The Sandpiper Recommends a Vote for Martinez and Spelich, but not Quirk

Del Mar voters will find very limited ability to shape the City Council this November, with three candidates for the three seats up for election. So it is a certainty that incumbents Tracy Martinez and Dan Quirk, and Planning Commissioner John Spelich will be elected. That Del Mar voters do not have an opportunity to oust twice-censured Dan Quirk, who was found by an independent investigator and his Council colleagues to have repeatedly engaged in misconduct, including violating Council Policies, the Municipal Code, and the City Manager’s contract, is deeply distressing. Quirk’s constant drumbeat of negative attacks against all four of his Council colleagues clearly signaled that anyone who dared to run for Council against him would face a nasty campaign. As a result, voters have no choice at all, and Quirk will be elected even if the only vote he gets is his own.  All that is left for Del Mar voters who value fact-based, civil governance, and are dismayed with how Quirk has shredded Del Mar’s credibility regionally, is to vote yes for Martinez and Spelich, but withhold their third vote from Quirk. Word on the street is that Quirk is asking his supporters to vote only for him, another sign that he plans to continue his aggressively gadfly role, attacking his Council colleagues and continuing to shred Del Mar’s reputation and credibility in the process.