Santee City Council candidates

SANTEE MAYORAL AND COUNCIL RACES SHOW CLEAR CHOICES

By Mike Allen

Photo:  Santee Mayor John Minto, mayoral candidate and Councilman Stephen Houlahan, City Council candidates Samm Hurst and Dustin Trotter,

October 14, 2020 (Santee) -- The conflict between slow-growth proponents and those who support the continued expansion of Santee has been going on for decades but is crystallized in this election.


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SANTEE COUNCIL CANDIDATES SPEAK OUT, RESPOND TO OUR QUESTIONS

 

 

By Miriam Raftery, Editor, East County Magazine

Photos, upper left to lower right:  Evlyn Andrade-Heymsfelt, Zack Gianino, Laura Koval, Councilman Ronn Hall, Councilman Rob McNelis, Lynda Marrokal, Rudy Reyes

Updated October 18 with responses from Rudy Reyes

October 8, 2018 (Santee) – This is the first time Santee has held district elections, where the winners will each represent a specific neighborhood instead of being voted on by the city at large. We sent questionnaires to the seven candidates running for three City Council seats in Santee, asking the same questions of everyone. All seven candidates replied. Their thoughtful responses address a range of issues such as balancing growth and open space, also offering some fresh ideas, such as creating a community choice energy program for Santee.

Below are their answers in full to our questions, along with a link to their ballot statements for more information, arranged by district and in alphabetical order within each district.


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OPEN SEATS IN SANTEE DRAW 2 MAYORAL AND 3 COUNCIL CANDIDATES: BALLOT STATEMENTS AVAILABLE

 

By Miriam Raftery

August 23, 2016 (Santee) — Long-time Mayor Randy Voepel is running for the state Assembly and is not seeking reelection.  Two Council members are running to lead the city as Mayor: retired police detective John Minto real estate/mortgage professional Rob McNelis.  A special selection will be held to fill the Council seat of whoever wins the mayoral race, since these terms are not expired.

In addition, three candidates are running for the Council seat being vacated by Jack Dale, who is retiring.  Stephen Houlahan is president and co-founder of Save Mission Trails, which led the successful effort to stop the Quail Brush gas-fired power plant. He is also a registered nurse. Dustin Trotter, a carpenter, owns a door and trim company and has been an active community volunteer in organizations such as the Santee Santas and Santee Food Bank. Mason Herron is legislative director for Assemblyman Brian Jones and has also worked as a policy consultant.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

HEAR INTERVIEWS WITH SANTEE COUNCILMAN JOHN MINTO AND CHALLENGER MAGGIE ACERRA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

East County News Service

East County Magazine invited all five candidates running for Santee City Council to be interviewed on our radio show on KNSJ.  Two have participated thus far. (We hope to add more soon, so check back.)

 Incumbent Councilman John Minto, a former detective and chair of the East County Economic Development Council, says Santee is enjoying a robust economy and takes pride in his accomplishments, such as creating a public-private partnership to build a sports park and creating jobs.

Challenger Maggie Acerra, a budget and finance specialist, says she is running to be a voice for the people, increase public awareness of upcoming issues, and believes the council is too cozy with developers.

Hear our interviews ( note: audio files may take a few moments to load):

Maggie Acerra interview: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

John Minto interview: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/audio/2019/August/MintoInterview-FINAL.mp3

Audio: 


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.