Photo, left to right: Councilmembers Lauren Cazares and Patricia Dillard, Mayor Mark Arapostathis, Councilmembers Laura Lothian and Genevieve Suzuki
Source: City of La Mesa
January 10, 2025 (La Mesa) – The City of La Mesa welcomed two new councilmembers during its City Council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The occasion marked a historic milestone in La Mesa as the council now consists of a majority of women, including women of color, with four women and one man who serves as mayor.
“This is a proud and historic moment for La Mesa,” said Mayor Mark Arapostathis. “Our City Council reflects the strength and diversity of our community. I look forward to working alongside my colleagues to continue making La Mesa a place where everyone feels represented and empowered.”
Joining the council are the newly elected members, Lauren Cazares and Genevieve Suzuki. Both Cazares and Suzuki have deep roots in the La Mesa community. Cazares, lifelong La Mesan, currently serves as Policy Advisor at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and has been actively involved in various boards and committees, including the City of La Mesa Community Police Oversight Board.
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Council supports state bill making distribution of hate flyers on private property a civil rights violation, retains controversial ban on remote public comments
By Michael Howard
Photo: Vice Mayor Laura Lothian discusses State Assembly Bill 3024 during April 9 La Mesa City Council Meeting.
April 14, 2024 (La Mesa, CA) – The La Mesa City Council continues to grapple with a balance between free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution and hate speech that just doesn’t seem to go away.
In its latest action, the Council voted 4-1 on Tuesday to adopt a resolution to support state bill AB 3024, the Stop Hate Littering Act, introduced by Assemblymember Chris Ward.
That bill adds language to section 51.7 of the current California State Civil Code to further define “intimidation by threat of violence” to include “distribution of hateful materials on private property of another without authorization for the purpose of terrorizing the owner or occupant of that private property or in reckless disregard of the risk of terrorizing the owner or occupant of that private property.”
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October 16, 2022 (La Mesa) -- East County Magazine recently interviewed Patricia Dillard, one of four La Mesa City Council candidates vying for two seats on the ballot. In our interview, originally aired on KNSJ radio, she shares her experience, priorities and goals if elected.
Her career spans close to 40 years working in business development, customer service, and sales for large and small businesses. She’s also been an active volunteer in community service.
View the full interview by clicking the video image above and scroll down for highlights.
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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.
October 15, 2021 (La Mesa) -- Four candidates participated in a lively forum last night hosted by East County Magazine on Zoom and streamed live on Facebook. Mejgan Afshan, Kathleen Brand, Patricia Dillard and Laura Lothian participated. (Note, Lothian joined a minute late due to techincal issues and is not shown in the screenshot)
shared their diverse views on issues including homelessness, equity/police reforms and public safety, affordable housing and development, the downtown district and neighborhood revitalization, the potential for a new library and/or community meeting space, public health mandates, the role of the new Arts and Culture Commission, and candidates' endorsements.
Each candidate gave a two minute opening statement and a one minute closing statement. (Two other candidates, Jim Stieringer and Michelle Louden, did not participate in the forum but Stieringer sent candidate information. Read more about the candidates at https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/ecm-host-la-mesa-city-council-candida... .
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.
Photo: Participating candidates, left to right: Mejgan Afshan, Kathleen Brand, Patricia Dillard, and Laura Lothian
October 13, 2021 (La Mesa) – East County Magazine will host a virtual forum for La Mesa City Council candidates running to fill the vacancy left by Dr. Akilah Weber’s election to the state Assembly. The candidates will be Thursday, October 14 at 7 p.m. It will be recorded via Zoom and livestreamed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EastCountyMagazine. A podcast will also be posted at www.EastCountyMagazine.org after the forum.
Six candidates are running and four have agreed to participate: Mejgan Afshan, Kathleen Brand, Patricia Dillard, and Laura Lothian. A fifth, Jim Stieringer, provided detailed information on his experience and goals if elected.
Find information on these five candidates below.
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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.
Photo, left to right: Mejgan Afshan, Letitia Dickerson, Patricia Dillard, and Laura Lothian
July 20, 2021 (La Mesa) – So far, the lineup of candidates seeking to serve on La Mesa’s City Council have one thing in common: all are women who filed papers to run for a vacancy on the Council left when ex-Councilmember Akilah Weber won election to the state Assembly. Dr Weber, a Democrat, was the first Black woman to serve on the Council.
The filing deadline opened July 12 and will close on August 6, so more candidates may yet file. The candidates who have filed to run so far are:
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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.
Council supports state bill making distribution of hate flyers on private property a civil rights violation, retains controversial ban on remote public comments
By Miriam Raftery
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