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October 17, 2022 (La Mesa) -- Tony Orlando is a La Mesa City Commissioner on the Personnel Appeals Board and pastor of Lifepoint Church in La Mesa.
Asked what motivated him to run, he says he’s lived in La Mesa for 21 years, raised his children here along with his wife, and says he’s dedicated himself to serving the community to “help adopt and embrace those who need help.”
Click the video link above to view the full interview, or scroll down for highlights.
He and his church started an initiative two years ago called “Serve La Mesa” that does mobile services, such as being part of the August movie in the park. “We bring out a mobile trailer and provide at no cost cotton candy, snow cones…”
After the May 2020 riot, “I was privileged to be brought in as a faith leader with the Chief of Police” within 48 hours. “Chase Bank had burned, Union Bank had burned,” he said, recalling watching live online as the Randall Lamb building burned and he could see his own office nearby.”
He says he’d thought of running for years, but after the Police Chief called him in to provide spiritual guidance to both Black Lives Matter and Defend East County demonstrators. In the coming days, he recalled the National Guard coming in, and found himself asking, “What is going on? This is La Mesa, jewel of the hills…La Mesa found itself in the crossroads of social unrest.”
He adds, “Something began to stir in me. I needed to do more…then the opportunity presented itself.” After his friend, Laura Lothian ran and won, and Councilman Bill Baber resigned leaving an open seat, he decided to run.
He’s pledged to “stand tall” with law enforcement to prevent any future repeat of the riot. Asked the causes of the riot and unrest, he said, “We have a great city, not too much crime. We have a great police force that’s done a wonderful job. I don’t think anyone expected what happened.” He acknowledges there have been criticism, and doesn’t want to second guess decisions made. “I’m a fan of we need to bolster up what we do have,” regarding law enforcement, which has faced even more challenges due to the pandemic.
He recalls the retired Police Chief was “devastated by what happened” and was trying to everything possible to “keep our city safe” during and since the devastation. “Some of the PTSD and the weight that has been on (officers)” But he also doesn’t want to “sweep under the rug” the trolley stop altercation between a white officer and young black man just days before the riot that sparked “anger, pain, social unrest happening” in the wake of the George Floyd national protests. “La Mesa became part of this national storm of unrest,” he recalled. “
Asked if there has been enough police reform and his views on the citizens police oversight committee, he says, “I don’t believe there was a need for reform…Unfortunately out of a huge broad stroke of officers all across this nation there are only a small percentage who are not nice people, have malicious intent or racial bias…unfortunately those things have happened….I know there has been awareness,” he says. “One incident does not define an entire culture,” he says, adding that police have been “resilient.”
As for La Mesa’s recovery, he notes that some businesses were decimated by the pandemic. “I’ve been talking to some small business owners and they really got hammered by the pandemic,” with some closed for long periods. “Now, in this post-COVID culture, we’re dealing with the effects of COVID, whether that’s lost revenue, and trying to pay loans back…and now we’re dealing with inflation” that’s caused restaurants to raise rates, which has caused some families to make decisions not to eat out, causing harm again to businesses.
“I hope these businesses can continue to make progress….I hope that we, La Mesa would be a destination spot where you would want to start a new business…because of the vibe we have, the sense of community, and the sense of life we have on a weekend night.” He says businesses are finding creative ways to pivot and bounce back.
Asked about the city’s Juneteenth event, he says he didn’t attend because he wasn’t aware of it.
As for homelessness, he says, “We can’t expect law enforcement to go beyond what they are trained to do,” ie, fight crime. “What they’re not equipped to do is deal with drug addiction, other life-controlling addiction, or mental illness.” He says homelessness is a crisis. “We’re at a crossroads,” he adds, noting that it’s not law enforcement’s job to clean up homeless camps. He praised the Home Program deployed by the city as a “deescalating” option that offers services and help for people to get off the streets and into shelters. “That is a civic responsibility for all of us,” he says. “We have to partner with groups that are already doing things that we are not…We don’t necessarily have to start a center” for addiction, mental illness, for instance, he notes.
