The Pacific Southwest Association of REALTORS® (PSAR), a 2,000-member trade group for San Diego area realtors, hosted El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells at a recent PSAR brown-bag lunchtime conversation presented by PSAR’s Government Affairs Committee. Wells, a city councilman in El Cajon since 2008 and mayor pro tem since December 2012, was appointed mayor in November 2013, succeeding Mark Lewis who served for 14 years.
Wells told PSAR members that his city’s economy has improved to its highest level since he joined the city council, with a $20 million reserve and balanced annual budget. “We’ve run the city like a business and encouraged entrepreneurship,” he said. “Our development fees are among the lowest in the county.”
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Wells said sales tax revenue is expected to increase in the future due to new retail development in the Downtown area along Main Street and accelerating automobile sales. He said 13 local auto dealers have formed the El Cajon Auto Dealership, an auto dealer association that operates a website, www.ElCajonValleyofCars.com, and is combining marketing budgets to promote El Cajon as a car buying destination.
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He said consumers who shop in El Cajon will benefit from a half-cent reduction in local sales tax beginning in 2015. Wells also said new restaurants and stores and a new hotel, medical facility and theater are planned in the city, and he promised a reopening of the city’s Performing Arts Center.
