Q-Why do you want to be on the El Cajon City Council?
A-I have always had an interest in Politics. Both my children have graduated high school so I thought now would be a good time to "Throw my hat in the ring" and what better way to start than by improving the city we live in. I believe there are so many ways the city can be improved that the current leadership is not exploring. The current council seems to be afraid to take risks. Even though the city is going through tough times they continue to follow business as usual by not make waves or taking any risks. They have appointed the incumbents to various city commissions instead of embracing new candidates that could provide new ideas and new energy.
Q-What are your key areas of concern?
A-I believe we must first address the city budget and local businesses. We need to take a hard look at what we are spending and make the tough decisions on areas to cut (not emergency services). Raising taxes or rate hikes are not an option. We need to look at ways to bring in new businesses and make our current businesses successful. One plan to bring in potential customers is by making the East County performing Arts Center a viable draw again. It needs to be re-opened and a foundation needs to be formed to help manage/run events.
Q-Why should we vote for you over the incumbents?
A- I will provide new energy, new ideas, and "real world" business experience to the council. I know I can get things completed "better, faster, and cheaper". I will put in the time to make El Cajon a better place to live, work, and be entertained. I will challenge the "status quo". I understand from my manufacturing experience you can never rest on past achievements you must continue to get better.
Q- What did you learn from your run in 2010 and 2012?
A- I learned that I have support in the community. I finished 2nd in the voting having spent less than $400 for my entire campaign fund in 2010. I did not send out any slate mailers or robo-calls. I had smaller and a lesser quantity of signs then my opponents. I learned in 2012 that I will need to get significant backing and endorsements, more volunteers, and a campaign manager to make a legitimate run for office. Without those things in place another run will not be feasible
Q-How many votes do you need to win?
A- There are 100,000 people in El Cajon. Subtract the non-registered and children and that brings you down to about 40,000. I would say the number will be around 8,000 - 10,000 votes needed to win.
Q-What skeletons are in your closet?
A- I have a clean slate and my life is an open book you can follow me on Twitter by searching for OTLTree. I have been married for 23 years and have two wonderful kids. I am involved in various recreational and sporting activities.
Q- What are your political views?
A-As a young person I became interested in politics and started to take a harder look at each politician's
agenda. I began to notice that in every election they were asking for more money through taxes or
propositions and closing down the recreational land I enjoying using. I realized that the politicians need to do their job and stop asking me to cover for their ineptness. I believe that government is at its best when it is kept small. Citizens should have choices and personal freedoms on how they manage their lives as long as it doesn't infringe on someone else's rights. I am in favor of allowing the private sector to bid on jobs that need to be done. The government has not been efficient in managing and controlling a lot of services that could be run more efficiently through a competitive bidding process. This would save money and increase jobs.
Q-What do you think of the current city development plan?
A-I believe the plan doesn't address all the real needs of the city. It discusses bike routes, wider sidewalks, new development areas, and the different heights and locations of buildings. There is nothing specific in the plan to address recruiting, retaining, or helping business to thrive in the downtown area. There is a plan for new residential housing but there is no incentive for developers to make that a reality. I have heard comments that developers are on hold because of the economy. I say "don't use the economy as an excuse". There is a chicken or the egg situation in this plan. You can't get new business because there are not enough people visiting the downtown area and you can't get new residential housing to bring people into the downtown area because there is nothing going on there. If we had businesses in the downtown area that were unique and couldn't be found elsewhere and we had the East County Performing Arts Center to bring people to the downtown area we would see and increase in traffic. One of my mottos is "every change isn't an improvement but every improvement is made through change".
Q- What do you think of people blaming the current economy for the cities lost revenues?
A- I say "Execution not Excuses". It is too easy to blame the downturn of the economy for the city's failures or to say the economy is a cyclical condition and we just need to stay the course until it comes back. We may never know if or when it will come back. The city leaders need to embrace the current economic situation and create their own future.
