LMVA

A sign of things to come in the La Mesa Village

La Mesa's Downtown District Sign is coming soon. Among those at the Feb. 3 groundbreaking ceremony were, from left to right: Greg Humora, La Mesa City Manager; Pam Rader, La Mesa Village Association Board of Directors; Lauren Cazares, La Mesa Vice Mayor; Laura Lothian, La Mesa City Councilmember; John Bedlion, LMVA Board of Directors/Owner Johnny B's; Misty Thompson, La Mesa Park & Recreation Foundation Executive Director; Tony Gaipa, La Mesa District Sign committee member. CeCe Canton Photography
 
By Karen Pearlman
 
Feb. 15, 2026 (La Mesa) -- The intersection of La Mesa Boulevard and Palm Avenue has always been a bustling corner, and the spot is about to draw even more visitors because that's the site of the coming Downtown La Mesa District Sign.
 
There is no firm ETA for the sign's actual rise, but at least earlier this month the foundation for the legacy was laid.
 
City officials, local business owners, residents and fans of the "Jewel of the Hills" gathered the morning of Feb. 3 to dig up and toss the first shovels of dirt from where the landmark archway will rise.

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DEAN DEFENDS FOUNDING MEMBERS OF NEW MERCHANTS GROUP

 

By Miriam Raftery

September 15,2016 (La Mesa) – After receiving a reader’s editorial and a call from another local businessperson critical of the new La Mesa Village Association (LMVA), which ECM recently profiled, ECM reached out to Aaron Dean, LMVA  Chair, to respond.


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READER’S EDITORIAL: IS THE LMVA REALLY A FRESH START?





Regarding your article "new La Mesa Village Association has big ideas for revitalizing city's historic heart"

By Peter Carzis, Owner, Peter’s Gentlemen’s Apparel

Editor's note: Aaron Dean, chair of the new LMVA, spoke with ECM and provided his responses to concerns raised by Carzis and others.  You can read his remarks here.

October 14,2016 (La Mesa)--I attended the first meeting of this new group. They said they want this group to be a "fresh start" in the village, but yet they boast four Founding Members who are officers and directors of the "old" group that owes the taxpayers and the City of La Mesa $47,900.50.  (Per the city clerk, this amount was turned over to collection and none of the debt has been repaid as of today.)


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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.