Mayor Mark Arapostathis

La Mesa 'State of the City' address: Crime rates drop, infrastructure work surges

Story and photos by Karen Pearlman
 
March 21, 2026 (La Mesa) -- A double-digit decline in property crime and a record-breaking year for road repairs in La Mesa were some of the highlights shared by La Mesa Mayor Mark Arapostathis earlier this month.
 
In his "State of the City" address shared by the city on March 11 and available on YouTube here, Arapostathis said that La Mesa reported an 11% reduction in property crime alongside substantial drops in commercial burglaries and auto thefts in 2025.
 
Arapostathis also lauded the city’s development pipeline, noting the issuance of about 1,500 permits as well as the launch of five pre-approved "fast-track" ADU designs to tackle housing affordability.
 
The city shared more department highlights of 2025 on its website here.

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MAYOR ARAPOSTATHIS ANNOUNCES IMPROVEMENTS TO LA MESA AT CHAMBER BREAKFAST

 

By Liz Alper

Photos by Liz Alper

June 22, 2016 (San Diego) - A sold-out crowd packed the Garden Room at Marie Callender's in the College Area for the La Mesa Chamber of Commerce's breakfast with La Mesa mayor Mark Arapostathis.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.