🌊 RICKY JAMESOceanside City Council · District 2
Oceanside City Council · District 2 · 2026

This is home.
And it's worth fighting for.

I'm Ricky James, and I'm running for Oceanside City Council in District 2. Not to play politics — but to take on the challenges we all see every day, with honest leadership that answers to residents and negotiates with developers through relationships, not contributions.

Join the Campaign My Priorities
Ricky James

“Let's make Oceanside's potential a reality, together.”

My Priorities

Some of my priorities for a better Oceanside

Real problems deserve real solutions — not empty promises. Here's what I'll fight for on day one.

🏕️

Reclaim the San Luis Rey River Trail

Compassionate, accountable solutions for homelessness along the River Trail — connecting people to real services while restoring the trail as a safe place for families to walk, ride, and enjoy.

🌾

Protect our agricultural land to the east

Preserve the farms, open space, and rural character that make Oceanside special. I'm pro-growth — but growth that respects residents, not unchecked sprawl creeping toward Highway 76.

🌳

Better parks for every neighborhood

Clean, safe, well-maintained parks — and transparency about how grant money meant for our community actually gets spent.

🚲

Bike lanes & paths that actually work

Connected, functional routes — including the long-promised links between our neighborhoods and parks — so it's safe to get around Oceanside on two wheels.

⭐

Protect and promote the assets that set us apart

No other North County coastal city has what we have. We should treat these as the competitive advantage they are — maintaining them, showcasing them, and building our identity and economy around them:

  • Oceanside Harbor
  • The Pier
  • Municipal Airport
  • Municipal Golf Course
  • Direct access to Camp Pendleton
  • First & last stop from Orange County
  • San Luis Rey River Trail
  • Playgrounds on the beach
  • Sprinter & Coaster transit stations
  • Frontwave Arena
  • Closest beach access to Temecula
Your Neighborhood

This is District 2

North and northeast Oceanside — North Valley, Morro Hills, Guajome, Arrowood, and the San Luis Rey River corridor. If you live here, I'm running to represent you.

Map of Oceanside City Council District 2 highlighted in gold over an aerial view of north Oceanside

Oceanside City Council District 2 — adopted boundary (Finalist Map C).

🛡️

A clean campaign — no strings attached

Municipal politics should run on honest relationships and reasonable compromise that protects residents. Here's my vow: I won't take a dollar from developers seeking approvals or vendors chasing city contracts — no money with strings attached. When I take my seat on the City Council, I'll answer to you, not to whoever wrote the biggest check.

Ricky James with his family in Oceanside
About Ricky

A neighbor who shows up

I love this city — its coastline, its open space, and the working families who make it home. But lately I've watched decisions get made that leave residents out of the conversation: land carved up behind closed doors, promises to our community quietly dropped, and trails and parks left to decline.

I'm not a career politician. I'm a neighbor who got tired of hearing "that's just how politics work." I believe you can be pro-growth and still demand that developers negotiate in good faith and deliver projects our community actually wants — instead of bulldozing past the people who live here.

I also know our trails, parks, and paths in a way most candidates don't. I navigate them from a wheelchair — and I'm out there with my family, towing my son behind my handcycle on the San Luis Rey River Trail. When I say our paths need to actually work and our public spaces need to be safe and accessible for everyone, I mean it from experience.

Over the coming months I'll be knocking on doors, showing up at your events, and listening. This campaign isn't about me — it's about us.

— Ricky James

Transparency

Rick Robinson — Incumbent since 2022

I believe you have a right to know who's funding the people who represent you. Every contribution to every Oceanside campaign is public record — and you can look it up yourself in seconds.

📂 Look up any Oceanside Form 460 on NetFile →
Live tracker · updated June 9, 2026

The 2026 race — to date

District 2, City of Oceanside · contributions reported on Form 460
Ricky James$0
$0 from outside contributors — people-powered
Rick Robinsonpending
awaiting his first 2026 Form 460
Tracking the 2026 cycle

For the current race, we monitor the Re-Elect Rick Robinson City Council 2026 committee and the PACs active in it — capturing monetary and nonmonetary contributions, independent expenditures, and any other reported activity — updated automatically as new Form 460s and related filings post to NetFile.

My campaign has accepted $0 in contributions to date — I seeded it with a small $100 personal loan and pledge not to take money from developers seeking approvals or vendors chasing city contracts. Robinson's 2026 figures will appear here once his first 2026 statement is filed.

