By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

Photo by Jesse Kendrick: Mayor  Wells and Councilman Kendrick savor Election Night victories

November 7, 2018 (El Cajon)--El Cajon voters returned Mayor Bill Wells and Councilma/Mayor Pro Tem Gary Kendrick to their positions on the El Cajon City Council on Tuesday night with veritable knockout punches against their challengers.

With 86 percent of precincts reporting, incumbent Mayor Bill Wells maintained his lead all evening with 66% (7799 votes) while his challenger, East County businessman Joel A. Scalzitti garnered only 26% (3064 votes). Robert M. Weaver, Jr., in spite of dropping out of the race early and not mounting a campaign because of federal Hatch Act conflicts with his position with the federal government, garnered 8% of the vote with 905 votes.

With nearly 88% precincts reporting, Councilman Kendrick was successful in staving off a challenge from fellow Councilman Ben Kalasho by a landslide. Kendrick got a whopping 85% (3408 votes) with Kalasho only getting 15% (621 votes). 

By Briana Ghaffery

View video of Council meeting: https://elcajonca.swagit.com/play/07112018-1233

July 11, 2018 (El Cajon) – Eleven speakers called on Councilman Ben Kalasho to resign during public comments at Tuesday’s El Cajon City Council meeting, where the audience included protesters who held signs reading “hands off our daughters” and “sex predator Kalasho belongs in jail” complete with a photoshopped picture of Kalasho as an inmate.

Kalasho has also announced his intention to run for Mayor, challenging incumbent Bill Wells.

By Janis Russell

October 24, 2014 (El Cajon)- Jonathan Wright is running against incumbent Mayor Bill Wells and challenger Allen Theweny  for Mayor of El Cajon.

Wright participated in an exclusive interview with East County Magazine. Wright discusses his values, what his main priorities will be once elected, and his views about the East County Performing Arts Center (ECPAC) among other topics.  He  has a background in business management, marketing and IT support. He decided to run for Mayor to serve the people and lead the city into the future, helping get the people and the city back on track to prosperity by working to alleviate poverty for the elderly and to get people off the streets.

By Miriam Raftery

November 13, 2013 (El Cajon )--El Cajon’s City Council voted unanimously yesetrday to appoint Councilman Bill Wells to fill the vacancy left by Mayor Mark Lewis’s resignation.  Council also voted to have an application and list of qualifications drawn up within a week for residents interested in seeking appointment to fill the vacancy on the City Council  left by Wells’ ascension to mayor.

A crowd filled the Council Chambers, with many community members came to voice their views on how the city should fill its leadership positions.

By Miriam Raftery
 

September 30, 2010 (El Cajon ) – Johnney P. Minarick prays perserverance will pay off. He ran for Grossmont Health Care district board in 1998, getting just 4.92% of the vote, and for Grossmont Cuyamaca Community College District’s board in 2000, drawing 18.5%.  Now he’s running for Mayor of El Cajon against four other candidates (incumbent Mayor Mark Lewis and challengers John “Mike” Garcia, Todd Moore, and Darris Mroz.)
 

Minarick says his biggest concern is that “nonbelievers took the Bible out of schools” and belives that kids "need the Bible to learn right from wrong.” As Mayor, he would seek to “bring reading the Bible back into schools again like we used to do when we were kids in Pennsylvania.”

By Buck Shott

August 19, 2010 (San Diego's East County) – The races are on for mayor and council positions in East Couny. Two local mayors’ seats are up for reelection in November. Both face challengers vying for the leadership spots in El Cajon and La Mesa. In addition, a pack of contenders is vying to run for council seats in East County’s cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, and Santee. Here's the lineup: