Rimga Viskanta said her experience both as an elected official and a former Solana Beach city employee make her uniquely qualified for mayoral post
A current San Dieguito Union High School District board member, Rimga Viskanta , who previously served on the Encinitas Union School District is now running for Encinitas mayor. A San Dieguito Union High School District board member who previously served on the Encinitas Union School District is now running for Encinitas mayor.
Rimga Viskanta, 51, said in an interview last week that this is the perfect time personally for her to make the shift from schools to city government — two of her three children are in college and the third is about to age out of the high school district. And, she said, her nearly eight years as a school board member, plus her prior experience as a Solana Beach city senior management analyst, will help her be “prepared to hit the ground running on Day 1” if she’s elected mayor. She holds a master’s degree in public administration, with an emphasis on public accounting. “As mayor, I’ll focus on results and bringing people together to tackle housing, traffic, climate change, and homelessness,” she wrote in a press release announcing her candidacy. “I understand how city government works from the inside, and I know how to turn good ideas into real outcomes. I’ll lead with transparency, collaboration, and a commitment to move Encinitas forward.” A 20-year Encinitas resident, Viskanta lives in the city’s downtown Old Encinitas area. She was first elected to the EUSD board in 2016 and served as its board president in 2020. In 2022, she was elected to the SDUHSD board and served as board president until 2024. Bruce Ehlers, the city’s current mayor, also has extensive background in government. Among other things, he has twice served on the city’s Planning Commission and is a former City Council member. Ehlers said last week that he anticipates he will be running for re-election. “I will be running, there’s no doubt in my mind. I have more work to do,” the Olivenhain resident said. Unlike the City Council seats, which are four-year positions and each represents one of the city’s four districts, the mayor is a two-year post and voters citywide participate in the election. While city races are nonpartisan, candidates often receive endorsements from either Democratic- or Republican-leaning regional organizations and typically one candidate will run on a slate with other council candidates. Viskanta said she has been a registered Democrat for decades, though when she was growing up in Virginia and was first eligible to vote, she initially registered as a Republican. She said that she and Brad Lefkowits, a fellow Democrat who is seeking the council District 4 seat held by Marco San Antonio, have not yet decided about running together on a slate. Ehlers has said that he used to register as a Republican, but shifted to Independent status when President Trump first ran for office in 2016. San Antonio, who lives in Olivenhain and was appointed to the council in early 2025 to fill out Ehlers’ term when he became mayor, has said he’s a registered Republican.San Diego County will get third and final wave of rain on ThursdayAfter second trial, jury convicts San Diego County deputy who seriously injured restrained inmateConstruction on first phase of Harbor Park, on the Chula Vista bayfront, to start next month California regulator says its solar rules are fair, but trio of environmental groups wants to toss them out
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