Who am I?

I’m Jacob Mitchell, 28, a lifelong resident of San Diego’s District 2, running for City Council because I believe this city’s systems are failing the people who actually live here, and I want to fix that.

I grew up here, graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University with a degree in Chemistry, and I’m currently completing an MBA at CSU San Marcos. I’ve worked hands-on jobs my whole adult life: producing reagents in a GMP lab at Abbott, doing molecular research and business development at GeneGoCell, assisting on construction projects and handyman work at Engage Construction, and running my own small Etsy shop selling custom block prints.

Since I was 21, I’ve paid my own rent, bought groceries, fixed my own cars, and built my life here without shortcuts. I’ve spent time with friends on the beach, volunteered in homeless ministries, and donated bone marrow to give someone a second chance. I’ve dealt with the same frustrations you face, potholes that blow tires and cost a day’s pay, rising prices that force tradeoffs, and a city that too often feels like it’s working against the people who keep it running.

I’m not a career politician. I’m a systems thinker shaped by this community. I’m reading and learning constantly, digging into complex systems, Energy, Economics, Housing, and Government; focusing on how the systems actually behave, not how they’re supposed to behave on paper. I believe in fixing problems with data, accountability, and clear incentives, not slogans.

What motivates me isn’t ideology, it’s alignment between intention and outcome. Right now, San Diego says it wants affordability, accountability, and livability, but our policies often produce the opposite. That’s the gap I’m running to close.

I want to give young people, and anyone trying to build a life here, real confidence that this city can work for them again. That means housing people can actually afford, a government that is transparent about where money goes, and systems that reward everyday residents, not just institutional investors.

That’s who I am. That’s why I’m running.