Jim Desmond is a Republican San Marcos Mayor, elected in 2006. Jim, you and I have known each other for several years - at least since your election to the Mayor's seat. Frankly though I really don't know that much about you. Could you tell the readers a little about your personal history, and your decision to run for Mayor?

Sure Duane here is a brief personal resume:

Family -

Married to Kerri for 23 years, Kerri teaches computer programming at Colman College in San Marcos. We have two children, a Dean's list daughter at UC Davis and an Eagle Scout son at Mission Hills High School in San Marcos.

Me -

Grew up in Illinois, Navy Veteran, BS Electrical Engineering - San Diego State University, former corporate pilot for Security Pacific Bank, former business owner, current Captain for Delta Airlines - LAX based flying Boeing 767s and 757s mostly coast to coast. Currently on SANDAG and Lindbergh Airport Boards.

Why did I run for Mayor? I ask that question almost daily with a different answer every day.  However all the answers have a similar theme - leave the world a better place than you found it.

Maybe a better question then: what was your campaign theme when you ran for Mayor? What were the issues that decided the contest?

My theme Capitalization of Assets.  San Marcos is an Education hub and at the time of the Mayoral election the City Council and the University, Palomar College, and School District had no dialog.  I wanted to be a city that not only educates people but to become a city where educated people want to live, raise a family, work, and start new businesses. A variation of clustering - where San Marcos clusters educated people thereby attracting business and economic opportunity.

But to tell the truth I think the issue that decided the contest was that our prior mayor had been in office a long time and he approved a lot of new neighborhoods that brought in younger families and they wanted new blood.

I have to plead ignorant - has the City of San Marcos maintained a balanced budget since you have been Mayor?

Yes, we have had a balanced budget since I have been Mayor. We have had to do some belt tightening this fiscal year due to a drop in development revenue and sales tax income.

Are your city labor unions active in local political campaigns for city office?

The city labor unions are not that visibly active in local campaigns. 

The Fire Fighters Association and the Deputy Sheriff's Associations are active.

Let's get right down to it. The construction of various Walmarts and a rail line of the Sprinter have been and are major issues in the city. Where are you on those issues and how are those issues impacting the politics of the 2008 elections?

As a planning commissioner I was opposed to the second San Marcos WalMart. At the time the issue for me wasn't so much about WalMart as it was a big box in a zoned residential area.

I have always been supportive of the Sprinter rail line.  I believe in the long run it will bring positive economic growth and development.  In San Marcos we are already seeing smart growth mixed use development planned and approved along the rail line. San Marcos has four Sprinter stops including one at Cal State San Marcos and one at Palomar College.

The WalMart issue is pretty much in our past and will have little impact on the 2008 election.  The Sprinter is here and in our future; we are anticipating transit oriented development along the rail line.

The Sprinter had significant cost over-runs. In private industry when there are cost over-runs someone pays the price, usually the entity responsible out of their own profit. When government projects over-run their bids, it seems like the taxpayer always just foots the bill. How do you think government should deal with the cost over-runs that appear to happen on virtually every major project they propose?

Accountability.  People, politicians, contractors, everyone has to be accountable.  To me it is one of the cornerstones of the Republican Party - self responsibility.

However you have to keep one foot in reality when dealing with construction projects.  Inevitably there are unforeseeable circumstances that always come up.  Have you remodeled a kitchen lately?  Made more than one trip to Home Depot? I'm not making excuses for cost overruns but there has to be a balance between accountability and getting the job done.

Government should do its best in any cost estimate and be brutally honest when things go wrong.

San Marcos has grown dramatically in the last decade... I believe literally thousands of new homes. How has this impacted the city as a whole?

Growth brings economic and business opportunities.  Since adding many new neighborhoods we have also added jobs, businesses, and shopping centers as well as new infrastructure with new roads and off-ramps.  The recent growth has had a positive impact on our demographics with higher education and income levels.  San Marcos now has a population of just over 82,000 people.

What is the maximum population envisioned for the city?

I'm estimating 90,000 to 110,000 max population depending on the amount of annexation of county land from our "sphere of influence."

The northeastern urban portion of the county, Vista-San Marcos-Escondido, is not known for having thriving downtowns. Both Escondido and Vista are trying to redevelop them, with debatable success. San Marcos has a street of commercial activity called 'Restaurant Row' that functions as a kind of downtown. How do you envision the future of Restaurant Row?

