Two council seats in play; one is done deal

Stephanie Harper, a regular for years at El Cajon City Council meetings, held a slim lead over five others vying for the District 2 City Council seat in El Cajon, while incumbent Phil Ortiz was well ahead of two competitors in District 4, according to early unofficial results released on Tuesday by the county Registrar of Voters Office.

Winners of those districts will join City Council District 3 incumbent Steve Goble, who ran unopposed for his seat. Goble, the executive vice president for Annex Brands, Inc., along with Bob McClellan and Ben Kalasho, beat out five other candidates for City Council seats in 2016, before the city had by-district elections.

This election is the second via “by district” voting since El Cajon, a city of nearly 100,000 residents, moved away from at-large elections in 2018, allowing voters in specific areas to vote for candidates who live in their part of the city.

Early returns showed that Harper, a relief staff worker, was ahead of five other candidates looking to fill the seat of McClellan. McClellan was first elected to the City Council in 1992, but after almost 30 years on the council said that he did not want to run again.

The rest of the field battling Harper for the District 2 seat in a very close race were Michelle Metschel,a department administrator; Letitia Dickerson, a tech support worker for communications company; Juan Carlos “Charlie” Mercado, an inventor, author and retired sheriff ’s deputy; El Cajon Planning Commissioner Humbert Cabrera; and Martin Van Dinteren, a general contractor and building inspector.

Ortiz is a small-business owner and former El Cajon planning commissioner who was appointed to his City Council seat in May 2019 to fill the spot vacated by Kalasho, who resigned in March 2019. Ortiz bested 17 others who were vying to finish out the last two years of Kalasho’s seat.

Early results showed Ortiz ahead of challengers Estela De Los Rios, the executive director of nonprofit CSA San Diego County, and Dunia Shaba, a professor and life insurance provider. Billy Thigpen, who dropped out of the race in September, was also getting votes.