ENCINITAS — A marathon meeting culminated with the Encinitas City Council appointing Marco San Antonio to the open District 4 seat on Wednesday.
San Antonio was elected to the Olivenhain Municipal Water District Board of Directors in 2022, and fills the seat vacated by Mayor Bruce Ehlers after his mayoral victory in November. Ehlers was elected to the D4 seat in 2022.
San Antonio’s council appointment became a heated affair with an allegation he lied about his work title related to his firefighting career in Orange County. The allegation by Mali Woods-Drake challenged San Antonio’s claim he was a firefighter/engineer who could operate a fire engine, but Orange County Fire Authority Captain Dave Forrester said San Antonio has the qualifications and training and there is no distinction with titles between volunteers and employees.
Councilwoman Joy Lyndes voted against the appointment. The other candidates included Julie Graboi, Brad Lefkowits, Farhad Mahmoudi, Denise Martin, Michael Quinn, Eli Stern and Paul Templin.
“Honestly, I’m a little shellshocked,” said San Antonio, who is the first male person of color and Filipino to serve on the council. “Last night (Wednesday) was a little more intense than I was expecting, not by the candidates, we had so many good candidates. The public comment, that part I will have to grow into. My time at the water board was a very nice and well-mannered experience.”
San Antonio said he’s a lifelong resident of “New Encinitas” and also owns a small business, One Day Signs. He was elected to the OMWD board and served as a volunteer firefighter with the OCFA from 2011-21.
On his resume, he states “firefighter/engineer,” but omitted the volunteer designation, which led to Woods-Drake’s claim. She presented several slides outlining her opposition to San Antonio’s appointment, while also saying his social media posts were problematic.
Woods-Drake said it’s rare for a firefighter to leave employment after 10 years and she said other firefighters in OCFA had never heard of San Antonio.
“A reserve firefighter is not a firefighter/engineer,” she added. “Marco deliberately altered his resume to present himself as a firefighter/engineer as opposed to what he was. He omitted the word reserve.”
Woods-Drake called him a “right-wing MAGA” extremist and said Ehlers wanted a moderate, nonpartisan candidate to fill the seat. She also said he promoted anti-DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), anti-immigrant, anti-mask and anti-vaccine, anti-pronoun, anti-Democrat and pro-violence tweets for years.
Woods-Drake said the anti-pronoun tweets are offensive to the transgender community and the Democrat Party has become a party of hate and divisiveness.
However, Forrester, who’s spent 19 with the fire service, said San Antonio did not make any false claims. Forrester said San Antonio served in the same capacity as Forrester and was certified as a Level 1 firefighter. He said San Antonio was allowed to enter structures and operate and pump the engine.
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