OCEANSIDE -- Several North County officials said Tuesday that Mayor Jim Wood passed up an opportunity earlier this week to have an Oceanside official serve on a powerful regional transportation committee, but Wood said he did what is best for the city and region.

Wood was the swing vote Monday when representatives of five coastal North County cities narrowly elected Del Mar Councilman David Druker -- instead of an Oceanside councilman -- as the voting member of the San Diego Association of Government's committee overseeing planning for regional transportation programs.

"I thought it was in the best interest of the city and region to pick the most stable person with knowledge of transportation issues in the area," Wood said Tuesday.

Two other Sandag members -- Carlsbad Councilman Matt Hall and Encinitas Councilman Jerome Stocks -- said Tuesday they wanted an Oceanside official to serve on the committee because Oceanside is the largest city in the region and has many important transportation issues.

After Wood told Sandag members that he couldn't take the seat because he had too many other time commitments, his Oceanside council colleague Jerry Kern offered to serve on the committee. But Wood and representatives of Del Mar and Solana Beach voted for Druker to be the primary representative and for Kern to be a nonvoting alternate. Hall and Stocks voted against the appointments.

"I think what flipped people out is that Jim Wood voted against his own guy," said Stocks. "This is politics and people do things for a myriad of reasons. Maybe it means something symbolic."

Kern said Tuesday he was "disappointed" that Wood didn't support him to serve as a voting member on the committee.

"Traffic is such a huge issue that I think someone from Oceanside should have been on it," Kern said. "We have more residents and traffic issues than all four of the other (coastal North County) cities combined."

Kern said he plans to attend every transportation committee meeting in his role as an alternate. Although he can't vote, Kern said he would voice Oceanside's preferences at the meeting.

The mayor said he supported Druker over Kern because of experience. Kern hasn't served on any regional committees before because he was first elected to public in office in November.

Druker said Tuesday he has served almost 11 years on the North County Transit District's board and was an alternate on the association of government's transportation committee last year. He will serve a one-year term as the voting member on the committee.

"I have a really good understanding of all transportation issues in the county," Druker said. "I will be the best person in terms of making sure the region and Oceanside get what it needs."

Wood said he felt it was also important to spread out appointments to the five regional committees -- transportation, borders, planning, public safety and executive board -- to representatives of the different cities.

During the meeting, Hall urged his colleagues to appoint an Oceanside official to the transportation commission because the city is dealing with important transit issues such as Highway 76, Highway 78, Interstate 5 and the Sprinter light-rail line.

Wood said Hall wanted to serve on the transportation committee, but that because Hall didn't have enough support he decided to support Oceanside, the city with the most similar interests. Hall said that Oceanside could use the transportation position to receive much-needed funding for major road projects.

"Transportation is the most important committee," Hall said.

Wood said the committee only makes recommendations and that the entire board -- representing the county government and its 18 cities -- has the final say.

Stocks said, however, that the committee is the "meat and potatoes of the action," noting that the committee will review $40 billion to $50 billion worth of transportation projects in the next 30 years.

While Stocks and Hall said they believed someone from Oceanside should have been appointed to the committee, they said Druker would do a fine job in the position.

"I can't say anything negative about Dave (Druker)," Hall said. "He is very well-qualified and is a stellar individual."

Wood said he spoke with Druker about transportation issues before the meeting and is confident Druker would support Oceanside.

Druker said, for example, that at a transportation committee meeting Friday, he told the committee that Interstate 5 should be widened as far north as Oceanside Boulevard because of the possibility of the San Diego Chargers building a stadium on a city-owned golf course in that area.

Druker said he's a strong advocate of mass transit, but that he recognizes the realistic need to widen and improve major regional corridors such as I-5.

"I've got an excellent working relationship with Jim Wood, and will create a relationship with Jerry Kern as the alternate," Druker said. "I will make sure Oceanside is fully represented."

Wood said the complaints about his decision to vote for Druker are "political issues."

He said he told his council colleagues about his busy schedule when they appointed him in December to be the representative to the regional board, saying he probably wouldn't have time to serve on committees.

But Councilman Jack Feller, a long-time opponent of Wood's, criticized the mayor for his decision.

"I'm astounded that something like this could happen, and that if he didn't want it he should have given it to Jerry (Kern)," Feller said. "A city of 180,000 people deserves to have someone in that seat fighting for the dollars."

- Contact staff writer David Sterrett at (760) 901-4067 or dsterrett@nctimes.com.