READER’S EDITORIAL: LA MESA’S CHOICE

I usually enjoy reading articles on East County Magazine but this article was filled with such drivel that I had to respond. You write that the challengers offer "an exciting and encouraging choice." "a bright contrast to the incumbents," "integrity, fresh ideas, community insights," and sheer energy, change" and the desire and ability to "get La Mesa back to work". You supported our prior mayor who had served for over twenty years. Doesn't that render your current demand for change a little hollow? But lets be specific about these "changes." Are they needed and where? And how will they be implemented? You offer nothing but vague generalities. I have spoken to thousands of city residents over the last four years. I have heard their questions and concerns. It seems to me that these things are what we should be talking about. Not wish lists from a self-appointed spokesman for the challengers-people with no record of local civic involvement. La Mesa has the lowest crime rate in 50 years, new businesses opening, affordable housing projects being built, a new climate action plan has been adopted, and the revitalized downtown is thriving. It all happened under the careful watch of the present Council. Is that the "shallow record of accomplishment" you were talking about? La Mesa is a great place to live and everyone knows it. That's why so many are choosing to live here. Of course, we can't take credit for all the good things happening. Not one can. It is a team effort. The Mayor, the Council, our wonderful staff and our great residents. Anthony, you seem to "pop up" every election season and take pot shots at the elected leaders-especially if they are not Democrats. You are a poster-boy for partisanship and see the world through "partisanship glasses". But La Mesa needs and wants people who work together to build our city. Step outside sometime and enjoy our city. Better yet, get involved. Join a commission or do volunteer work. Inevitably, you will see h ow much we can do together, and just how trivial party allegiance really is.

https://youtu.be/KtcNjv2ufdY.

from Bill Baber, La Mesa City Council Member: You can hear my interview with the Editor hear: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Here is the Editor's summary:

Councilman Baber is an attorney who was elected to the Council in 2014 and previously served on the La Mesa-Spring Valley School Board, including as president. He’s served as chair of the La Mesa Environmental Sustainability Commission and has represented the San Diego Taxpayers Association on local school bond oversight committees. He’s also worked as a lobbyist and campaign consultant, and helped draft ethics ordinances and charters for cities across our region.

Baber says he’s most proud of serving on “a well-run Council” that is “very citizen-oriented. We like working together and helping the citizens.” His top priority is public safety. “If you don’t keep people safe, nothing else matters,” he says. He praises La Mesa for having a “world class fire department that’s part of Heartland Fire and also praised the police department, but notes that recruiting and retaining good officers is a challenge.

On development issues, he notes tension between pro-growth forces and those who value community character. “We have to sort of grow while keeping out small town charm. It can be done,” he says. To meet affordable housing needs, he wants to site higher density development along transit corridors where possible. He does not support waivers to La Mesa’s four-story height limit in most places barring “a very unique circumstance,” adding pointedly, “We’re the jewel of the hills. We want to be able to see the hills.”

Homelessness is the most challenging issue facing the Council, says Baber. “It’s multi-faceted. I wish there was a quick solution, but there isn’t.” He says the city has two groups of homeless, those who are La Mesa residents, and those who are nomadic, merely passing through the area. Police work with homeless La Mesans to try and connect them with services or family, getting to know them by name, Baber says. The homeless are also divided between those who simply need a place to live or work, vs. those with severe mental illness, drug or alcohol issues. “Our police have to spend 25% of their time with the homeless functioning as social workers,” says Baber. “I’m glad they care,” but he adds that homelessness is a regional problem too big for a small city like La Mesa to handle alone. “We really need the county to step in and manage the mental health component and probably some of the drug and alcohol [components] as well,” he notes.

Regarding a new library, Baber envisions it as part of a new civic center that would include “programmable” space for the community to use for reading and children’s activities as well as other community groups. “Our community center isn’t big enough,” he says, adding, “A library is much more than books.”

On marijuana, Baber is backing Proposition V, which would create a business tax on dispensaries that could raise $1.5 to $2 million dollars a year. Among other things that money could help fund police and fire, including enforcement against illegal dispensaries. Baber also supports an ordinance to legalize adult-use recreational dispensaries, which he hopes to see enacted in early 2019.

Asked about controversies over who should fund Oktoberfest, Baber quips, “Nothing says La Mesa like a discussion about Oktoberfest. It is the epitome of small town charm. Who should put on the beer festival?” He says that overall, Oktoberfest and the Farmer’s Market are “doing well” and he supports having the La Mesa Village Association, a merchant’s group, running the festival while the city provides police services and road closures.

Baber believes adoption of the city’s climate action plan was a “good thing” but acknowledges it was a challenge since “the state of California mandates it but they don’t give you any money to do it.” He praised staff for research efforts to determine how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “We’ve made the commitment to move toward 100% clean energy,” adding, “This could come from a community choice aggregation that we’re looking at” as an alternative to buying power from SDG&E, to name one option. The city is also working to get people to drive less by building along transit corridors and encouraging people to walk or ride bikes. A new phenomenon is the arrival of electric rental Bird scooters that have “nested all over” the city in recent weeks. “We want people to have opportunities to move around…but you have to be a good neighbor,” says Baber, who supports regulations to prevent problems such as dropping off scooters that block disabled access.

“There’s never a dull moment in a small town,” he concludes, adding that residents “know where you live and if there’s a problem, they’ll knock on your door and say `Bill, what about those scooters?” He says the job isn’t glamorous, but he takes pride whenever a pot hole is fixed that someone complained about. He and his wife raised four children in La Mesa, says Baber, who adds, “I would just like you to know that I’m working every day for you.”

He is endorsed by La Mesa’s police and firefighters’ associations and by La Mesa Mayor Mark Arapostathis, whom he praises as “probably the best small town mayor in California. He loves the city, spent his whole life there; he’s beloved.”

You can learn more about Bill Baber and his candidacy at https://baber4lamesa.com/ .

It's "time for a change"! Let's "turn the page to a brighter tomorrow"! I believe it was my junior high school literary arts magazine where I last encountered such trite and empty filler as comprises most of this new column endorsing candidates Myers and Weber. Actually Dr. McIvor, most in-the-know La Mesans recognize that the current City Council is doing an excellent job. They also recognize that the invitation to "Change" for the sake of change is shallow, entirely undefined and rife with unknown and undesirable possibilities.