By Elijah McKee

Photo: CC by NC via Bing

February 15, 2022 (La Mesa) — This past September, the State of California passed a pivotal housing law called Senate Bill 9. Now, like many localities around the state, the City of La Mesa is charged with considering how to best implement the legislation with local ordinances — such as the one that passed the City Council last Tuesday night. 

Leashes help to keep dogs & people safer by preventing bites, fights & traffic accidents!

Source:  City of La Mesa

February 11, 2022 (La Mesa) - La Mesa City leaders are reminding dog owners to be good neighbors by keeping their dogs on a leash, unless in a designated off-leash area. It's also the law. Leashes keep dogs and the people around them safer by preventing bites, fights and traffic accidents, as well as avoiding potentially dangerous encounters with snakes, coyotes, or other wild animals.

Source: City of La Mesa

February 10, 2022 (La Mesa) -- To help struggling La Mesa families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the City announced today the expansion of the current Mortgage Assistance Program to also include rent payment relief for residents. Beginning Monday, February 14,  applications will be accepted for rental assistance.

East County News Service

February 7, 2022 (La Mesa) – A 32-year-old man died at the scene of a single-vehicle crash in a blue 2018 Hyundai Genesis early this morning on Fletcher Parkway east of Amaya in La  Mesa.  A male passenger, 29, was injured.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Jake Rose: Randall Lamb building in flames

January 29, 2022 (La Mesa) – Daniel Louis Sandoval, 44, of Campo has been sentenced for his role in the burning down of the historic Randall Lamb building in La Mesa shortly after midnight on May 31, 2020 during civil unrest.

New policy & procedures aim to preserve remote access to meetings

Source:  City of La Mesa

January 21, 2022 (La Mesa) – In an ongoing commitment to transparency and accountability in local government, La Mesa City Council adopted a new public comment policy for City Council, Boards, and Commissions meetings. Currently, these meetings are held virtually, but the new policy preserves remote access to these meetings when in-person sessions return.

Updated January 17 with comments from Councilmember Lothian and clarification that the Council has been meeting virtually since the pandemic began and voted to extend virtual meetings.

By Eugenie Budnik

January 14, 2022 (La Mesa) - The La Mesa City Council held its first meeting of the new year on Tuesday. Mayor Mark Arapostathis opened with his State of the City speech, calling the city “strong.” 

Later the Council addressed some contentious issues, including replacing its SANDAG representative and extending virtual meetings amid the latest COVID surge.  With Council and staff in chambers, newly elected Councilmember Laura Lothian openly defied the state’s mask mandate.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Collier Park, City of La Mesa

January 11, 2022 (La Mesa) – The City of La Mesa plans to remove 21 Eucalyptus trees this week at Collier Park, the city’s oldest park, located at Palm and Pasadena. 

By Karen Pearlman

December 31, 2021 (La Mesa) -- Ron Brady was the founder of a high profile construction company, but it was the practice of philanthropy over the course of many decades that helped him develop some of his closest community ties.

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Brady took over his father's business, the lath and plastering contracting firm E.F. Brady that started in 1946, and turned it into a successful construction business known as the Brady Companies. The Brady companies were instrumental in developing much of San Diego County, Los Angeles County and parts of Northern California. The companies specialize in drywall, plaster and lath that are geared toward major commercial projects.

Over the course of his lifetime, he and his wife, Mary Alice, gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to different organizations, from Sharp Grossmont Hospital to the East County YMCA to the Boys and Girls Clubs of East County.

By Miriam Raftery

Image:  final Congressional districts in San Diego County. Courtesy Citizens Redistricting Commission

December 21, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – Yesterday, California’s independent citizen redistricting commission unanimously approved the state’s new Congressional district maps, which will be certified December 27.  Today, two of East County’s Congressional members, Democrat Sara Jacobs and Republican Darrell Issa, announced plans to seek reelection in their new and solidly safe districts.

Updated to include comments from Councilmember Laura Lothian.

By Miriam Raftery

December 12, 2021 (La Mesa) – On May 30^th last year, racial justice protests in La Mesa were fueled in part by a viral video of a white police officer’s treatment of a young black man, Amaurie Johnson, at a trolley stop as well as by the killing of George Floyd, a black man, by a Minneapolis police officer.

Johnson was initially charged with assaulting an officer and resisting arrest, but charges were dropped after police body camera footage and a viral video failed to substantiate the officer’s allegation. Video showed the Officer Matt Dages grabbing Johnson’s shirt and pushing him into a seated position and Johnson putting up a hand in response, briefly brushing his fingers against the officer.

Protests turned violent after dark, including the burning down of two banks and a historic building, actions that terrorized many La Mesa residents. 

Dages was fired by the city and criminally charged with falsifying a police report; charges against Johnson were dropped.

But now a jury has found OfficerDages not guilty.  In addition, Ricky Bernard Cooper, who pleaded guilty to lighting papers on fire inside Chase Bank which burned to the ground  as well as to looting businesses, was sentenced to probation after serving just 100 days in jail.

By Kathy Carpenter 

Celebrate “50 Days of Fiesta” with special menu and more now through Dec. 24  

East County News Service

November 27, 2021 (La Mesa) – Diane Powers’ Casa de Pico Mexican restaurant is celebrating 50 years of delicious and festive fun starting November 4 through December 24 in La Mesa’s Grossmont Center.  

Opened in 1971, Casa de Pico was Powers’ first restaurant and originally located within San Diego’s Old Town State Park. With the vision of recreating the beautiful Mexican bazaars she had long-admired, Powers leased the site of the rundown and boarded up Casa de Pico Motel from the state and began a legendary transformation of the space to create Bazaar del Mundo, a colorful shopping and dining experience, including Casa de Pico.

Source:  City of La Mesa

November 15, 2021 (La Mesa) - The La Mesa Police Department is the recipient of a $25,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) that will prioritize the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians.