PUBLIC POLICY EXPERT CHALLENGES COUNCILMAN GOBLE IN EL CAJON’S DISTRICT 3

By Miriam Raftery

August 23, 2024 (El Cajon) – Three seats are on the ballot in El Cajon.  In districts 2 and 4,  Councilmembers Michelle Metschel and Phil Ortiz are running unopposed.  In district 3, Councilman Steve Goble, a retired businessman, faces a challenge from  Courtney Hall, a public policy expert and data analyst.

Below are details on their experience, qualifications, accomplishments and endorsements.

COURTNEY HALL

Experience:   As Director of Impact at the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, Hall states on her website, “I worked with mayors and city leaders from around the world as they improved their leadership and management skills, enabling them to more effectively and efficiently serve residents.” 

She also worked as senior statistician for the New Mexico Public Education Dept. using data to help struggling schools, and studied public policy at Brown University. Currently, she is principal data and research analyst with the County of San Diego. She was named Volunteer of the Month for her volunteer efforts at the Humane Society’s El Cajon branch.

She states, “I bring extensive experience in local government and a clear vision for our city.” Her website adds that her education has helped her maximize the effectiveness of taxpayer dollars,  adding,”Over the past 15+ years I have enabled leaders to make smart choices based on evidence and data, not hunches or intuition.”  At her County job, she says, she evaluates county services and advises leaders “on the most cost effective and dignified ways to support residents in need.”

Goals:  “I am running for city council to add representation for young people, working people, and people concerned with being priced out of the region,” says Hall, a millennial concerned about lack of affordable housing and rental homes.  “El Cajon faces challenges—from homelessness to economic development—and I’m committed to addressing those issues head-on.”

Her goals include exploring new ways to bring revenue into the city and support local businesses without raising taxes, as well as increasing community outreach outside of Council meetings, such as through town halls and community forums.  She and her husband, Kelsey, wonder if they’ll ever be able to afford a home. Yet she says she is lucky compared to the many unhoused El Cajon residents “sweltering in the heat, trying to get their lives back” and small business owners still struggling to recover after the pandemic.

Yet she finds hope in “the strength of our community—neighbors and friends coming together to build supportive networks to uplift us all.” She wants to create an app for reporting problems to the city, make dangerous intersections safer and add public art. On her candidate statement, she adds, “Let’s work together to use data, save money, and make life better for the whole community!” On her website, she said she is “brimming with ideas on what El Cajon could be,”  but that most importantly, “I am open and eager to learn what is most important to my neighbors in District 3 and bring their values, concerns and perspectives to the Council.

Endorsements:  Hall is endorsed by the East County Democratic Club and  by Shana Hazen, president of the San DIego Unified School District.

Learn more:

 Courtney Hall’s candidate statement:

https://www.elcajon.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/28386/638587052396470000

Courtney Hall’s website: https://courtneyforcitycouncil.com/

STEVE GOBLE

Experience:  “I ran for El Cajon City Council in 2016 with the simple motiveof making our city a better place, “ says Goble on his webpage. He has served on the El Cajon City Council since 2016. A retired executive vice president of Annex Brands and former Postal Annex franchised store owner, he holds degrees in business administration and marketing from San Diego State University.

Councilman Goble authored several key measures including creating “dollar days” recreation classes after COVID that resulted in over 500 new participants and over 300 children learning to swim, earning Goble the “Champion of the Community” Award from the Calif. Parks and Recreation Society. “Foodie Fest,” which he proposed, led to participation by 40 restaurants and over 2,000 residents, becoming an annual part of America on Main Street.  Goble volunteered helping build sleeping cabins to temporarily house homeless women at a local church, where 68% of participants wound up with permanent housing. City programs have helped get many homeless off the streets, while the city has cleared encampments of those who refuse help that is offered.

During his tenure, the city added 10 new police officers, replaced aging sewer pipes, added cool zones at recreation centers, and helped businesses recover from the pandemic with $4 million in grants. Goble is ViceChair of the MTS board of directors and the East County Water Purification Project, as well as the city’s alternate representative on SANDAG’s public safety committee  and chair of SANDAG’s military working group.

Goals: For  Goble, priorities are to ensure that residents have “safe neighborhoods, quick responses from fire/paramedics and police, a clean community, a healthy fiscal condition, roads in good condition, a sound infrastructure for utilities, a pro-business environment, recreational and community programs, and more.”

Goble’s website indicates he also strives to be visible in the community, accessible to residents,  and to be someone residents can “trust to make the common sense decisions after listening to all sides.”

Endorsements:  Goble is endorsed by El Cajon’s Mayor and fellow Councilmembers, other Republican politicians, the El Cajon Police Officers Association, El Cajon Firefighters, and the East County Chamber of Commerce.

Learn more:

Steve Goble’s candidate statement:

https://www.elcajon.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/28388/638587052670370000

Steve Goble’s website: https://www.gobleforcouncil.com/