Mayor Wood Says Council Trio Could See Voter Backlash in 2014

Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood is no longer serving on two regional boards, but he thinks his colleagues who voted him off will see voter pushback in 2014.

Wood—recently removed from the SANDAG board and the North County Transit District board—said Councilmen Gary Felien, Jack Feller and Jerry Kern were wrong in voting him off the board and removing his appointment on the San Diego County Water Authority board.

“As a citizen or as the mayor, I thought my vote counted for something,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve seen a vote for someone like myself doesn’t count. I think it’s going to backlash on them.”

Wood—who noted that the three may find difficulty in being re-elected in 2014—said he felt Proposition K, which changed Oceanside from a general law city to a charter city in June was unfair.

“I think it’s illegal and wrong. How can this many people vote for me, overwhemingly, and three people change the powers of that mayor under the election? I think it’s wrong. They’re using a backdoor policy.”

But Councilman Felien, who initiated the discussion to remove the mayor from the regional posts, said it’s simply a matter of representing the voters.

“The issue comes down to the mayor believes that by virtue of being mayor he should be in control of the entire appointment process,” he said. “Our position is the mayor’s views don’t represent the majority of the views of the City Council.

“We need representation that represents the majority of the [council] that represents the majority of the people. It comes down to a fundamental question: Do two votes run the city or do three votes run the city? Basically, I vote for three votes.”

Watch the attached interviews with Mayor Wood and Councilman Felien for more.

Who should represent Oceanside on the SANDAG board? What about the North County Transit District board? Tell us in the comments.