Consejo Municipal, Distrito 1 — Ciudad de San Diego

A San Diego native and civil engineer by trade, Joe LaCava has lived in the Bird Rock neighborhood of La Jolla since 1985 with his wife Lorene, a kindergarten teacher. It’s where they raised their two smart and independent daughters. Joe’s family values are rooted in his upbringing by working class Italian immigrant parents. His father was a blue-collar factory worker and his mother a seamstress.

Joe graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in engineering and has worked as a civil engineer on projects ranging from infrastructure to housing. More recently, Joe guides local organizations on public policy and was a leading voice in opposition to the failed SoccerCity land-grab initiative.

He has been a dedicated community advocate over the past 15 years, sitting on more than 20 civic boards, planning groups and commissions. His multi-faceted career and outstanding public service to the neighborhoods of District 1 makes him a thoroughly qualified choice as our next City Councilmember.

After 15 years as a community leader and advocate, I am ready to be the consensus-builder who will move our City forward on key issues like protecting our environment, making our communities safer and delivering quality neighborhood services.

I was born and raised in District 1 -- in La Jolla.  My dad opened Harry's Coffee Shop in 1960.  I come from a loving family of 9 children (I'm 8 out of 9).  I went to all the local schools.  I got a B.A. in political science and economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.  After college, I worked in the U.S. Senate, then took a job with the U.S. Agency for International Development.  After my time in Washington, D.C., I moved to London to work for a Member of Parliament.  The experience was fantastic, but I wanted to go back to San Diego for law school.  Thus, I got my J.D. from California Western School of Law and my LL.M (master's) from the University of San Diego School of Law.  I'm licensed to practice law in California and Washington, D.C., and I've focused mainly on business law.

My three young children are also being raised in the district and attending school in Carmel Valley.  This is home for me and them.  I know the issues personally.  

I'm a moderate Democrat.  I studied political science and economics, so I focus on policies that make sense politically and economically.  I'm not beholden to partisan politics and I'm not supported by special interests.  I focus on evidence-based policies that make sense for the district as a whole and for San Diego as a whole.  I was trained at the U.S. Department of State to take a "toolbox" approach to problem solving.  Problems are multi-faceted, so our solutions must also be multi-faceted.  Let's think about our problems with a fresh perspective.  I have a local perspective, a national perspective, a legal perspective, a policy perspective, an economic perspective and a common-sense perspective.  It's time for more sophistication at City Hall.

I've been a firefighter for the City of San Diego for the past 17 years and I was an ocean lifeguard for 8 years before that. l've had  a front row seat to how the City has been run. I've had the privilege of working all over the city of San Diego and l've seen personally the disparity in levels of City services. l've been on the receiving end of Council Member's decisions and felt the repercussions directly. I have served our country for the past 30 years as a Navy Reservist, the last nine as a commissioned officer. I understand sacrifice and service because I have lived them my entire life. I have a BS in Finance from San Diego State, I have an MA in Public Leadership from University of San Francisco. 

Additionally, I am  a trustee of the La Jolla Town Council. I have been a member of San Diego Firefighters Community Responsibility Fund  (a philanthropic 501c(3) that provides funds to dozens of local community charitable organizations each year) for the past 17 years. I volunteered for San Diego Big Brothers and Big Sisters for 7 years, until I had children of my own. I am an active member of San Diego County Democrats for Environmental Action and the Veterans Democratic Club of San Diego, as well as my "home" democratic club, La Jolla Dems. We support, Planned Parenthood, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, San Diego Zoo, and Prevent Drowning Foundation of San Diego. 

I believe this combination of  life experience and education make me uniquely qualified to serve as a council member. 

I believe in the fundamental idea of a government that serves the people and works for the betterment of the community. My political philosophy is that good government ideas don't belong to a political party. Perhaps it is from my 30+ years of service in the Navy, but I believe that ideas stand (or fall) on their own merits. As a council member, my decision making process will be data driven and my goal in every situation will be to come up with the most equitable solution for all parties involved. I believe that it is my responsibiity to transparent and accountable to all constituents, not just those who suported me. I will transparent in all my actions. I will uphold my Navy Core Values : Honor, Courage and Commitment of as a still serving member of the Navy and as a career public servant.

Honor:

I am accountable for my professional and personal behavior. I will be mindful of the privilege I have to serve my fellow Americans.

Courage is the value that gives me the moral and mental strength to do what is right, with confidence and resolution, even in the face of temptation or adversity

Commitment. The day-to-day duty of every person who serves the public is to join together as a team to improve the quality of our work, our people and ourselves.

You don't have to wonder what I'll do when I am on City Council. I'll do what I've always done, serve my community. 

I migrated from China empty-handed and without speaking any English when I was 17.  Raised three successful children and taught at SDSU for three years to 408 undergraduate and MBA students.

I built many companies and sold three. I launched the first Chinese Television on mobile phone in 2005 Oct. 

I’ve been a community volunteer since I moved to San Diego County 20 years ago. Served on many boards both for profit and non-profit: NSDCAR, HOC, GIC, etc. This land of opportunity has made my dreams come true and I want to pay it forward. 

I believe in serving people and giving back. My philosophy is for the people. I get the right things done and while running, I did just that. I don't believe in talking but actually doing. I taught my students the same way at SDSU. I created a real consulting company and let the students run. It changed their life and I can do the same for my people. I want to do what I can with my collegues to provide to our people a safe, sound, culture rich and peaceful enviroment. 

H. recently served as an executive at CONNECT. CONNECT is the oldest business accelerator in San Diego, focusing on early stage tech and life science startups. In an effort to bridge the diversity gap in the innovation economy, H. founded the CONNECT ALL program in early 2016 where he organized and lead government, business, community, and innovation leaders to bring high-growth early-stage startup resources to traditionally underserved communities of San Diego. In less than three years, H. took CONNECT ALL from concept to nearly $4M in funding to build CONNECT ALL @ the Jacobs Center – the region’s first diversity focused accelerator and resource center.

Prior to working at CONNECT, H. drove marketing at venture-backed Bay area startup Grantoo (now Fuel), where his team designed and implemented campaigns that increased user acquisition and retention to drive traction in preparation for a $3.5M Series A round that would eventually close, worked as a consultant for corporations, venture capitalists, and a private equity firm in London, and served as regional director to a large non-profit member organization in the US and Canada, responsible for a membership of 44,000+ members across nearly 70 universities. H. holds a master’s degree from The London School of Economics and a bachelor’s degree from George Mason University.