sam abed

Sorry Sam: Dave and Kristin headed for supervisor race runoff

Incumbent 3rd District Supervisor Dave Roberts will square off against Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar in November. Escondido Mayor Sam Abed is out. “I’m happy to be past that milestone and am looking forward to the next months ahead,” Gaspar said. Roberts finished first, with 38.79 percent of votes cast (53,108), while Gaspar was in second place, with 34.28 percent (46,939), according to the latest tally,…


Supervisor race not as much about party as it was about the people

Sam Abed was looking forward to an easy win in the June primary to challenge incumbent Dave Roberts for the 3rd District seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. The Republican mayor of Escondido had the old guard of the party solidly behind him. He won the official endorsement of the county GOP, and counted in his camp such old-school party republican stalwarts…


Welcome to the monkey house: June 7 California Primary edition

Beginning with baboons, researchers have studied these great apes because they have more than just DNA in common with humans. They are masters of social interactions living and loving, working and warring in tightly knit clans. Princeton University researchers have found is that the biggest problem for baboons are other baboons. Which brings us to the 50th Congressional District and District 3 County Supervisor contests….


Abed’s Town Hall meeting gets recycled

Escondido Mayor, and San Diego County District 3 Supervisor candidate Sam Abed may have gone to his 11th Town Hall meeting looking for a boost Wednesday. All he apparently got was a lengthy brow-beating and not even a lousy T-shirt. Who knows what the Republican mayor believed would come out of this exercise in listening to his constituents. A room packed with residents from the Chaparral…


Fact Check: North County Wants Its ‘Fair Share’ of SANDAG Tax

Escondido Mayor Sam Abed claims SANDAG’s ballot measure allocates too much for public-transit projects in San Diego and not enough for highways in North County. While it’s true that increased transit funding is more beneficial for dense San Diego than suburban Escondido, transit dollars are still useful for North County. Statement: “The new proposal from SANDAG … 14 percent goes to freeways and 40 percent goes to public…


He (Abed) said. She (Diaz) said.

Yet again, Mayor Sam Abed has demonstrated his total lack of tolerance for dissenting opinions. Abed is quite content to let Councilman Ed Gallo take what seems like hours in his reminiscences, but no tolerance for Councilwoman Olga Diaz’s vital questions about what the city is doing to coordinate and plan for all the developments it approves. — Margaret McCowan Liles (For more, visit “A Blue…


Follow the money: Abed, Gaspar, Roberts

The three candidates for the District 3 seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors have raised, and loaned themselves, a total of nearly $300,000 in the first four months of this year, according to financial disclosure forms filed with the county of San Diego. The contributions, received between Jan. 1 and April 23, were fairly evenly split between the three candidates – incumbent…


District 3 county Supervisor race en fuego

“Escondido Mayor Sam Abed, critics say, is old school, a stereotypically brash small-town mayor. His GOP creds have been challenged by his attempts to block a 99-cent store from coming to Escondido and his acceptance of union support during his 2014 re-election campaign.” — Thomas K. Arnold The race for the District 3 seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors is heating up,…


State of the City: Escondido Mayor Sam Abed likes it

Escondido Mayor Sam Abed looked over all he had made and saw that it was very good during his State of the City Address. Those sentiments, and presentations of eight civic awards arose at sunrise Wednesday, Feb. 24 at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido Conference Center. Co-sponsored by the Escondido Chamber of Commerce, the event began at 7:30 a.m. with an optional $20…


From climate change to road widening

Benefits of fixing climate change You think? North County Climate Change Alliance presents Dr. Tom English, a Carlsbad lecturer and scientist and Rolf Dorp, Alliance grass roots organizer discussing the benefits of fixing climate change. They’ll be at the Escondido Public Library’s upstairs Turrentine Room from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23. It’s open to the public and free. “Sponsored by The North…