Mayor Madrid Loses Bid to Toughen Permit Rules on Outdoor Events

City Council members were reminded Tuesday of an age-old adage: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The result came after an hour-long discussion infused with public comments on proposed changes in La Mesa’s Municipal Code Chapter 10.50, which regulates how business owners and individuals get city OK to host large outdoor events.

After determining that the city still had safeguards to protect itself, the changes were voted down 4-1, with Mayor Art Madrid the lone dissenter. Madrid had proposed the amendment.

Currently, the code requires a permit for such events, one that’s approved by the city after getting information about the event host and—in cases where more than 500 people are expected—a $1,000 refundable deposit.

To avoid situations that would leave the city financially responsible for a gathering, Madrid recommended amending the code to allow the city to request financial statements when considering a permittee’s eligibility.

“[But] we’re not in the business of analyzing financial statements,” said Councilman Ernie Ewin, who has three decades experience in banking and financial services.

Ewin said nonprofit groups already file statements with the IRS, called Form 990s, “so I think [the change] is not necessary. We already know our people.”

Several business people spoke, including 2010 mayoral candidate Laura Lothian, who asked council members to “lighten their grip, not tighten their grip, on the merchants.”

The measure came in the wake of a La Mesa Today story raising questions about financial practices in the La Mesa Village Merchants Association, which sponsors Oktoberfest, Christmas in the Village and car shows. But no one recalled an event in which the city was left to pay for cleaning up the premise or otherwise.

“That’s not to say we haven’t had to send a second notice,” said City Manager David Witt.

But while longtime merchants have a spotless record, City Attorney Glenn Sabine and Witt said the measure was meant more for future applicants—those business owners who were newer to La Mesa and therefore unknown to the city staff who would be reviewing the permit requests.

Approving the code amendment would allow for a standardized process that would free the city from possible accusations of merchant discrimination.

Sabine, who supported the idea of the “preventive measure,” stated the merchants’ financial statements were protected through the California Public Records Act. This means the city couldn’t release them to the general public—a concern for La Mesa Chamber of Commerce President Mary England.

It later came to light, however, that the city would have to relinquish any documents it had on a merchant in the case of a court-ordered subpoena.

“There will be a sigh of relief when I send an email to my board that [the issue is] not going to be coming back to the Council,”  England said, who told the council: “The financials are heartburn for us.”

Among other items discussed was the issue of trolley noise, which was originally brought to the city’s attention by homeowners Rhonda Ciardetti and John Hermes at the City Council meeting Oct. 25.

Ciardetti began her comment to the Council by saying she’s “ridden the trolley” before and is not against public transportation. Rather, the Loren Drive resident said it was the frequency with which the trolley ran—280 times a day by her count—and the late night schedule it kept that bothered her.

She having a “quiet zone” installed in the area surrounding the Orange and Green Line tracks west of Water Street and near Severin and Murray drives—stating that if San Diego could do it in several downtown areas it was “discrimination” that kept it from happening in La Mesa.

Councilman Ernie Ewin countered that it was not discrimination at all, but lack of funding and San Diego city resources for such an undertaking. According to Wayne Terry, chief operating officer of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System who was present at the meeting, one quiet zone would cost the city roughly $750,000.

Underlying the issue is why the pair decided to buy a home in an area with such prevalent trolley noise—something that’s been around since 1989 when the transit rail was originally installed as a double-track operation, according to a letter from MTS’ chief of staff Sharon Cooney.

Ewin seemed to agree.

“Unless I’m mistaken, everyone who lives in that area or has purchased homes in that area is aware of the noise,” he said.

Despite the lack of solution, Ciardetti said she would continue her efforts.

Another item discussed at length was a presentation by Police Chief Ed Aceves, which outlined the changes (attached) that occurred with the passage of Assembly Bill 109, the Public Safety Realignment Act.

Under this law, felony has been redefined, lower lever criminals will be housed in the county jail instead of prison and supervision of designated parolees has shifted from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to the County Probation Office.

Tuesday also saw the recognition of student volunteers who contributed their time to the Sustain La Mesa Environmental Festival in early October.