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Passionate ICE debate packs City Hall

Oppose ICE in Encinitas

If you went to bed early Wednesday, you missed a lot. Over eight and a half hours and two meetings, council tackled homelessness, manufactured-home rents, road safety and federal immigration enforcement — with an ICE item that nearly got knocked off the agenda ultimately passing unanimously.

💬 Quote of the Night:

“We are in the middle of an election season, and Councilmember Lyndes is a lame duck councilmember who is not running for reelection. With nothing to lose, she is using her council seat not to advance meaningful policy but to pull a calculated political stunt designed to boost her partisan-affiliated candidates on the upcoming ballot. This item was carefully coordinated with paid political activists online and PACs to rally a crowd, generate political theater, and weaponize an important issue for partisan gain… We are here to conduct the city’s business, not to serve as a backdrop for a partisan campaign rally.”

— Deputy Mayor Jim O’Hara, moving to strike Lyndes’ item about upgrading the city’s response to ICE activity, before any resident had spoken. It was a packed house. No one seconded his motion. (The following day, O’Hara wrote an op-ed in which he praised the item he’d tried to kill: “It was an uncomfortable, honest and necessary discussion — the exact kind of governance local office demands.”)

The City’s Council Rundown:   City staff issues a “Council Rundown” following each council meeting. Click here for the 10/28 Council Rundown which covers:

The Council Rundown doesn’t fully capture every significant item. So, to round out the meeting recap, here’s Encinitas Action’s commentary:

⚡ Special Meeting – Homeless Action Plan  ✅No vote. Council received and provided input.

City’s Council Rundown: The City Council reviewed the draft 2026–2031 Homeless Action Plan, which builds on the City’s 2021 plan and incorporates community feedback, expanded homelessness prevention, outreach, housing services, public safety, and accountability. Staff highlighted progress through the City’s partnership with the San Diego Rescue Mission, including expanded outreach and housing navigation services.

The City Council directed staff to develop a more focused, actionable plan with measurable goals, clear timelines, and assigned responsibilities. Additional priorities include strengthening prevention efforts, exploring safe parking options, clarifying the City’s treatment-focused approach, and improving data reporting, including public safety service calls and associated costs. Staff will incorporate Council feedback before returning with a revised plan.

📌 What Else?

 🌮 Food For Thought: Council says it will explore “safe parking options.” Deputy Mayor O’Hara said the opposite — that people “like the provider [Jewish Family Services] of it more than they like the help it gives.” With that sentiment on the council, will safe parking program ever be a reality in Encinitas again?

⚡ Regular Meeting 

 🏡 Mobile Home (aka Manufactured Home) Space Rent Moratorium. ✅Vote: Urgency ordinance Unanimous (5-0) — clearing the required 4/5 threshold and Vote: Companion Ordinance 2026-25 introduced Unanimous (5-0) 

City’s Council Rundown: The City Council adopted an urgency ordinance, effective immediately, temporarily limiting mobile home space rent increases to the lesser of 4% or 75% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) through July 30, 2027.

The action responds to concerns about housing affordability and rising rents for mobile home residents. Council also agreed to limit rent increases to once within a 12-month period, including increases associated with home sales.

Council introduced a companion ordinance establishing temporary rent protections while the City considers a permanent rent stabilization program. The companion ordinance is scheduled to return for adoption on November 18, 2026.

📌 What Else? Vacancy decontrol was rejected. One Riveria Park resident produced papers signed the day before by Riviera’s regional supervisor setting his buyer’s fee at $3,300 against the $2,455 he pays. Some park owners advocated for flexibility in their ability to increase space rents since expenses like property insurance keep going up. However, a park resident showed that her fee went from about $1,050 all-utilities-included in 2014 to $2,620.50 plus $300 in utilities, much higher than the inflation rate. And one resident summed it up well: “There is no market when one side has invested their life savings into dirt and they cannot move it.” A permanent ordinance will be brought to council for consideration in January or February 2027.

🛂 DHS, ICE and Border Patrol Activities

✅ Vote: Unanimous (5-0) — all six measures
❌ O’Hara’s motion to strike the item from the agenda DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND
❌ Lyndes’ point of order against him FAILED 3-2

23 people addressed the City Council, each encouraging them to approve Councilmember Joy Lyndes’ thoughtful plan to increase Encinitas’ efforts to inform residents about ICE activities and increase support for affected families. It was a turbulent discussion, with Mayor Ehlers several times threatening expulsion to audience members who shouted during council deliberations. Video is here.

City’s Council Rundown: The City Council unanimously directed staff to explore potential measures addressing federal immigration enforcement activities and their impact on the Encinitas community. The direction followed consideration of a proposal outlining potential city actions to protect public spaces, improve transparency and accountability, expand community resources, and strengthen partnerships with local organizations.

During public comment, residents and community representatives expressed concerns about family separations, enforcement activities near schools, and the impacts on affected families.

