ECM INTERVIEWS ARNIE LEVINE, CANDIDATE FOR EL CAJON MAJOR

By Miriam Raftery

September 2, 2022 (El Cajon) – Arnie Levine is a realtor running for the El Cajon mayoral seat.  He wants to  revitalize El Cajon as a "new city."   His priorities include reducing homelessness and lack of housing affordability, protecting public health, supporting the arts, and according to his website, "restoring hope" to all El Cajon residents.

ECM’s editor, Miriam Raftery, interviewed Levine for the East County Magazine Radio Show on KNSJ.   Hear audio, view video, or read highlights from our interview below.  You can also learn more at his website: https://arnielevine4elcajoncamayor.com/.

Levine has been a California resident since 1980 and first moved to El Cajon in 1992. He moved to La Mesa for a few years, then returned  to El Cajon 11 years ago.

He views homelessness as the biggest issue facing the city. He recalls the city progressing over the years with downtown revitalization and a park downtown, but recently has seen a rise in homelessness across the city. He recalled downtown San Diego transforming when the SuperBowl came to down, an event he supported. 

“Being a real estate broker and an agent for 34 years, always dealing with housing, I’ve noticed housing prices increasing…but also along with that, the rents.”  That’s left renters without security.  He says he recently began working in rental property management, though less lucrative, to learn “about people transitioning from homelessness off the street or people on Social Security” who can’t afford rent.  He says people would thank him for helping them through various programs.

El Cajon currently has about 800 homeless people, he notes, and the number has been rising, a problem exacerbated by the affordable housing crisis, he believes.  

“We’re throwing up these very expensive projects” in downtown, where property is very expensive, “instead of building in other communities…where home prices are cheaper,” he says.  He notes that people on the streets need help not only with housing, but to transition to being productive people, with help on issues such as mental illness and finding jobs. 

He wants to see a non-denominational transitional living program.  He believes serving the community requires “unconditional love” which stems from his Jewish faith, a belief he says is shared by Christians, Muslims and others, to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” 

Public health is another key issue for Levine, who is critical of Mayor Bill Wells for his refusal to enforce public health mandates during business shutdowns and for leading maskless rallies when vaccines were not yet available. 

“I’m a 22 year cancer survivor, non-Hodgkins lymphoma.” He refers to cancer survivors as “warriors” who need “the best defense, which is an offense.” He voiced concerns for those with compromised immune systems which can cost them their lives if exposed to a virus, as occurred in nursing homes, where many died of COVID-19.

“This is why I’m running. I’m doing this from my heart. My hand is not by my wallet or pocketbook. I want to be able to make a difference with the time that I’ve been gifted with.” To do that, he says, “We have to use science and we have to follow medicine…then we as a community will last longer.” He cites a rabbi’s story, noting that if four people are in a boat and one uses free will to drill a hole, everyone sinks.  What’s needed is “herd immunity” to protect the most vulnerable.

He acknowledges it’s hard to wear a mask at times, but says like in football “sometimes we need a hit” to win in the long run.

The Mayor and councilmembers all voted to put a measure on the ballot to raises the sales tax from a half cent to a full cent per dollar to support resolving homelessness and hiring more police.

He thinks raising a sales tax could encourage people to shop elsewhere, such as La Mesa.  He says businesses are already hurting from inflation. 

On the tax issues, he says he leans Republican though he’s endorsed by the Democratic Party. “We could do fiscal responsibility, because I like the idea that the mayor wants to work on these problems…but if we’re just going to grab money out of our community then the businesses are going to hurt.”  Instead he wants the city to pursue funds from the state and federal governments to help with the homelessness problem.

He praised the patience of police officers handling of homeless people and acknowledges they need support.  He cites a lack of enough social services and says housing for the homeless need social services and a network of support.  “The money is sitting there,” he says. “Governor Newsom, I’m talking to you. You’ve got a big surplus.  There are over 90 billion dollars in the surplus…I don’t think we should be draining a community that’s already dealing with an epidemic…where store owners have to have their own security to escort our friends somewhere else.”

El Cajon has faced calls from some for more police officers to address crime, while others have called for defunding police or diverting resources to alternative means of responding to calls for mental illness and homeless.

“Peace officers are there for high level tactical defense,” he says. “Our peace officers have more of a problem when they are dealing with people who are self medicating. The reason addicts are there is because they are dealing with trauma.” He recalls the 1980s when programs for mental healthcare were cut, in upstate New York, and homeless numbers rose.

“We need to retroengineer, bring back the programs that work,” he said, adding that due to a shortage in social workers, police officers also need training to deescalate situations.”

He envisions reworking El Cajon as a “smart new city.” “What I’m looking at doing  is putting a new package on it, inside and out.” He wants to “be part of the solution, to hear what people want.”  He says he prays for Mayor Wells to be able to solve the city’s problems, but adds, “If the job doesn’t get done, you either need the results, or the reasons why not. Now I’m after the results.”

El Cajon is home to a high number of immigrants and refugees from around the world. Many have gone through extreme trauma, such as those who escaped war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet many face additional traumas here, from trying to find jobs and housing for often large families, to domestic violence such as the tragic death of a mother of nine, a Syrian refugee, this week. 

“If we don’t listen to what’s happening, then we won’t be able to help,” he says, adding that people of all faiths in El Cajon want to be able to love each other.  “We’ve got to make things happen. We could do that as a community” he said, noting that when people have stresses and they’re dealing with financial stresses, a health crisis and they’re new refugees coming into the community, the challenges are difficult. He adds that in talking with Afghan refugees, he realizes some have “fled bullets.”

Levine recalled that he took an oath to run for mayor to defend the Constitution of the U.S.  “It was an honor to be able to do that,” he said. “When I drive through El Cajon now after that oath, like Moses at Mt. Sinai,” all of the people  in El Cajon are “my people.”  He says he has support from some Republicans as well as the East County Democratic Caucus. “Half my signatures (to get on the ballot) are Republicans,” he adds.

He recalls that Mayor Wells won with about 60% of the vote last time, but there was no Democrat in the race. “Close to 42,000 people didn’t vote,” he reflects. He believes he can win if people who didn’t vote before show up at the polls, along with drawing bipartisan report.

“I am a centralist. I’m what works,” he says, adding he supports businesses.  He supports helping people in need, but also opposes raising taxes in the city.

Levine and the Mayor have one thing in common: both are musicians. “I love the idea that he loves music, but I do have to admit he’s probably a much more accomplished musician,” he says of Wells, who recently led a concert to benefit the East County Transitional Living Center to help the homeless.  He cites friends as musicians and suggests he’d like to continue that tradition and maybe even play some music with Wells.

El; Cajon’s City Council led efforts to reopen the East County Performing Arts Center, now called the Magnolia, which was closed over a decade. It’s now managed by Live Nation, and reopened just before the pandemic which impacted theaters.  Asked if he’d commit to keep the public’s theater open, he recalls growing up in New York and seeing Carnegie Hall, Broadway theaters and museums. “It changed my life. When I studied art and art history in high school and I went to Rome, I had a sore neck for five hours looking at the Sistine Chapel,” he recalls.

He believes art creates harmony and awareness to bring communities together.  He says he’d love to see the symphony return to East County. “Art is what heals us,” he says, adding that it’s done so personally for him as a cancer survivor.

 “I 100% will support the arts, and that’s a promise,” he pledges.

He says if elected, he will have a “staff that is empowered and has accountability. I support transparency.” 

ECM has also invited Mayor Bill Wells for an interview.