths are terribly tragic. We’ve implemented a list of safety items. We’ve done so many things to try and calm traffic. None of this stuff happens overnight; we’re taking it piece by piece, finding the weak spots and trying to make them stronger.”
Another hot-button issue, as has been for years, if not decades, is how the city manages growth and development. Several large-scale projects have been approved over the past five to six years, notably along Quail Gardens Drive near the Encinitas Boulevard intersection.
He said the Quail Gardens project, plus the Moonlight Apartments (Dos Lunas) and Solaris project, will add even more traffic to an already problematic intersection. San Antonio said it will be a challenge to manage the traffic and ensure safety.
San Antonio said the past 18 months have been a learning curve that revealed how much authority the state exercises over local housing and land-use decisions. While the city’s ability to manage growth has been constrained by state law, he said it is more important than ever for residents and local leaders to advocate for greater local control.
“It’s plain as day to see these numbers (housing requirements) and see how the state uses their power, wield that power to make small cities like ours do what they want,” he explained. “For me, local control is one of the most important topics to jump onto because it’s pretty incredible the power that they wield to force down these numbers.”
San Antonio also said his focus remains on the community rather than partisan agendas, noting he is running as an independent candidate and has pledged to reject all financial donations and endorsements from political parties.
As for successes, San Antonio said he and the council majority have worked with the Encinitas Unified School District to increase crossing guards along Park Dale Lane this year. In addition, he and the council secured enhanced crosswalks, ADA-accessible sidewalks, and longer red curbs near crosswalks to reinforce safe routes to school.
Finally, San Antonio and the council approved a contract with the San Diego Rescue Mission to help address the city’s homeless population, which has already decreased by nearly 30%, he said.
Corection: A previous version of this story reported San Antonio was a voluntary firefighter. He was a reserve. I regret the error.