Written by Julianne Foster
Republican San Diego City Council candidate Joe Leventhal is in a tight and increasingly hostile race with his Democrat opponent, Marni von Wilpert. Leventhal spoke in an interview with KUSI News about recent events and his priorities once elected to the City Council.
Unlike Wilpert, Leventhal fights for the community of District 5 because of his deep attachments to it. “This is my community where my wife and I live, and where we’re raising our kids, not for some political office,” he explained. Leventhal has spent the majority of his life in San Diego and served the community consistently, while Wilpert moved back to run for office.
Leventhal knows the District 5 community inside and out with his experience volunteering for the homeless and schools, fighting for the LGBT community, advocating for the disabled, and working for a fair justice system. He is observant of how residents have had to “tighten their belts” as they worry about their jobs, homes, businesses, and ability to put food on the table. He believes the city should be having the same mentality at the moment with how they handle taxpayers dollars to effectively support the community. Leventhal is concerned with the revenue shortfalls as a result of COVID-19 and the effects on students since school has been pushed online.
Leventhal has pushed heavily for the safe reopening of schools since they have been given so much time to prepare and students are falling further behind by the day. Wilpert dismisses Leventhal’s plans as reckless, while he sees how her opposition to reopening is causing unnecessarily damage to the education of students.
Aside from his well-developed plans to safely reopen schools and other important institutions, Leventhal’s history of active service to the San Diego community proves he is the perfect candidate to step up and make further improvements with his service on the City Council.
For more information about Leventhal’s campaign, visit JoeForSanDiego.com.