Council directed staff to research potential ordinances restricting immigration enforcement activities on city property and strengthening due process protections. Additional direction included exploring federal reporting and accountability measures, establishing a community reporting channel, expanding resource referrals, strengthening community partnerships, and developing a public statement of commitment with an implementation timeline.

📌 What Else? “Unanimously directed” is burying the biggest story of the night. This topic was hot from the beginning of the meeting, starting with the City Manager’s report of two more ICE incidents: October 22 (multiple locations (Parkdale Lane, Glen Arbor, Rose Bay, the El Camino Real corridor, Via Molena), no advance notice to law enforcement) and October 27 near Rancho Santa Fe Road and Encinitas Boulevard (one male detained, and the Sheriff was notified that time). ICE refused to identify its vehicles on “operational security” grounds both times. FOIAs (Freedom of Information Act) filed on both. 

Then during the agenda section on “Changes to the Agenda”, Deputy Mayor O’Hara moved to remove Councilmember Lyndes’ ICE agenda item entirely. The city attorney ruled that a majority cannot strike a single member’s council-initiated item. Councilmember Shaffer, who agreed it was “a political theater moment” said council should hear the item anyway: “As the minority, I do believe she should have the right, and anybody in the minority should have a right.” Nobody seconded O’Hara’s motion.

 When the item was heard, council chambers were full and there were 23 public speakers, many in black holding candles, asking the council to act with compassion. EUSD Superintendent Andrée Grey’s statement urged Council to “take every action within its legal authority.” Encinitas4Equality leader Mali Woods counted 42 Encinitas families supported over 15 months — seven abductions in the last two and a half weeks. And resident Beth Whitaker said to the councilmembers, “Democracy requires more than you allowing us to speak here in a microphone for two or three minutes. It requires you to listen to us with openness and respect.”


Council discussion was robust. Deputy Mayor O’Hara objected to some of the proposed measures in Lyndes’ action item because he believes they are unenforceable theater, saying “I am not going to give residents the risk of false security. I think it’s immoral. And I don’t want to be the person who says you’re safe at your school, and then that parent gets taken away at the school because we told them they were safe.”

Mayor Ehlers disclosed that on February 19, 2026, four federal agencies committed to after-action reports and Sheriff notification and compliance has collapsed, with FOIA responses “never occurring.” And he put suing them on the table. On ICE’s claim that one August 2025 detainee had felonies and another a seven-year deportation notice: “I would love to get to the facts there, and if they’re making statements to us that are wrong, then let’s get the facts and let’s go sue them.” Councilmember Lyndes followed up his statement by saying, “We have demonstrated that we don’t hesitate to initiate legal action against the state. Let’s explore our legal options here against the federal government.”

The Mayor also noted that Encinitas’ Día de los Muertos celebration had lower attendance and one of the dance troupes had to cancel because four of their troupe had been detained. 

Around midnight, the vote was unanimous with O’Hara reversing his initial position: “After 18 months, it’s time to adjust the fire.”

(On Friday, O’Hara published an op-ed in The Coast News in which he denounced City Council candidates running against the incumbents for not attending the meeting to address the item he had previously denounced as “political theater.”)

🛣️ FY 2026-2027 Pavement Rehabilitation. ✅ Vote 4-1; Lyndes’ substitute motion to accept staff’s recommendation died for lack of a second.

City’s Council Rundown: The City Council approved plans to move forward with approximately 17.6 lane miles of roadway improvements as part of the City’s annual pavement rehabilitation program, with the exception of Balour Drive.

Concerns about bicycle safety along Balour Drive, particularly near Oak Crest Middle School, were raised by the City Council who requested additional evaluation of proposed bike lane designs. Balour Drive will return to the Mobility and Traffic Safety Commission for further review before proceeding. The remaining project improvements were approved to move forward to construction bidding.

📌 What Else? Balour and “raised by the City Council” was a split. Lyndes defended city staff: “We’ve hired them to do the city’s work. They are licensed registered engineers.” Staff recommended keeping the flex posts against Mobility & Traffic Safety Commission’s 6-1 vote, after pulling the actual Sheriff collision reports (17 collisions in seven years, none caused by flex posts). Balour’s pavement condition index (PCI) is 47 out of 100, and pulling it pushes it a year. 

📋City Manager Report:  There were a couple important updates from City Manager Jennifer Campbell that didn’t make it to the city’s Council Rundown:

📅 Coming Up

 

It was a long, tumultuous night, but a consequential one — and several of these critical issues are far from settled. We’ll keep following what happens next.

Thanks, as always, for staying informed, remaining engaged and caring about what happens in our favorite home town! And after eight and a half hours of City Council drama, Halloween might seem considerably less scary. 

Happy Halloween…and don’t forget to turn your clocks tomorrow night!

Encinitas Voices is a curated collection of local commentary, letters and opinion pieces that caught our attention and reflect concerns we share. We’re not pretending it’s a scientific sampling of local opinion – it’s a place to highlight thoughtful, provocative or illuminating writing about our community, in the authors’ own words. Additional voices can be found here.