Chula Vistan Mark Bartlett says he’s tired of seeing the same people making decisions at City Hall.
He is tired of seeing it enough that, as a political unknown, he decided to run against Chula Vista District 1 incumbent John McCann because he said Chula Vista needs new blood on the dais.
“If you look at politics in Chula Vista, it’s been the same faces, the same names that have dominated the scope of politics for the past two decades,” he said. “So, my thing is why not take that leap (to run for office) and put in a fresh perspective, a fresh vision to where we can lead our city in a direction that represents our values rather than having the same folks in office.”
Bartlett, 35, is running a campaign with the promise of imposing strict term-limits for all office holders in Chula Vista. He said without term limits, Chula Vista has seen many of its politicians leave office, serve in other elected positions like school board for a few years, then eventually comeback to City Hall.
Bartlett said the cycle of the same politicians coming and going must stop in order for the city to have new representation.
The District 1 candidate said there are a lot of issues in northeast Chula Vista that need to be addressed and most likely will not be addressed if the incumbent gets re-elected.
Bartlett said some of these issues are in the Bonita neighborhoods of District 1. He said the roads in Bonita are bad and that the city has not repaired.
He also added that Bonita and other parts of District 1 like, like Rancho Del Rey, have been neglected. He said many Bonitans do not know who their council representative is or the fact that a portion of Bonita is within the city of Chula Vista.
Bartlett said he will focus on these small communities by making sure that they receive their fair share of resources. One way he plans on doing this, he said, is by hosting monthly community forums in each neighborhood in the district so that residents can get to know their district representative and discuss issues that concern their community.
“It’s about brining government that is accessible to the community and government that represents the values of our community,” he said. “Government in which our community members have a say in politics.”
In the San Miguel Ranch community, he said they’ve had a vacant Albertsons for several years and residents have to travel to buy groceries.
Bartlett, a veteran’s caseworker at Father Joe’s, supported Measure A in June.
He said if elected he will work to improve staffing levels for the city’s police and fire departments as well figuring out ways to improve response times for public safety personnel in northeast Chula Vista.
Bartlett is a registered Democrat, but when he first registered to vote as an adult he registered as a Republican.
Bartlett said at that time he registered to vote at a mall with a friend who was a Republican and had suggested that Bartlett register as a Republican as well. Bartlett said he’s never voted in any election as a Republican and started participating in the electoral process when he re-registered as a Democrat.
“When it comes to party politics, I’m not too fond of it,” he said. “Yes, I am a Democrat, but with me I put all of that party politics aside and I focus on issues.”
