The final day to cast a vote for national and local elections will be on Nov. 5. Kevin Shin and Tyler Collins are both vying for one of the available positions for our local elections, Carlsbad City Council District 2.
Shin moved to Carlsbad in 1997 and bought a house in District Two in 2007. He has a background in multiple positions serving the country.
“From my time as a business owner, a marine, a fire captain, a father and a homeowner, I encompass a little bit of what everybody wants in this city,” Shin said. “It allows me to filter and process issues at hand in all of those different perspectives.”
Collins is 31 years old and was born and raised in Southern California. He went to the University of Southern California and worked as a software engineer.
“As someone who hasn’t been in politics a very long time, I’m working hard and learning a lot,” Collins said. “I’m prepared for the challenges. I’m an engineer by trade, so I like to look at things and solve problems.”
Tyler Collins is running for candidacy to create better futures and opportunities for future generations.
“My wife and I both have good jobs and were lucky enough to get a house last year. Given that I had accomplished that, I wanted to give back to the place which had given me so much opportunity growing up here,” Collins said. “I want Carlsbad to be a place where future generations can have the same opportunities I had growing up in Southern California.”
Shin is running for the position because of an injury he got in the fire department. The injury forced him to quit, but he still wanted to support his community.
“I had my neck fused a few years ago, which forced me to retire from the fire department,” Shin said. “I had to retire far earlier than I wanted. I still had a sense of service that I wanted to do for my communities.”
Many people’s votes are cast solely on a politician’s values and thus, they are an important part of any successful campaign. To Shin, reliability, integrity and transparency are of utmost importance.
“My values are always maintaining a high level of respect and integrity. I believe in open communication and being very transparent,” Shin said. “The person you see now is the person you see tomorrow and the person you see when I talk to somebody different.”
Collins’ values are accountability and integrity. He plans to act on his values by maintaining an open-door policy.
“If some member of the community comes to me in good faith, I want to listen to their input, and I want to listen to their perspective,” Collins said. “I am always willing, as an engineer and someone with a very analytical mind, I am always willing to listen to a well thought out, rational argument. No matter which side of the political spectrum it comes from.”
One thing that Collins is passionate about is fighting against Senate Bill 9, a bill that focuses on ADUs and housing. According to Collins, the bill negatively impacts traffic, noise and the general character of a community.
“I want to take a proactive approach to this. Sacramento has dealt us a certain hand with Senate bills and Assembly bills restricting our ability to have local control,” Collins said. “Instead of sitting back and accepting our fate, I want to actively fight against what I view as encroachment from the state.”
Leadership is an important part of any politician, and Kevin Shin prides himself on his.
“I have enough unique perspectives that people can find me as a true leader. I’ve earned all my stripes, I’ve earned my badge, I’ve earned my ranks and they weren’t just given to me,” Shin said. “When it comes to leadership, understanding how people behave and motivating everybody, I have the right areas.”
Every vote counts. Voters should make sure that they are registered and cast their vote by Nov. 5. For information on how to vote, click here. To register to vote, click here. To find more about either candidate’s campaign, Tyler Collins’s website can be found here and Kevin Shin’s can be found here.