He was unaware of a Boise court ruling that said cities can’t clear homeless camps if shelters are not available, but said, “We are asking the right questions about homelessness, we’re just answering them in the improper order. We need to ask, ‘What are we dealing with?’” He notes there are pre-homeless people living in vehicles or short-term motels, going to gyms to shower, and may have jobs. “That is probably the best of the three where we have the best opportunity for transformation.” He notes that his church works with schools to help families who are pre-homeless, “Mom lives in a car, one or two kids live with an aunt, a couple of kids are crashing on friends’ sofas.” Then there are the newly homeless, with “their life’s possessions in a a shopping cart.” The third category, “and the most sad” is the chronically homeless. “We sadly sometimes have to love them until death,” noting that some won’t accept help, and are often dealing with addiction, mental illness or both. “There is no negotiating with someone who…is not in their right mind, so that is the hardest part.”
La Mesa has about 30 homeless according to a recent count, he says, but believes it’s a few more including chronically homeless people. “We have to leave with compassion. They had a mother and father that loved them, and then some life-changing event…but they’re still human…All human life is valuable.” His church offers meals and kits for the unsheltered that include hats, water, and other vital items. But he says that can become a “bandaid” because there’s not help to get on medication or into a program off addiction. “That’s the challenge that we face.” He notes that the homeless also affect businesses which can’t thrive if someone is defecating on their doorstep, so we also need to help businesses.
He shared the story of a chronically ill homeless man, Matthew T., who is very educated and intelligent, camping out in a dugout at a local sports field. When Matthew came to his church, “We embraced him…we fed him, we bought him clothes, we bought him a sleeping bag.” He’d still sleep in the park, until a family brought him into a facility in Spring Valley and helped him get Social Security, get cleaned up, but then “sadly his mental illness got the best of him and he called the police on himself…and blew a great opportunity to get off the streets.” That was over six years ago; he’s since been in and out of jail, and is okay when on his medication, but now he’s “back on the streets…not healthy, not looking well…It’s just sad to see that this young man who has so much life, and value…at the end of the day, he doesn’t want help. I’ve had him in my vehicle, driving him to the McDonald’s, and he says thank you,” but it’s just a Bandaid. “Honestly, I don’t know what the 100% most authentic answer is for the absolute eradication of homelessness.”
He hopes to find a way to get camps cleaned up and get homeless people to places with both shelter and services. He has sheltered some at his church, but notes they have left crash and don’t clean up after themselves. He notes that downtown San Diego is “the worst I’ve seen it” with rampant homelessness, and fears La Mesa is “now what San Diego was 20 years ago. If we don’t do something, I fear that La Mesa will be like San Diego 10 or 20 years from now. I want to be part of the solution…to foster a thriving community, thriving business community and helping our homeless friends…”
Asked what incentives and funding to help businesses he supports, he says he opposes any more taxes. “People are hurting right now. They’re hurting at the pump…if we tax, its one more layer of hurt.” He also opposes the mileage tax that SANDAG has proposed in the past. “How do we foster growth of business development, growth of the economy and La Mesa as a place where businesses want to come without raising taxes?” He noted a business façade program La Mesa has adopted with ARPA funds, federal money the city council has opted to use to help local businesses. He also supports cutting some regulations that “put more pressure” on businesses that are still trying to pay workers while paying off debts from COVID. He says there could be help other than financial, such as teams of people to clean streets up, as was done after the riot. He notes that much of the riot damage was done by people from outside La Mesa. He recalls that by noon the next day, windows were boarded up, broken glass swept away, as hundreds of volunteers came forward. “The same thing could happen for businesses…Sheldon’s coffee shop needed an awning, it took months and months for the planning department” to approve. “Expediting a permit doesn’t cost anything; that’s helping them without spending a dollar, but helps them operate in way that there are happy customers, and happy customers keep coming back.”
He also cites concerns over people not feeling safe to come to businesses at night, so helping to solve the homelessness problem would help businesses generate more revenue, which leads to more sales tax revenue for the city.
He also wants to see a return to civil conversations with people who disagree, and sitting down with businesses to see what they really need, as his church has done with schools. The latter led to buying shoes for a student who couldn’t afford them, for example. Helping businesses could be done through fundraising, or community cleanups, or deregulation. “Having the conversations is the first step…to these businesses thriving down the road,” he adds.
Orlando is endorsed by the Republican Party of San Diego County and San Diego Gun Owners. You can learn more at https://www.tonyforlamesa.com/.
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