North County Report: The Race for Supervisor in North County

We may have just wrapped up an election season, but a few North County officials are already gearing up for races in 2026. 

Two North County Republican mayors are running for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. And one San Marcos councilmember plans to run for California State District 40. 

Vista Mayor John Franklin and San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones are taking a shot at the District 5 seat, which includes the region’s most northern cities and areas. County Supervisor Jim Desmond is termed out.  

Recently re-elected San Marcos Councilmember Ed Musgrove plans to make a bid for the seat held by state Sen. Brian Jones, who is termed out. 

I took a closer look at what the three Republicans want to get done and, if elected to higher office, what could become of the seats they would be leaving behind.  

Two Mayors Vying for a Supe Seat

San Diego’s District 5 is made up of the cities of Escondido, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, Camp Pendleton and other northern communities. The district leans Democrat with 143,500 registered Democrats and roughly 129,000 registered Republicans. It also has a large Hispanic population. 

So far, the candidates are two Republicans. Mayor Franklin has served on the Vista City Council since 2014 and as mayor since 2022. His decision to run for supervisor and not for a second mayoral term means Vista will need to elect a new mayor.  

During a recent a call, he told me addressing homelessness is one of his top priorities. One of those is to see an increase in the use of conservatorships.  

A conservatorship is a legal arrangement where a judge appoints someone to manage the affairs of an adult who cannot do so themselves because of mental illness or health issues. The county is rolling out a new state law that expands conservatorships to people suffering from severe addiction to force them into treatment. County officials were supposed to enact the law a year ago, but the majority of county supervisors decided San Diego needed more time to prepare. 

“The  majority in the Board of Supervisors want to wrongly claim that conservatorship is an infringement on civil rights,” Franklin said. “But there are so many people on our streets whose judgment has been too diminished by their addiction or other mental illness to recognize that they are sick.” 

He acknowledged the need for more mental health resources to effectively implement the conservatorship expansion. Voice of San Diego has previously reported that the county has a severe lack of residential and detox treatment beds to meet the expected demand from the expansion.  

Franklin also wants to improve public safety and crack down on crime, which he says will also result in a decrease in homelessness.  

“The only thing we need to do to eliminate encampments is eliminate the flow of illegal drugs to the local encampments,” Franklin said. “We have a culture now that accepts less interaction from law enforcement. We need more law enforcement resources, not less.” 

The other candidate: San Marcos Mayor Jones has served on the San Marcos City Council since 2007 and as mayor since 2018. 

She did not respond to my requests for comment, but she told The Coast News last April that she wants to apply the initiatives that were successful in San Marcos at the county level. 

Her priority would be to advocate for affordable housing as a key aspect of preventing homelessness in San Diego County. More than 7 percent of San Marcos’ housing stock is deed-restricted, something Jones attributes to San Marcos’ historically low rates of homelessness, according to The Coast News. 

She also wants to help increase mental health resources that are innovative and cost-effective, she told The Coast News. 

Jones’ run for supervisor means San Marcos will elect a new mayor in 2026. 

Ed Musgrove 

Musgrove was first elected to the San Marcos District 4 City Council seat in 2020. He just won his re-election bid for a second term this past November.  

He’s now hoping to win over voters for the District 40 state Senate seat in a couple years, a seat that’s currently held by state Sen. Brian Jones, who will term out in 2026. 

If Musgrove wins, he’ll leave his current Council seat in the middle of his term. San Marcos will be tasked with filling the seat.

He said helping jurisdictions better address homelessness, cost of living, infrastructure and public safety are some of his top priorities. 

Specifically, Musgrove added, communities are lacking the funding and resources to fulfill the mandates coming down from the state, including making way for more housing, as well as effectively dealing with issues like homelessness and high cost of living. 

“We tend to chase dreams that are not realistic – for example, this concept of no gasoline powered cars by 2035, all electric, and yet we can’t keep the power on when it’s a sunny day,” Musgrove said. “We need to be a little more pragmatic with the tax dollars that go to Sacramento and start returning them back to the cities.”  

District 40 includes San Marcos, Escondido, Rancho Bernardo, Rainbow, Fallbrook, Bonsall, Ramona, Poway and more. 

Around Town: Palomar Health’s Recent Board Meeting Was Intense 

Palomar Health’s Board of Directors tabled plans to revise the public health care district’s bylaws on Monday after aides from multiple state legislators urged the board to reconsider. 

The public healthcare district’s board was supposed to change Palomar’s bylaws to enshrine Mesa Rock Healthcare Management’s role in its operations. Mesa Rock is a private nonprofit management company that the board contracted with last year to oversee the day-to-day operations of the hospital district, which includes Palomar Medical Centers in Escondido and Poway, raising widespread concerns that the district’s leaders are trying to privatize a public institution.  

Among other things, the contract takes away the Palomar board’s authority to fire Palomar CEO Diane Hansen and does not require Mesa Rock’s board to hold public meetings or be subject to the California Public Records Act. 

At Monday’s meeting, legislative aides read a joint letter from state Senators Brian Jones and Dr. Akilah Weber Pierson and Assemblymembers Tasha Boerner and Darshana Patel, expressing “deep concern” about what this would mean for the hospital’s long-term operations and “public trust.” 

A representative from the Local Agency Formation Commission of San Diego County, or LAFCO, also spoke at the meeting, criticizing Palomar officials for not being transparent with the public about what exactly Mesa Rock is. 

Board member Laurie Edwards-Tate has been opposed to the new management agreement since its approval last February. 

“It’s critical that elected board members take seriously our authority and responsibility to hold management accountable for their decisions, especially when those decisions have led to an unprecedented $165 million operating loss in 2024,” Edwards-Tate told Voice. “Outsourcing management insulates those responsible for this failure from accountability.” 

It’s unclear when the board will revisit the proposed changes to Palomar’s bylaws. 

In Other News 

• ICYMI: After months of tension, Interfaith Community Services, North County’s largest homeless services provider, has reconciled with Escondido leaders and aims to expand services. (Voice of San Diego) 
• Solana Beach Mayor Lesa Heebner was unanimously appointed as the new chair of the SANDAG board of directors last week. (Coast News) 
• Vista has a new sheriff’s captain. Lt. John Malan of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office has been selected as the new sheriff’s captain for the Vista Station. (Coast News)