2020 Council candidate Karwin hosts public gathering

Supporters joined Menifee City Council candidate Robert Karwin and his wife Janissa at a meet and greet on Saturday.

Robert Karwin made his first public appearance as a 2020 candidate for Menifee City Council Saturday, welcoming guests in a "meet and greet" event at Mason Jar Brewery.

Karwin announced to Menifee 24/7 in late September that he had submitted a statement of intent to run for City Council, but this was his first public interaction with residents. Candidates can't pull official application papers until next summer, but the statement of intent allows him to begin his plans for funding his campaign.

No one else has announced publicly intent to run for the District 1 seat that will be vacated next fall by Greg August, who will be leaving office because of term limits. District 1 includes the Sun City senior community.

August won favor with residents with an extensive door-to-door campaign. Karwin said he will also do that when campaign laws allow him to begin doing so, but he has already begun connecting with residents via social media.

"In our district, there's a growing use of social media and a lot of support through Facebook and Twitter," said Karwin, a local attorney. "It's nice to go door to door, but people don't want people knocking on their doors like they used to 15 years ago. With Facebook, you have a virtual door knocking. People are coming to me and we're talking to each other directly."

Karwin said he can be reached through his "Bob Karwin For City Council 2020" Facebook page. He also plans to be out in the community often to establish relationships with residents.

"I'll be doing some video updates, walking around the city doing live chats with folks, talking about things I think can be improved in the city," he said. "I'm running for District 1, but every City Council member represents the whole city. A lot of the folks here today aren't even in my district, but they're supporting me because they're from Menifee."

When Karwin confirmed his filing of the statement of intent to Menifee 24/7 in September, he briefly discussed his campaign goals.

"A lot of movement has been made to improve the lives of residents in District 1, but we need more," said Karwin at the time. "My No. 1 concern is being able to get people from District 1 to the rest of the city. There’s a lot of growth going on by the Menifee Town Center and all those businesses down there, but there's not a lot of ways for our seniors to get there. I’m a big advocate of public transportation. I would love for us to get a dedicated bus line serving our area."

Among those attending Karwin's event on Saturday were August and Earl Phillips, who serves along with Karwin on the Menifee Planning Commission.