If you'd like to submit a question send it to [email protected]
A-I have always had an interest in Politics. Both my children have graduated high school so I thought now would be a good time to "Throw my hat in the ring" and what better way to start than by improving the city we live in. I believe there are so many ways the city can be improved that the current leadership is not exploring. The current council seems to be afraid to take risks. Even though the city is going through tough times they continue to follow business as usual by not make waves or taking any risks. They have appointed the incumbents to various city commissions instead of embracing new candidates that could provide new ideas and new energy.
Q-What are your key areas of concern?
A-I believe we must first address the city budget and local businesses. We need to take a hard look at what we are spending and make the tough decisions on areas to cut (not emergency services). Raising taxes or rate hikes are not an option. We need to look at ways to bring in new businesses and make our current businesses successful. One plan to bring in potential customers is by making the East County performing Arts Center a viable draw again. It needs to be re-opened and a foundation needs to be formed to help manage/run events.
Q-Why should we vote for you over the incumbents?
A- I will provide new energy, new ideas, and "real world" business experience to the council. I know I can get things completed "better, faster, and cheaper". I will put in the time to make El Cajon a better place to live, work, and be entertained. I will challenge the "status quo". I understand from my manufacturing experience you can never rest on past achievements you must continue to get better.
Q- What did you learn from your run in 2010 and 2012?
A- I learned that I have support in the community. I finished 2nd in the voting having spent less than $400 for my entire campaign fund in 2010. I did not send out any slate mailers or robo-calls. I had smaller and a lesser quantity of signs then my opponents. I learned in 2012 that I will need to get significant backing and endorsements, more volunteers, and a campaign manager to make a legitimate run for office. Without those things in place another run will not be feasible
Q-How many votes do you need to win?
A- There are 100,000 people in El Cajon. Subtract the non-registered and children and that brings you down to about 40,000. I would say the number will be around 8,000 - 10,000 votes needed to win.
Q-What skeletons are in your closet?
A- I have a clean slate and my life is an open book you can follow me on Twitter by searching for OTLTree. I have been married for 23 years and have two wonderful kids. I am involved in various recreational and sporting activities.
Q- What are your political views?
A-As a young person I became interested in politics and started to take a harder look at each politician's
agenda. I began to notice that in every election they were asking for more money through taxes or
propositions and closing down the recreational land I enjoying using. I realized that the politicians need to do their job and stop asking me to cover for their ineptness. I believe that government is at its best when it is kept small. Citizens should have choices and personal freedoms on how they manage their lives as long as it doesn't infringe on someone else's rights. I am in favor of allowing the private sector to bid on jobs that need to be done. The government has not been efficient in managing and controlling a lot of services that could be run more efficiently through a competitive bidding process. This would save money and increase jobs.
Q-What do you think of the current city development plan?
A-I believe the plan doesn't address all the real needs of the city. It discusses bike routes, wider sidewalks, new development areas, and the different heights and locations of buildings. There is nothing specific in the plan to address recruiting, retaining, or helping business to thrive in the downtown area. There is a plan for new residential housing but there is no incentive for developers to make that a reality. I have heard comments that developers are on hold because of the economy. I say "don't use the economy as an excuse". There is a chicken or the egg situation in this plan. You can't get new business because there are not enough people visiting the downtown area and you can't get new residential housing to bring people into the downtown area because there is nothing going on there. If we had businesses in the downtown area that were unique and couldn't be found elsewhere and we had the East County Performing Arts Center to bring people to the downtown area we would see and increase in traffic. One of my mottos is "every change isn't an improvement but every improvement is made through change".
Q- What do you think of people blaming the current economy for the cities lost revenues?
A- I say "Execution not Excuses". It is too easy to blame the downturn of the economy for the city's failures or to say the economy is a cyclical condition and we just need to stay the course until it comes back. We may never know if or when it will come back. The city leaders need to embrace the current economic situation and create their own future.
If you'd like to submit a question send it to [email protected]