This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Vote Paul Jacobs for Temecula City Council

Candidate Paul Jacobs asks for your vote.

The campaign trail has been a great ride and voters get to choose my destination. I humbly ask Temecula voters to complete the arrow next to “Paul Jacobs” for City Council on their ballot. 

I am humbled because though friends and family have suggested I make a run for office in the past, I was compelled this year when I was asked by complete strangers equally frustrated with a lockstep City Council to throw my hat in the ring. 

Since moving here in 1995, I have inadvertently racked up the experience and qualifications necessary to serve as a representative of the people on the Temecula City Council. I have previously served as chairperson on the Public / Traffic Safety Commission and as president of the Vintage Hills Planned Community Association. 

Find out what's happening in Temeculawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As an advocate for public access to open government, I successfully overcame the resistance of the sitting Temecula City Council to increase time provided for public comments from two minutes to three. I also successfully advocated for free parking for the disabled and for people participating at Riverside County Board of Supervisors meetings. 

My goals for a better Temecula include submitting a concurrent county, state and federal investigative inquiry into the entangled relationship between Granite Construction and the County of Riverside that forces Liberty Quarry upon our community. Public Safety is a greater priority than a business incubator in the old city hall. Temecula needs a police station to deliver essential departmental resources within our city. Please visit my Facebook page or website at www.pauljacobs4temecula.com 

Find out what's happening in Temeculawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Once I started this campaign and people contributed their talent, time and money, I was obligated to throw myself in it to win. It has been an amazing and exhausting experience, but the campaign trail has been a great ride – as has my campaign trailer pictured above. 

I am humbled by the people who came together to make this campaign happen and appreciative of the drivers and passengers who waved, honked, smiled, gave me the thumbs-up and other forms of encouragement when I have been waving on street corners with my banner and a volunteer or two. 

Two things will change after Tuesday. I will no longer be a candidate. Instead, I will be a campaign sign hunter trying to hunt down all the signs I planted around town. I will also take an indefinite hiatus from blogging on Patch. 

On Wednesday, I will either be fully retired again or have a new job as an elected employee of the people of Temecula. 

Join me Tuesday somewhere near the Duck Pond after 3 pm until sunset to wave the few remaining signs we have left – unless I am stuck at the County fighting the agenda item to give Liberty Quarry fast-track approval. Fulfilling my civic duty is something I began long before being encouraged to run for city council. 

Regardless of your voting choices, please go to the polls tomorrow and vote. Ballots are the currency of democracy and few acts are more valuable in a democracy than voting.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?