For context · prior filings

Rick Robinson's recent filing record

2022 & 2025 statements — final/amended, fixed figures
Rick Robinson — 2022$86,379
incl. Political Action Committee (PAC) independent expenditures
Rick Robinson — 2025$22,808
2022 breakdown
Oceanside Firefighters Association PACPAC · independent expendituresSched. D/E/G IEs: mailers, digital ads, walk cards, texts, postage$39,862.70
Oceanside Police Officers' AssociationPAC$1,000 monetary + independent-expenditure printing & mailing$21,947.39
Howard Jacobs / GK Asset ManagementDeveloper — “Sunsets” micro-apartment project$4,900.00
Shantu PatelDeveloper — former Flying Bridge project$1,000.00
Waste ManagementCity refuse-franchise hauler$1,000.00
David Fischbach / Blue Curl LLCShort-term-rental operator (Beachfront Only Rentals)$1,000.00
Neal Nagata / Nagata Brothers LLCFarming landowner$500.00
Joe Valenti / North Coast VillageVacation-rental operator$400.00
Dustin CampbellTied to a cannabis-cultivation permit application (Sleeping Indian Rd)$250.00
All other contributors$15,519.39
2022 total$86,379.48
2025 breakdown
Howard Jacobs / GK Asset ManagementDeveloper — Sunsets project (approved 2023)$5,000.00
Fred WilliamsonWilliamson Strawberries / Fire Mountain landowner$3,000.00
Dustin & Molly CampbellCannabis-cultivation interest (Sleeping Indian Rd)$2,000.00
David Fischbach / Blue Curl LLCShort-term-rental operator$500.00
Joe Valenti Jr. / North Coast VillageVacation rentals$200.00
All other contributors$12,108.37
2025 total$22,808.37
Grand Total — 2022 + 2025$109,187.85

Contribution amounts and dates are from public California Form 460 filings via NetFile. Notes identify each contributor's publicly known business, role, or project before the City. 2022 and 2025 totals are final/amended and stay fixed.

Get Involved

Join the campaign

Add your name and tell me how you'd like to be part of it — volunteer, contribute, or both. Every bit of help builds the Oceanside we all deserve.

Ways to contribute

100% optional — please read my note below first. Every contribution is recorded and publicly reported.

Zelle · no fees
RickyJamesOceanside
Please use your real name so I can record it accurately. All Zelle funds go directly to a separate campaign bank account.
Card / online giving
Coming soon
Secure card, Apple Pay or Google Pay via Anedot. Up front: a 4% + $0.30 processing fee applies — you'll have the option to cover it so the full amount reaches the campaign. (Zelle has no fees.)

By law, contributions of $100 or more require your name, address, occupation, and employer, and every contribution is publicly reported. Political contributions are not tax-deductible. No corporate, anonymous, or developer / conflict-of-interest contributions — those will be returned.

We'll never sell your information. Unsubscribe anytime.

🌊 Thank you for joining the campaign! We'll be in touch soon.
A note from Ricky

Your time and your name mean more to me than your money

Your willingness to volunteer and to sign my Friends & Neighbors Endorsement Page matters more to me than any contribution. I'm not begging for money or telling you to give it — I hope to do what I set out to do on the strength of this community and the spare change on my desk.

I wish giving could be anonymous, but the law requires it to be reported — just like my expenses. I want it that way. Transparency is the whole point.

If I ever recognize a contribution from a developer or anything that looks like a conflict of interest, I'll send it back so I can stay unbiased. And if you spot a possible conflict, please bring it to my attention so I can address it.

Putting my money where my mouth is

I've filed a Partial Salary Waiver with the City of Oceanside

Pursuant to Article I.5, Section 2.1.70(d) of the Oceanside City Code and California Government Code Section 36516(f), I've formally notified the City Treasurer that I'm waiving part of my Council salary.

$1,200/mo
the most I'll accept in total compensation
~$2,152/mo
waived & returned to the City's General Fund
Homelessness
where I've recommended those funds be put to work

Oceanside Council compensation runs about $3,352 a month — $2,802.49 in base salary, plus roughly $350 for Community Development Commission meetings and about $200 for Harbor District meetings. I'll keep no more than $1,200; the remaining ~$2,152 every month goes to the General Fund for the City to use at its discretion — and my recommendation is that it go toward fighting homelessness.

📄 Read the actual letter (PDF)

Sign my Friends & Neighbors Endorsement Page

The most powerful thing you can do is lend your name. Add a short endorsement and tell your neighbors why you're with us.

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