Encinitas mayoral candidate touts crisis leadership on school boards

Rimga Viskanta is pitching her record as a steady hand in two local education crises as she runs for Encinitas mayor in 2026. Her campaign says that experience shows the kind of order, process and calm she would bring to City Hall.

Why it matters: - Rimga Viskanta is making crisis management a centerpiece of her run for Encinitas mayor. - Her campaign is using two school board stints to argue she can restore order in City Hall. - The pitch matters because local voters are being asked to choose between disruption and steady governance.

What happened: - Viskanta served on the Encinitas Union School District board from 2016 to 2020. - She was board president in 2020, when COVID-19 disrupted public education. - The district returned students to in-person instruction in a hybrid model in fall 2020. - Many other districts stayed fully remote into 2021. - Viskanta won a seat on the San Dieguito Union High School District board in 2022. - She became board president within weeks of taking office in December 2022. - The board hired a permanent superintendent in 2023. - Viskanta is now running for mayor of Encinitas in 2026.

The details: - Encinitas Union School District entered the pandemic from a position of relative strength as a high-performing district. - During the COVID-19 period, the district faced sharp community divisions over mask mandates and the pace of returning children to campus. - Under Viskanta's leadership, EUSD kept a larger share of students learning on campus than neighboring districts. - San Dieguito entered 2022 after five superintendents in seven years. - The district was also in a contested redistricting process. - A trustee resignation in April 2022 left the board deadlocked over a replacement. - The board spent months operating with one member short. - Meetings had become so contentious that the district was drawing attention for dysfunction. - Viskanta says her campaign message is to make school board meetings boring again. - As president, she emphasized orderly process, predictable public-comment rules, decorum on the dais and a clear line between board policy and staff work. - Viskanta says she has nearly a decade of city government experience in finance and sustainability. - Her campaign says she has been elected board president three times. - The campaign theme is Building Community Through Local Action. - The campaign website is More information.

Between the lines: - Viskanta is presenting competence and calm as a contrast to political drama. - Her argument is that good governance should be nearly invisible when it works. - That framing suggests she believes voters may reward lower-conflict management over high-profile confrontation. - The campaign is also signaling skepticism toward council members who override staff expertise or micromanage technical projects. - A December 2023 column by education writer Marsha Sutton said San Dieguito could model respectful disagreement after years of toxic public discourse.

What's next: - Viskanta will continue to frame her mayoral bid around steady leadership and local government experience. - Her campaign is likely to lean on the school board record as proof of how she would handle City Hall. - The election will test whether voters want that style of management in Encinitas.

The bottom line: - Viskanta's case is simple: she says she has already helped stabilize two public bodies in crisis, and she wants voters to trust her with a third.