National City held its first district elections two years ago, filling Districts 1 and 3 with Councilmembers Luz Molina and Ditas Yamane, respectively. On the ballot this November: Districts 2 and 4, and a parcel tax for aging streets and parks. The municipality of about 56,000 residents switched from citywide elections to a by-district system in April 2022. District 2 encompasses most of what is east of D Avenue, north of 16th Street and south of Division Street. It includes several Filipino/Asian Pacific Islander businesses and has had the highest population of Latino voters at 65 percent. District 4 is the southeast region of the city, with west boundaries along Highland Avenue between 16th and 30th streets and portions of Sweetwater and Bonita roads. It has the second-largest population of Latino voters at 63 percent. City Council members serve part-time positions, earning monthly salaries of about $1,546. The term last four years. Two people are running for District 2: Courtesy of Jose RodriguezJose Rodriguez Jose Rodriguez, 38, is up for his second term, having been elected at-large to the City Council in 2020. He served on the city’s Parks, Recreation and Senior Citizens Advisory Committee and unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2022. courtesy of Randi Castle-SalgadoRandi Castle-Salgado Randi Castle-Salgado, 45, is a Realtor who serves on the National City Planning Commission. Her term on the board expires 2026. Three people are running for District 4: Courtesy of Marcus BushMarcus Bush Marcus Bush, 36, is up for re-election after joining the City Council for the first time in 2020. He served on the city’s Planning Commission and the local Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. Daniel Perez Daniel Perez, 43, is a mortgage loan officer and president of the Las Palmas Little League serving on the city’s Parks, Recreation and Seniors Advisory Committee. His term ends in 2027. Victor Arreola, a nonprofit executive, did not respond to an interview request. Arreola said in his campaign statement that he would use his experience as a local community counselor and youth mentor to “maintain our quality of life and at the same time show compassion for those that need a hand up.” For a small city with limited space for development and whose homeless population has steadily climbed over the last five years, housing and homelessness are top-of-mind for the candidates. Rodriguez said he is proud to have voted for policies that aim to protect the most vulnerable, support building more housing and keep the cheapest housing affordable. He cited the City Council’s recent approval of a homeless encampment ban, a law that limits rent increases at mobile home parks and the Focused General Plan, which guides the city through 2050 on how to build walkable and high-rise, multi-use communities near public transit. “There’s no other way for National City to grow; the only thing we can build is to build denser,” he said, adding that he also wants the city to continue exploring building homeownership opportunities on city property. Castle-Salgado said she is also pleased with the Planning Commission’s approval of the General Plan to build more housing. But she wants government red tape cut because too often “projects are approved but sit on the pipeline for years.” And as someone who was temporarily homeless years ago, she wants National City to invest in mental health resources and transitional housing, especially now that a local shelter has opened. With nearly 70 percent of residents in National City renting, Bush said he would like to see some form of rent control policy, in addition to recently approved protections for the hundreds of local mobile home park tenants. He also thinks underused commercial buildings close to transit should be built out with housing, and he would support increasing height limits for them. “Yes, that creates challenges with parking, which is a concern with residents, but we have more of a housing and homeless crisis, not a parking crisis,” he said. Perez said the encampment ban approval was “well overdue.” But the work can’t stop there, he added; otherwise, the law is just a “Band-Aid solution” to homelessness. He said he wants to see more wraparound services offered and find ways to help bring additional shelter beds to National City. When part-time council members last year approved a new policy giving themselves $100,000 to spend as they see fit, the move quickly became a key campaign issue, one Castle-Salgado said encouraged her to run for office. Some expenditures raised questions about whether they were a legitimate use of taxpayer money. About a year later, the City Council approved a policy governing the use of the funds, but Castle-Salgado and Perez said it fell short and believe the policy should be strengthened or repealed. “I don’t believe any part-time council member making about $20,000 (yearly) needs to have a $100,000 budget for expenditures,” she said. “That money could be well spent to fix potholes or create other city programs.” But Bush said the funds have been a “godsend” for part-time officials who feel that “to be an effective council member, you really do have to dedicate close to full time.” He used part of his $100,000 budget to hire an assistant after opening the position internally. “He worked two years in our Section 8 department,” said Bush. “So, he’s not politically connected to me; I didn’t even know him. … He has helped me to identify areas of inefficiency in our budget through this process.” Rodriguez used the funds to employ four people. Some of them have either worked in his previous mayoral campaign or have connections to his current re-election campaign. As reported by La Prensa, Rodriguez spent $47,000 of his $100,000 council fund to contract with Cordero Coaching and Consulting, a company established by Cindy Lopez. She established the firm in February and is also president of the nascent National City Democratic Club, which endorsed Rodriguez’s re-election days after the consulting contract was signed. Lopez was hired this summer as the council member’s executive assistant. Two others did campaign ad work for his 2022 campaign. Castle-Salgado and Perez, as well as other residents, claim public funds helped Rodriguez hire people who are essentially helping him campaign for office. His campaign has sent out emails, for example, promoting workshops he has hosted as a council member on topics he has campaigned on and worked on from the dais. Rodriguez rejected the claim that he misused the public funds and that the employees are directly tied to his campaign. “If I campaign on issues in 2020 and in 2022, this is me delivering on these issues,” said Rodriguez. “I guess folks could see that differently, but I’m trying to deliver on what I said I would do.” Measure R Voters will also decide whether the city should establish a parcel tax on some property owners that would generate funds exclusively for repairing streets and alleys and improving aging parks. The rate of taxation would be based on the character of a property, such as $52 per mobile home, $75 for single-family parcels, $365 for commercial and industrial and up to $500 for multi-family. An advisory Citizen Oversight Committee would be established to ensure funds are spent appropriately.