El Cajon District 3 City Councilmember Steve Goble is seeking another term on the dais. Goble, R, 63, has served on council since 2016, and in 2020 ran unopposed. This election Goble is running against Courtney Hall. Goble is the city’s representative on the board of directors at the Metropolitan Transit System, SANDAG’s Public Safety Committee, and is the chairman of the board of the East County Advanced Water Purification Program.
Goble said coming out of the pandemic children were not socializing enough so he authored a program to teach them how to swim.
“Over 300 kids learned how to swim for only $5 in our Dollar Days Program,” he said.
Goble said he helped businesses coming out of the pandemic by authoring a waiver of business license fees for one year for every business in El Cajon.
Goble said he voted for firefighter and paramedic jobs to shorten the response time for emergency services in the city. “That will save lives,” he said.
Goble said he supported tough enforcement on encampments to keep the city’s sidewalks and neighborhoods free of needles and debris.
“I spent over 100 hours volunteering, alongside other volunteers to build tiny homes for homeless women and children. That program has been very successful. In the first year, 13 out of 19 women and children are no longer on the streets. Most of the women had children. I think we spend more per capita in El Cajon for homeless solutions,” he said.
Goble said he wants to do more to find solutions for the homeless.
“We have some great things going on there, but we cannot stop. We must keep working at it,” he said.
Goble said he wants to have more emphasis on public safety.
“It is important that we have strong public safety for every citizen. That is the first responsibility of government,” he said. “And I want to make sure our infrastructure, our roads, drainage and sewer pipes are in good condition. If you do not, it is very expensive to fix them if you do not have a plan. That is what I have done for the past four years and what I want to do for the next four years.
“But even if you do not live in El Cajon, or my district, I still represent you. I am the vice chair for the directors of MTS. And there, we try to make common sense solutions for public transit in San Diego. I am the conservative voice when it comes to how money is being spent, what type of services we provide, the safety we must have for all riders. I am also representing people outside of the city on SANDAG as Mayor Bill Wells alternate on the board of directors. You have heard of things like the Vehicle Mileage Tax that the SANDAG board wants to implement for every mile that you drive. That does not make sense. Think about the plumber repairman, or the pest control person that comes from Alpine. They are not going to absorb that extra tax. They will pass it on to the customers. Not only would I pay for the miles that I drive, but I would also pay for the miles it takes for anybody to get to my house, or even to get groceries to the store. I would oppose the MVT going forward for people both inside and outside of El Cajon,” he said.
Goble said the East County Advanced Water Purification Program, a $1 billion construction in Santee at Lake Jennings will treat wastewater, purify it at the same level as Orange County users are getting today, and put that into Lake Jennings where someday it will drawn by the Helix Water District, purified again.
“Those are the areas where I represent the voices in El Cajon and East County. I am excited to do another four years. I am energized to keep going and I love what I do. It is all about solving problems with common sense.
Goble said El Cajon has met its housing quotas from the state.
“We turned in a plan for the Regional Housing Needs Assessment given to us by the state. We submitted a plan to zone where those units could go. So, we are currently in compliance with that plan,” he said.
Goble said he likes the idea of high-density housing along transit lines.
“It makes sense around the transit stations. For instance, recently, two four-story residential units were built near Grantville Station. The highest number of tenants in those projects are SDSU students. When you build housing near transit, it is very likely that those tenants are those who have work or other interests along the trolley line. El Cajon is currently in talks with the developer of the El Cajon transit station where close to 300 units would be built. There would be two, four to five story towers. One would be affordable housing, and one would be workforce housing for people that have 80 to 120% of the Area Medium Income. That could be $90,000 to $150,000 a year. That is almost market-rate housing,” he said.
El Cajon City Council unanimously voted to put a one-half cent sales tax on the November ballot. If approved by voters, Measure J will continue a half-cent tax that is set to expire.
“Proposition J first passed in 2008 with a 20-year life that expires in four years. It currently makes up 13% of our operating expenses. If you take away that 13%, we are going to have to cut 55 positions from our budget. We do not have enough cuts in recreation, finance, human resources, city management, to get to 55. We would have to cut 20 to 25 police officers and firefighters. That would dramatically hurt first responder times in the service of our city. It is essential that we renew Proposition J by continuing it for another 20 years,” he said.
Goble said Council does not do drama in El Cajon, and approaches everything with common sense. He said the city just had its one-year review on its Automatic License Plate Reader program.
“This has been wildly successful. In the first year we recovered 128 stolen cars, with a total value of $1.2 million. That means insurance companies do not have to pay claims on $1.2 million in stolen cars. That is good for all the ratepayers. At the same time, we arrested 151 people in connection with those stolen cars. What we do not know is what the cost is of human life and property that those 151 people might have committed further crimes if we had not stopped them,” he said.
