On Nov. 5, the final votes for national and local elections will occur. Greg Day and Teresa Acosta are vying for the Carlsbad City Council District 4 position.
District 4 is the southernmost part of Carlsbad. The position is for one of the four representatives underneath the mayor in the city government.
Teresa Acosta is the current District 4 representative and has been in office for the past four years. She is now running for reelection.
“I see myself doing all this great work, but I’m not done yet,” Acosta said. “I want to continue giving back, and that’s why I’m here.”
The opposing candidate, Greg Day, believes that he could fix some problems he sees under Carlsbad’s current leadership.
“I look at my current representation and I think there’s some challenges that she’s going to face with how she’s been dealing with some of the issues,” Day said. “We need a change so might as well step up and do it myself.”
Regarding decision-making, Acosta’s main priority is quality of life.
“I love the City Council because it is about quality of life issues at the most grassroots level,” Acosta said. “We talk about things like police, fire, street and road improvements, water systems, really local things.
Day prioritizes public opinion and influence in his decision-making process.
“This is not about me making Carlsbad the way I want it,” Day said. “It’s about all of us making sure Carlsbad is the place that we want to live.”
Acosta splits quality of life into three distinct categories: safety, affordability and sustainability. When it comes to safety, she works on training and hiring Carlsbad’s first responders.
“I have hired five new police officers in my time here and focused on homeless outreach team training for our officers,” Teresa said. “I also work a lot on lowering 911 response times.”
When it comes to safety for Day, he’s worried about organized crime.
“We’re seeing a very large increase in break-ins in houses and vehicles. I think there is a deeper concern about that kind of crime because it’s organized,” Day said. “Our organized crime is in its infancy, and it’ll grow.”
Regarding affordability, Acosta works on making sure there are affordable ways to get into Carlsbad’s housing market.
“We have a housing affordability ordinance which is really important,” Acosta said. “We have a housing trust fund where we use funds to make sure that we’ve got affordable housing supply available in the city.”
To improve general affordability, Day wants to work on cutting unnecessary funding.
“We need to stop funding programs that don’t yield success,” Day said. “This state alone has spent tens of billions of dollars on the homeless problem, and it’s not working.”
Day elaborates on what he believes the homelessness problem is and how he plans to fix it.
“When you treat somebody like a human, they behave like a human. I think that’s what we’re lacking right now,” Day said. “We’re essentially facilitating people’s drug habits and poor life choices, as opposed to holding them accountable and giving them the tools to set themselves on the correct path.”
In Acosta’s third area, sustainability, she focuses on preserving Carlsbad’s environment.
“I do a lot to fight climate change to help adapt to changing weather patterns,” Acosta said. “I make sure we have a climate-resilient city with low greenhouse gases and a lot of beautiful natural spaces.”
In line with her priorities, Acosta ran for candidacy to give back to Carlsbad’s community.
“It’s about giving back and caring for the community and making sure that I am part of this community that shares and contributes back to its benefactors,” Acosta said. “People have helped me and I want to pay that forward to others.”
Day was an F18 pilot for the Marines for 11 years before transferring to the reserves for 12 years and then retiring from the Marines completely. His time in the Marines influenced his decision to run for candidacy.
“The Marine Corps taught me about service and not just the will to do something, but also realizing you can do something,” Day said. “I care very much about what goes on in our city. I have an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old. This is where my family is. This is where their future is. I care very much about their future and our city’s future.”
