Joe Muga

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Joe Muga

Prior offices

Escondido Union School District school board Region 3

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Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

California State University, San Bernardino, 1980

Graduate

San Diego State University, 2002

Ph.D

Oklahoma State University, 1989

Personal

Profession

Psychologist

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal website

Joe Muga was a member of the Escondido Union School District school board in California, representing Region 3. He assumed office in 2016. He left office in 2020.

Muga ran for election to the Palomar Health District Board of Directors Division 6 in California. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Muga completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Joe Muga's career experience includes working as a psychologist. He earned a bachelor's degree from the California State University, San Bernardino in 1980, a Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University in 1989, and a graduate degree from San Diego State University in 2002.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in San Diego County, California (2024)

General election

General election for Palomar Health District Board of Directors Division 6

Incumbent Jeff Griffith defeated Joe Muga and Gaurav Dhiman in the general election for Palomar Health District Board of Directors Division 6 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeff Griffith (Nonpartisan)	61.6	17,683
		Joe Muga (Nonpartisan)	33.2	9,524
	Submit photo	Gaurav Dhiman (Nonpartisan)	5.1	1,477

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 28,684
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Muga in this election.

2016

See also: Escondido Union School District elections (2016)

Two of the five seats on the Escondido Union School District Board of Education were up for by-district general election on November 8, 2016. Neither incumbent filed to run for re-election, guaranteeing two newcomers joined the board. The race for the Trustee Area 1 seat featured candidates Giovanny Miranda and Doug Paulson. Mirek Gorny and Joe Muga ran for election to the Trustee Area 3 seat. Paulson and Muga won election to the board.

Results

Escondido Union School District, Trustee Area 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Joe Muga	65.56%	6,475
Mirek Gorny	34.44%	3,401
Total Votes		9,876
Source: San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election - Tuesday, November 8, 2016," accessed December 9, 2016

Funding

See also: Campaign finance in the Escondido Union School District election

Muga filed an exemption form detailing he would not spend or receive more than $2,000 for this campaign. Because of this, he did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.

Endorsements

Muga was endorsed by the San Diego County Democratic Party.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Joe Muga completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Muga's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Dr. Muga is a licensed clinical psychologist. Worked in hospitals for 20 years. Former Chief of Medical Staff. Doctoral Residency at Loma Linda Veterans Medical Center. Post Doctoral Health Policy Fellow at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C.. Former School Board Member at Escondido Union Elementary School District. School Site Council and PTA. AFSCME Local 2620 union representative 10+ years. San Diego County Grand Jury 2022-2023. Currently appointed to second term for 2024-2025 San Diego County Grand Jury.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Transparency: Dr. Muga believes the Palomar Health Board should conduct board meetings with maximum availability and public notice to the community.
• Accountability: Dr. Muga's top priority is to prevent the privatization efforts by the current Board and to keep Palomar Health accountable to the community it serves.
• Ethics: Dr. Muga will take concrete steps for all Board members to publicly disclose any and all conflicts of interests, especially those involving campaign contributions.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Health care policy. Completed a post doctoral health policy fellowship at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.. In addition to a masters and a doctoral degree in clinical psychology I went back and earned a masters in public administration which helped to strengthen my management skills within public institutions and supplemented my years of work experience in healthcare management positions.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave a legacy of public service. You do not have to become wealthy to be successful. But you do need to help others in you community to be successful. To be successful you need be make a positive difference in the lives of others. My most rewarding experiences have not been those positions which paid the most but in fact those positions which were volunteer or paid just my expenses. The act of helping others is incredibly enriching to the mind, the body, and the soul.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Financial transparency and government accountability are the compelling reasons why I am running for Palomar Health Board. The current Palomar Health Board is a textbook example of a publicly elected board which has no financial transparency and flagrantly mocks accountability to the community which they were elected to serve. The current Palomar Board withholds what should be public financial quarterly statements and passed the last annual budget in a specially called public session giving the bare minimum legal notice to have virtually no public input on the proposed budget.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Candidate

Palomar Health District Board of Directors Division 6

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