The planned Creek District is the future downtown for San Marcos. The downtown Creek District will be the "Gas Lamp" of North County.  Located directly across San Marcos Blvd from Restaurant Row is the new Creek District with over 90 acres of developable land. The approved plans call for mixed use development with wide sidewalks, up to seven story buildings, parking structures, and walking trails.  I foresee "Restaurant Row" assimilating and moving across the street into the Creek District.  Currently we are dealing with the environmental agencies over the Creek District plans.  Once we receive approvals the City of San Marcos has dedicated 135 million in redevelopment funds for the initial infrastructure improvements.

By Gas Lamp of North County do you mean you anticipate foot traffic? Is the work underway in Escondido and Vista to establish similar 'downtowns' direct competition?

Yes, we actually hope to encourage foot traffic.  We would like people to have the opportunity to walk to the dry cleaners, restaurant, or coffee shop. 

I don't see Escondido and Vista downtowns as competition as we will each have our own unique style and flair.  San Marcos is building a downtown from scratch, Vista and Escondido are revitalizing older existing downtowns.  As one of our council members likes to say - we are filling in the doughnut hole from scratch.

Rolling Stones or Beatles?

Stones

Cal State University San Marcos has got to be one of the major economic drivers of San Marcos. How is the interaction between the University, which draws large numbers of young students from around North County, and the city? Is there a problem with student housing?

Cal State University San Marcos is the anchor of our San Marcos education hub which includes Palomar College, Coleman College, University of Phoenix, High Tech High, and many other public and private schools.

The Education Hub is not without its growing pains.  The City is in the process of beefing up our ordinances city-wide to address too many people (students and others) renting in single family homes.

I notice you said 'and others' would this apply to illegal immigrants who are known to live in large numbers in single family dwellings?

Yes.  The "Rooming House Ordinance" we have in place limits the number of leases (written or implied per person) in single family residences.  The ordinance just went in effect and we will review it in 12 months and tweek if necessary.

How many students is CSUSM expected to grow to in the next several years? Is there a plan in place to house these students locally?

I'm not sure of their exact growth number.  The campus is only about half built so the number changes yearly as new buildings and fields of study are added.

Yes we are planning on allowing student housing off campus to be built and operated by private industry.  This is proposed in a "University Village" project in the initial stages across the street from CSUSM.

 The City of San Marcos has had an ongoing issue with illegal immigration. There is an active Minuteman presence there, but it's pretty clear they are not alone in their anger with illegal immigrants soliciting for work in public areas or living in large numbers in single family homes. What has the city done about this problem, and what are your general or specific opinions as to what should be done?

San Marcos has no day labor gathering sites within the city limits.

I have requested from Congressman Bilbray for a Border Patrol Station in San Marcos.  As a contract city with the County Sheriff's I am frustrated that our Sheriff's do not detain people without documentation.  Here is the current problem.  If we detain Mr. and Mrs. illegal immigrant an officer on our payroll has to hold and babysit them while waiting for an INS agent to come and pick them up from either the Camp Pendelton or the Temecula Border Patrol Station.  On a good day this is at least a 45 minute wait and a very inefficient use of officers and city resources. 

I have requested an additional ICE agent for San Marcos.  However, the answer from that request included a backlash from Washington directed at our current ICE for not doing a good enough job that the Mayor had to request another agent.  They don't get it - the Feds are doing the lousy job at the borders and we are using City resources to clean up their mess.  A Border Patrol Office in San Marcos would be centrally located and an asset to all of North County.

One of the Democrat proposals in the State Capitol is to 'borrow'

You mean steal?  As a Mayor I am sick and tired of the State trying to balance its budget on the backs of the Cities.  We have to come up with a balanced budget, so should the state.  When you run out of money - you stop spending!

McCain or Obama?

We have two ongoing wars and the Russians on the move.  Do we want a pacifist or Warrior (who has seen the darkest side of war as a POW) leading this country?  McCain.

Who did you support in the Republican Presidential Primary?

Gulianni - I travel to New York several times a year and saw positive change in NYC when Gulianni was Mayor.  Plus he was a Mayor, he must be a good guy.