Born in Walnut Creek California; I moved to San Diego in August 2001 to finish my college education at SDSU. Working full time while a full time student, I graduated with my bachelors degree in Economics in 2005. It didn’t take long before I fell in love with San Diego and realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life in this amazing city. I have lived in the College Area since I first moved here and have become deeply concerned about the condition of our district and the future of our city.

In the economic downturn of the early 1990’s, both my parents were laid off from their well-paid corporate jobs. My mother had to settle for a job paying less and with a much longer commute. My father ended up struggling to find good work and lost everything; living out of his car for almost 2 years. Given our families financial condition, I started my first job at the age of 10 as a paper boy in my neighborhood.  This hardship at a young age helped me learn first hand the invaluable lesson of hard work and commitment. Over the years, I have worked over 13 different jobs in many fields ranging from: Wireless, Commodities, Consulting, Telecom, Automotive, Management, Customer Service, Retail, Service, Restaurants, Telemarketing, and more.

In May 2006 I purchased an Auto Accessory store in La Mesa; transforming it into San Diego Tint; today one of the most reputable business’ in our industry. In October 2009, I opened my second business SD Motorsports in Sorrento Valley and built it into a million dollar business within 4 years. Last year I purchased TinPlay Bar Products in addition to being an investor in a few local start-up companies. As a Job creator, I know first hand the importance that small business plays in our local economy. We need to do everything we can to promote and support business owners and job creators, because they are the backbone of our local economy.

As a business and home owner,  I am growing extremely concerned about the future of San Diego and our region as a whole. It seems that every four years it’s the same rhetoric from political entrepreneurs full of empty promises. When will we stop allowing our city offices to be used as political stepping stones? Until we truly embrace the reality that our current Local Government Structure and City Culture are only exacerbating our communities issues, we will fail to address the underlying issues. City Hall needs to represent and work for average San Diegans, not politicians and special interests.

Currently, the City of San Diego is structurally unsustainable. The homeless crisis is impacting our quality of life, destroying our beautiful city, and has increased property crimes. Our city departments are struggling to provide adequate levels of service, and our employees morale is at an all-time low. San Diego needs to fundamentally re-think and re-shape the way we provide services and govern our city. Our current infrastructure deficit is over $2 billion and growing daily. We need to focus on long term solutions that will require some difficult decisions. Strengthening local planning for future growth while protecting our unique and historic neighborhoods is extremely important.

San Diego needs a leader that can help organize and support the communities most pressing issues with realistic solutions. It is imperative that we put the right people in place to make the decisions that are best for San Diegans! In order to start making progress, we need to take a completely different approach than before. Until money no longer determines political winners and losers, we will always come up short. We deserve long term solutions, not backdoor budget tricks with short sighted leadership. We need a leader who truly understands and represents the needs of our residents; creating balance with a fresh perspective!

Andrew Gade