El Cajon Politics Getting Ugly

I entered into this city council race with the idea of running a clean campaign. The goal is to highlight the issues effecting El Cajon and how I can make a difference. It is not my intent to "Sling Mud". I wanted (and still do) to only focus on what I can bring to the table via my education, business experience, and my values. It seems that there may be some dissention between two of the current council members (Wells and Ambrose and/or their support committees) and anyone that could pose a threat to their re-election. I lump Wells and Ambrose together as they are sharing space on their signs for election and they seem to be running a joint campaign. The first sign of "dirty politics" came via Ben Kalasho (another candidate) who stated someone from the Wells/Ambrose camp had taken down his signs and replaced them with theirs. He received a call from a Rubio’s employee stating that a bunch of his signs were in the Rubio's dumpster. Although a bit disturbing I did not see it as having an effect on my campaign until I visited a business location that hosted my fundraiser to inquire about placing a sign in their window. I was informed that when I posted pictures of my fundraising event and thanking them for supporting it they received harassing phone calls and e-mails wondering why they were supporting myself as a candidate and not backing the incumbents. Due to the backlash they have chosen to stay neutral on the political race. I can appreciate the stance as a business decision and don't blame them in the least. It is a lot better than other businesses in downtown that are posting the large Wells/Ambrose signs yet very little has been done by these incumbents to improve the consumer traffic. I believe it has to do with a certain developer that owns most of the property in the downtown area and doesn't want to see any changes for fear that his "sweet deals" may come to an end. It is my opinion, that this developer is forcing his tenants to "toe the line" and place these supporting signs at their establishment whether they agree or not. It seems kind of like a "mafia" type of intimidation technique to me. The only thing I can hope is that the outward appearance can prove to be deceiving. What you are forced to do under duress and what you actually have to do once you are in the voting booth can be totally different. What happens in the voting booth is between you and God. No one else will know how you voted unless you share the information truthfully with others. Another issue i find perplexing is at most locations that Wells/Ambrose signs are posted there is a smaller sign stating that only candidates that are endorsed by the Lincoln club are allowed to post signs. When the Lincoln Club was contacted by 10 news they denied knowing anything about these signs. As of the time of publishing this blog, The Lincoln Clubs website does not even list who they are endorsing in El Cajon. 


Note: The third incumbent running is Bob McClellen but as of this time I haven't seen any signs go up for him or heard much from him. I don't know if he is just planning on running on his reputation alone or he will do more in the next two months. I am sure I will talk with him as the campaign continues.

 

If you want to make a choice for "A Better El Cajon" with transparency in government and an end to "dirty politics" and "the good ole boy network" Then you need to
Vote Swainston in November.