Druker Selected by City Council as 2024 Mayor

Yesterday, the City Council selected Dave Druker as Del Mar’s Mayor for 2024, by a vote of 4 in favor, with Deputy Mayor Quirk abstaining.

Based on Council tradition and City Council Policy 100, Deputy Mayor Dan Quirk was next in the queue to be Mayor. However, in advance of the Dec. 18 Council meeting, Quirk indicated that he did not want to be considered for the Mayor position. In his remarks at yesterday’s Council meeting, Quirk noted that with respect to train and tunnel issues, “I clearly have a very different opinion from the four other Council Members…. As an appointed Mayor, I might find myself in a position where I would have to…state something I don’t personally believe in.”

Did Quirk’s censure play a role? Given the Council’s Dec. 4, 2023 adoption of a resolution “censuring Deputy Mayor Dan Quirk for failing to provide proper disclosure and transparency in public communications and for inappropriate use of public resources” (quoting the meeting minutes), it was not clear whether a Council majority was prepared to select Quirk as the 2024 Mayor, had he not removed himself from consideration. The vote on the censure was 4-1, with only Quirk in opposition.

With Council member Druker next in the queue per Council Policy 100, followed by Council member Gaasterland, the motion to select Druker as Mayor and Gaasterland as Deputy Mayor readily passed, with Quirk abstaining.