Fox 5

Jim Desmond's District 5 flipped Democrat under his watch

When San Marcos city councilman Jim Desmond was elected to represent North County on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors three years ago, there was a five percent GOP majority in his District 5. No Democrat had represented North County in over 50 years. Now there are more Democrat voters than Republicans in this northernmost district. And at least one Democrat has noticed the opportunity.

Can Carlsbad's Doug Applegate take out Jim Desmond of San Marcos?

Retired USMC Colonel-turned-attorney Doug Applegate, who turned heads when he came within 1621 votes of tossing Darrell Issa out of Congress five years ago, says he will run to unseat Desmond next year.

Last year the five-person board turned to a Democrat majority for the first time in recent history. If Nathan Fletcher is re-elected next year, and if a Democrat can turn District 5 blue, the board would have a 4-1 Democrat majority.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez was rumored to be promoting state Assemblyman Brian Maienschein to run for the 5th District seat, while Carlsbad City Councilwoman Dr. Priya Bhat-Patel was thought to be looking at dropping her plans to run for State Senate and instead look to unseat Desmond. A Maienschein representative and Bhat-Patel both declined to comment. But Applegate says he will run and that he will make an official announcement after the politically dormant month of August.

Desmond did not specifically respond about facing off against Applegate. He instead offered this comment: I've devoted my energy over the last year and a half to ensure that the County of San Diego did its level best to provide the full range of health services for residents in response to the COVID-19 virus, he said by email on July 14. I've also tried to find a balance in allowing people to get back to work, and our kids back in the classroom. I'm proud of my accomplishments in this first term and I look forward to serving North County for another four years.

Katie Taylor wants Carlsbad to "revote" on items Schumacher "tainted."

Gary Gartner is a Democratic campaign strategist who is not connected with any potential candidate for District 5. In 2012 he helped Dave Roberts of Solana Beach become the first Democrat to get elected to the Board of Supervisors in 20 years. "If Doug Applegate was running against [Dr.] Priya Bhat-Patel, I think Doug would be the prohibitive favorite," he says. "He better fits the demographic of the voters in that district, especially with his military background as a retired Marine Colonel. I think he would give Desmond a run for his money."

But Gartner says the upcoming redistricting to be announced later this year could change everything. Applegate lives in Carlsbad which could be taken out of District 5 (Oceanside, Vista, Fallbrook, Borrego Springs) and moved into District 3 (Encinitas, Solana Beach, Escondido, Tierrasanta).

"I have no interest in speaking ill of other fellow Democrats," says Applegate of the June primary that will send the top two vote-getters to the November 2022 general election. "Let's have an honest campaign. Let's agree on the facts, and then talk about how we will address the issues facing the voters of D-5. We've got to get away from putting party over constituents." Applegate says he will concentrate on his endorsements, election staff and contributions over the next two months.

Meanwhile, Bhat-Patel was mentioned by name as a possible recall target at the July 13 Carlsbad City Council meeting. Real estate agent Katie Taylor, who lives in Oceanside, was speaking on behalf of Save Carlsbad, the group which spearheaded the effort to recall Carlsbad Councilwoman Cori Schumacher. After Save Carlsbad declared it had collected 800 more signatures than it needed to force a recall election, Schumacher decided to resign.

Schumacher became a kind of folk hero when she helped organize Save the Strawberry Fields, a grassroots effort that successfully defeated L.A. Developer Rick Caruso's plan to build a development on the banks of the Hedionda Lagoon. She was first elected to the city council in 2016. But last year she drew heat from restaurant owners and employees over her outspoken support of stricter Covid closures. She also filed a restraining order against two Carlsbad locals and a Palm Springs resident who publicly chastised her. The order was denied by a judge and Schumacher was forced to pay more than $47,000 in court costs connected with the so-called anti-SLAPPP motion.

At the July 13 Carlsbad Council meeting Taylor was on a tear, having just secured Schumacher's resignation four days earlier. Taylor said she had watched things in Carlsbad go from bad to worse, saying that trash and homeless tents has tormented Los Angeles, Oakland and Venice Beach and that Carlsbad could quickly follow suit. Taylor never explained how Schumacher had actually contributed to Carlsbad's decline except to say Schumacher was trying to destroy Carlsbad from within.

Taylor suggested other Carlsbad City Council recall efforts could be coming. "We will not tolerate another toxic city council member who does support and respect the Carlsbad police department." Taylor did not explain how Schumacher was anti-police.

Taylor's ten-minute screed focused on a Schumacher tweet. According to Taylor, Schumacher tweeted, "It's time for your brand of white nationalist, regressive, traditionalist, authoritarian, toxic, destructive politics to get the F out of Carlsbad and take the other five North County mayors and [county supervisor] Jim Desmond with you." Taylor then said on mic at the July 13 meeting: "We the people will not tolerate another city council person to sit silent when their colleague uses vulgar language, heinous, unfounded accusations against mayors or Jim Desmond."

Desmond spokesperson Miles Himmel said he was aware of the tweet but that his office would have no response to either Schumacher's tweet or Taylor's tirade.

Taylor wanted the Carlsbad city council to issue a proclamation that would say Carlsbad was officially sorry for Schumacher's behavior. She also asked that the council "re-vote" on items that Schumacher had voted on, including approvals on a clean energy alliance, homeless vouchers, and the city's trash contract.

Taylor said those decisions were tainted by Schumacher.

And even though Taylor admitted that none of the other four Carlsbad city council members corrected Democrat Schumacher, she only mentioned the two remaining Democrat councilmembers when she threatened more recalls. "Your recall may be next, Council members [Teresa] Acosta and Bhat-Patel, we are speaking directly to you." Taylor did not threaten Republicans Mayor Matt Hall or Deputy Mayor Keith Blackburn.

Taylor did not return a phone call asking for explanations on her Schumacher attacks or why she only threatened the Democrats for another recall.

While developer Rick Caruso was pilloried in Carlsbad for his proposed development, he was recently mentioned in the Los Angeles Times as a possible replacement to L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti who was nominated to be U.S. ambassador to India.