As a councilmember, I will push for investment in mentorship and career‑exposure partnerships that give students consistent guidance, clear expectations, and a real‑world context for their education. By strengthening these supports, the city can help increase high school graduation rates, making them more attainable and meaningful for students in El Cajon.

HOW?

In El Cajon, nearly four in ten high school students do not graduate on time. This reflects more than academic difficulty. Many of these students are not struggling because they lack ability, but because they lack access to influential mentorship and consistent exposure to opportunity. 

While districts govern schools, the city plays a critical role in shaping the environment that determines whether students stay engaged and graduate. If elected, I will champion measurable investments in youth development that address mentorship, exposure, and structured guidance, each of which has been proven to influence graduation outcomes.

My focus is on building a city-supported mentorship and career-exposure network in partnership with schools, community organizations, and local professionals. This program would provide consistent, structured interaction between students and accomplished adults who would help them understand the connection between education and real career pathways while equipping them to build a success-driven future.

Participation and engagement would be tracked using program-level metrics such as attendance, consistency of mentorship contact, and student goal completion, while respecting the boundaries of school governance. The city’s role is not to run schools, but it has a direct influence over reinforcing stability, expectation, and opportunity around students so that they’re developing in the best circumstances. 

The person I have become today is, in large part, a reflection of the successful leaders I was fortunate enough to grow up around. That environment instilled discipline, broadened my perspective, and reinforced a level of confidence that many students in El Cajon are never allowed to develop.

As your representative on the City Council, I would advocate for reasonable term limits to ensure that public office remains a position of service rather than a permanent seat of power. Establishing term limits would protect against corruption, encourage a new generation of leadership, and help keep local officials closely connected to the needs of the community. 

HOW?

Term limits work by setting a maximum number of terms an elected official may serve in a particular office. Once that limit is reached, the officeholder must either pursue a higher office or step down from that position, allowing another candidate the opportunity to seek the seat.

The Police Officers Association, along with many constituents throughout the district, has expressed the belief that this process can encourage fresh perspectives, strengthen responsiveness to community concerns, and reduce the likelihood that leaders become disconnected from the people they represent.

In policy discussions, term limits are often presented as a way to balance two important goals: respecting experienced public servants while also ensuring that leadership remains open to change. By creating regular opportunities for new candidates to enter public life, term limits can help maintain competition, representation, and accountability in government.

I will focus on bringing employers, training programs, and city partners together to create paid job coordination and career starts for young adults, intending to reduce college graduate underemployment and help graduates move into stable, full-time work.

How?

Our city has a growing population of young adults who are stuck in prolonged underemployment or unstable work. The challenge at this stage is the absence of coordinated entry-level hiring systems that translate credentials into sustained, full-time employment.

This platform focuses on aligning employers and workforce organizations with the support of city resources to reduce the structural barriers that make early career transitions unpredictable and inefficient. Rather than interfere in private hiring decisions, the city’s role would be to coordinate and strengthen these partnerships, and to bring such organizations into a shared framework that expands access to paid, entry-level opportunities with clear expectations and pathways for advancement. 

Under this approach, the city would act as a facilitator, supporting a voluntary matching and referral structure that connects participants to opportunities based on verified skills, work readiness, licensing requirements, scheduling capacity and career directions. In order for early-career roles to function as genuine entry points rather than temporary labor, participating employers would agree to define onboarding practices and supervision standards, while also incorporating feedback progress throughout the process.

In addition to placement coordination, this platform also emphasizes employment suitability. Participants would have access to practical workforce support such as understanding workplace norms, managing schedules, communicating expectations and planning around compensation and benefits. These services would be delivered primarily through existing workforce agencies and nonprofit partners, with the city ensuring alignment, performance monitoring, and responsible use of public resources.

Effectiveness would be evaluated using program-specific indicators, including job retention at key milestones, transitions into full-time work, wage growth, and movement into skilled roles or credentialed career tracks. The objective is not short-term placement numbers, but durable workforce attachment and upward mobility for young adults. 

By reducing fragmentation between employers and support services, El Cajon can improve early-career outcomes, retaining educated talent within the community while strengthening the city’s economic foundation rather than losing our young professionals for opportunities elsewhere.

I plan on strengthening local small businesses by improving access to capital, guidance, and execution support, addressing cash‑flow challenges that drive a large share of business failures in El Cajon.

How?
If elected, I will work to strengthen small businesses in El Cajon by removing barriers to capital and execution. This includes improving access to clear financing information, supporting loan readiness and independent review, coordinating responsible lenders, and providing practical operational support to address cash‑flow challenges that drive many small business failures.

Many local business owners lack clear, reliable information when making high‑risk financial decisions. They may be unaware of available financing programs, misunderstand loan terms, or take on debt without independent guidance. The city can address this by creating a centralized small‑business access point that consolidates information on SBA loans, local lending programs, permitting requirements, and compliance steps in plain language, reducing reliance on informal or predatory advice.

The city would also coordinate a structured, voluntary loan‑readiness and review process. Business owners seeking financing would have access to pre‑application support such as cash‑flow analysis, financial statement preparation, and side‑by‑side comparisons of financing options. Owners would be encouraged to seek independent, vetted guidance before committing to debt, helping reduce closures driven by unsustainable repayment obligations.

Partnerships with local banks, credit unions, and community development financial institutions would be formalized to promote responsible lending practices. These partners would agree to transparent evaluation standards and products appropriate for early‑stage or undercapitalized businesses. The goal is not to guarantee loans, but to ensure business owners fully understand risk, repayment timelines, and long‑term impact.

Finally, this platform prioritizes long‑term stability, not just business creation. Participating businesses would have access to operational support focused on budgeting, payroll planning, inventory management, and regulatory compliance, particularly during years three through five when failure risk is highest.

Success would be measured through clear outcomes such as revenue consistency, on‑time debt repayment, and job retention. By improving access to capital, information, and practical support at key decision points, El Cajon can help more small businesses remain viable, hire consistently, and contribute to a stronger local economy.