Terry Gaasterland
Candidate for City Council (At-Large), Del Mar
Terry Gaasterland is a Professor of Computational Biology and Genomics at UC San Diego, where she directs the Scripps Genome Center. She earned a B.S. from Duke University and a master's degree and Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park, and was named a Fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology in 2018 for her contributions to computational biology and bioinformatics. Before her first election to local office in 2018, she spent seventeen years serving on Del Mar's finance and sea-level-rise advisory committees. She has twice served as the city's rotating mayor and is in her sixth year representing Del Mar on the SANDAG regional transportation board.
Positions in brief
Gaasterland has focused on coastal and environmental protection, including sea-level-rise adaptation and moving rail lines off the eroding bluffs, while pushing to keep zoning and housing decisions under local control amid state mandates.
Gaasterland has emphasized environmental protection, including coastal bluff stabilization and sea-level-rise planning, drawing on her prior years on the city's sea-level-rise advisory committee. She has opposed state housing law SB 9, which allowed additional units on single-family lots, and Del Mar under her council successfully challenged the law's constitutionality in 2023; she has framed this as protecting local control over zoning and housing decisions. She also supports realigning rail tracks off Del Mar's coastal bluffs and continues to represent the city on the regional SANDAG transportation board that oversees that planning.
On the issues
Prioritizes coastal bluff protection and sea-level-rise adaptation planning, drawing on her years on the city's sea-level-rise advisory committee.
“I care deeply about our environment”
Source →Supports keeping zoning and housing decisions under local control; opposed state law SB 9 and backed Del Mar's successful 2023 legal challenge to it.
“I care deeply about local control of our zoning and housing”
Source →Supports rail realignment planning to move train tracks off Del Mar's eroding coastal bluffs, and continues to represent the city on the SANDAG regional transportation board.
Source →
Profiles are compiled from the candidate’s own statements and public records. We never tell you how to vote.