Carlsbad has a newly appointed District 2 City Council member as of Wednesday, Feb. 15, chosen from a final list of seven applicants.

Carolyn Luna, who served on the city’s Planning Commission for six years and retired in 2015 from working for Riverside County in planning and administration, fills a seat vacated by Mayor Keith Blackburn when he was elected to that post last November.

Luna was sworn in after City Council members held interviews with the seven candidates. An eighth candidate withdrew their application.

District 2 serves a middle portion of the city from part of Agua Hedionda Lagoon to the north to Palomar Airport Road and Bressi Ranch to the south, and the coastline to as far as Melrose Drive to the east. Although the district map was updated in 2022 based on U.S. Census figures, Luna’s appointment will reflect the 2020 map. The term will end in 2024.

The district’s boundaries will reflect the new map in the 2024 election, but Luna will not be able to run for the seat as a current appointee, according to city code.

In addition to Luna, the other applicants were:

Thomas Mark Powers: artist and educator;

Josh Coelho: project management director with developer Irvine Companies;

Steven D. Ahlquist: retired financial services manager;

Brian Peeling: commercial construction and development experience;

Jamie Latiano Jacobs: business owner, educator and author;

William Fowler: retired computer specialist with Rand Corporation; city Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission member;

Tiffany Weber: application withdrawn.

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