![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/vito-di-stefano-7-254-24-51-1024x682.jpg\")
State Senator Catherine Blakespear at the 2nd Annual Ending Homelessness Summit at the University of California at San Diego, on Thursday, July 25, 2024 in La Jolla. \/ Vito di Stefano for Voice of San Diego <\/p>\nCatherine Blakespear\u2019s time as mayor of Encinitas was eventful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2019, she led the city to adopt its first state-approved Housing Element since 1992, allowing Encinitas to become compliant with state housing law after years of resistance. That same year, the city opened its first segment of the Coastal Rail Trail, a regional bike and pedestrian project that she became an early advocate for. In 2020, Encinitas launched North County\u2019s first safe parking program for homeless people living in their vehicles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking back, she describes her time as mayor as very \u201cactive.\u201d Perhaps that\u2019s why, three years after being elected to the state Senate and leaving the Encinitas City Council, she remains a political lightning rod in the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
State Senator Catherine Blakespear at the 2nd Annual Ending Homelessness Summit at the University of California at San Diego, on Thursday, July 25, 2024 in La Jolla. \/ Vito di Stefano for Voice of San Diego <\/p>\n
Blakespear stopped being mayor in 2022, but to some residents, it\u2019s as if she has never left. Today, many residents, and many of the city\u2019s elected officials, still trace their frustrations about housing, homelessness and infrastructure back to Blakespear\u2019s time as mayor. The criticism has outlasted her tenure and doesn\u2019t show signs of slowing down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way I see it is my time at City Hall was so active, and we did so much, and I\u2019m a convenient scapegoat for the problems and inconveniences that people see in modern life,\u201d Blakespear said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Housing<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n When Blakespear became mayor, she inherited a city in defiance of state housing laws.\u00a0<\/p>\n Encinitas had failed to adopt a Housing Element, a state-mandated plan outlining where new housing can be built, since 1992. That defiance had already cost the city millions of dollars in lawsuits from developers. The governor\u2019s office, the attorney general and the state housing department warned the city repeatedly that continued resistance could result in legal action and loss of state funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe had an \u2018X\u2019 on our back from the state,\u201d Blakespear said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Encinitas\u2019 Proposition A, a voter-approved growth-control measure requiring residents to approve major zoning changes, made it difficult to get a Housing Element approved. Voters had twice rejected proposed Housing Elements, in 2016 and 2018, before a judge ruled Proposition A could be temporarily suspended so the city could comply with state law.\u00a0<\/p>\n The ruling was very unpopular, but it allowed Encinitas to finally adopt a Housing Element in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d never had an approved Housing Element, we had multiple lawsuits we couldn\u2019t win, and we were hemorrhaging money fighting those lawsuits,\u201d Blakespear said. \u201cI feel good about getting right with the law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, resentment lingers over how that compliance was achieved.\u00a0<\/p>\n Encinitas Mayor Bruce Ehlers, who served on the Planning Commission during Blakespear\u2019s tenure, said the city needed to comply but believes Blakespear and the Council went further than necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe needed to become compliant, but it was a question of how much do we give away and where,\u201d Ehlers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He and other critics argue the city could have adopted a Housing Element with stricter development standards, like a lower cap on building heights and less density, rather than standards they say favored developers. Others point to the city\u2019s inclusionary housing requirements, arguing Encinitas missed an opportunity to require more affordable units in each housing project, which was recommended by the city\u2019s then-Planning Commission.\u00a0<\/p>\n Blakespear rejects that framing. She said many of the building standards were recommended by the state housing department, and without them, state officials likely wouldn\u2019t have approved the city\u2019s housing plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe ideas that came from the Planning Commission \u2026 weren\u2019t legal or implementable,\u201d Blakespear said via email. \u201cI note that [Ehlers] has yet to adopt those ideas.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Safe Parking Program<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Blakespear\u2019s push to open North County\u2019s first safe parking program for people living in their cars also provoked fierce criticism.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the time, Encinitas had no services for people experiencing homelessness. Residents worried the program would attract people from outside the city, a concern that still dominates local debate.\u00a0<\/p>\n But for Blakespear, it was a way to further address housing deficiencies in Encinitas.\u00a0<\/p>\n Today, Encinitas has a partnership with Vista allowing the city to reserve shelter beds for its homeless residents at Buena Creek Navigation Center. But the safe parking program itself shut down at the end of 2025 after five years in operation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ehlers said the decision came down to funding. The program was previously fully funded by state grants, which were no longer available. The City Council offered to fund the program for six months, but the nonprofit operating the program said that wasn\u2019t sustainable.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some residents celebrated the program\u2019s end. Blakespear did not. She told Voice that the Council could have worked harder to find money for the program or tried to find a new service provider that could fund and operate the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe council currently is saying, \u2018We\u2019re going to invest in outreach workers, but if an outreach worker walks up to somebody who\u2019s homeless, they can\u2019t offer them anything within the city, like a safe parking program or interim housing or shelter\u2014nothing,\u201d Blakespear said. \u201cSo, to me it\u2019s this big shell game.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ehlers said the current Council is correcting what he sees as an imbalance between services and enforcement. Over the past year, they\u2019ve added<\/a> an enforcement portion to the city\u2019s Homeless Action Plan, tightened camping rules and contracted with a new outreach provider (the San Diego Rescue Mission).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere is an obligation,\u201d he said, \u201cthat when people refuse services and refuse a bed, they still abide by the law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Infrastructure<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n In April 2020, the backlash against Blakespear became deeply personal.\u00a0<\/p>\n More than 100 residents marched to her home, chanting and carrying \u201cRecall Blakespear\u201d signs. They were protesting Covid-era closures approved by city and county officials that had shut down beaches, parks and trails.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very destabilizing,\u201d Blakespear recalled. \u201cMy daughter was literally having a panic attack inside.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Encinitas_0027-1024x683.jpg\")
Encinitas on Jan. 29, 2025. \/ Ariana Drehsler for Voice of San Diego<\/p>\n