Solana Beach mayor steps down, special meeting set for April 11

Solana Beach Mayor Virginia “Ginger” Marshall has resigned her seat effective immediately, the city council’s second unexpected departure in the past month.

“Please accept my letter of resignation from Mayor of Solana Beach,” she wrote in her April 5 resignation letter. “It has been an honor to serve the community.”

Marshall has been the council’s sole conservative voice in her three years on the council, casting the lone “no” votes on a wide range of issues, including state-driven mandates on affordable housing, the city’s effort to launch a city-controlled energy entity, and, most recently, the city’s March 28 resolution calling for tighter gun controls and a ban on the Del Mar Fairgrounds’ five annual gun shows.

“I’m looking forward to a change in lifestyle,” Marshall said in an April 6 interview.

The vacancy leaves the council with only three out of five seats filled after the March 12 resignation of three-term councilman Mike Nichols.

Marshall and Nichols both had less than a year left in their four-year terms after being appointed to the council in December 2014 when the city canceled that year’s council election because they were the only candidates vying for the two open seats.

Nichols’ seat will be filled on April 11 at a specially scheduled meeting to appoint one of the eight residents who applied. The council will then discuss how or whether to fill the seat vacated by Marshall before this November’s election.

Nichols cited family reasons for leaving after attending two of the previous four council meetings via teleconference from North Carolina, where he was raised.