Three candidates vying for two Del Mar City Council seats split on how to reroute the LOSSAN rail corridor and push back on state housing mandates, in a Q&A first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune on Monday, Oct. 12.

Incumbent Councilmember Terry Gaasterland, who is seeking a third term, did not respond to the Del Mar Times before its publication deadline.

The Nov. 3 election will fill two at-large seats on the five-member council. One is Gaasterland's. The other has been vacant since September 2024, when former Councilmember Dwight Worden resigned, according to the city's election page. Both Jas Grewal and Jeff Sturgis applied for appointment to that seat in 2024, but the remaining four council members deadlocked and could not agree on an appointee.

Rail realignment

All three challengers oppose tunneling under Del Mar homes and the use of eminent domain. Their preferred routes differ.

Former Finance Committee chair Jeff Sturgis said he would pursue SANDAG's Alignment 10, routing tracks along Interstate 5 from Oceanside to Carmel Valley Road, with a transit center near the existing RV park and affordable housing adjacent to it.

Planning Commissioner Meghan Spieker, a lawyer and 25-year Del Mar resident, said she would work with grassroots advocates who have kept the Northern I-5 route in consideration. She did not endorse a specific alignment number.

Planning Commissioner Jas Grewal said her first step would be rebuilding relationships with SANDAG staff and meeting individually with each board representative. She cited existing relationships with Reps. Scott Peters and Mike Levin.

Housing mandates

The candidates agreed that Sacramento's housing requirements are a poor fit for Del Mar, which Grewal described as a 1.7-square-mile city with limited land.

Sturgis said the city's affordable housing allocation under the 6th Housing Cycle is 175 units, more than three times what he called the correct figure of 53 units. He blamed an inaccurate jobs count the city accepted from SANDAG. Grewal made a similar argument, saying SANDAG assigned Del Mar twice the jobs it actually has.

"Sacramento's one-size-fits-all approach does not adequately account for a fully built-out coastal community like Del Mar, where limited land, high costs, coastal constraints, and environmental protections make additional housing particularly challenging," Spieker told the Del Mar Times.

Spieker said Del Mar's charter-city status and the Coastal Act provide legal tools to defend local decision-making. Sturgis said Del Mar supports Our Neighborhood Voices, a grassroots organization promoting a statewide ballot initiative to return zoning control to cities.

The incumbent

Gaasterland's official candidate statement lists her top priorities as utility undergrounding, relocating railroad tracks without tunneling under homes, local control of land use and implementing affordable housing plans. She describes herself as a 23-year Del Mar resident who has served two council terms and three years on the Finance Committee.

The voter registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 19. Mail ballot drop-off locations at the Del Mar Civic Center and the Del Mar Branch Library are open through Nov. 3.