No Apologies to City Council Candidate James Wieboldt

James Wieboldt, a member or chair of at least five La Mesa boards, commissions and/or chambers and a declared candidate for La Mesa City Council, has threatened me, a fellow La Mesa Parking Commissioner, with legal action three times for comments I have made in the Union Tribune and La Mesa Patch. 

He has been cautioned by City Attorney Glenn Sabine that his attempts to stifle me are a violation of my First Amendment right to free speech; Sabine also advised Wieboldt in 2009 that if Wieboldt didn’t like what I was writing, “write your own editorial.” 

Nonetheless, on February 21st, during public comments at the La Mesa Community Parking Commission meeting, Wieboldt demanded a public apology and full retraction for a La Mesa Patch blog I wrote November 2011 or I would face legal action.

Because I have a right to free speech and because of the following actions taken by Wieboldt, I will not be apologizing for or retracting any blogs or comments I have made about him in the past. 

When I campaigned to clean up trash and graffiti in La Mesa’s mayoral race in 2010, he went on record saying he drove four hours and couldn’t find graffiti. I published dozens of photos of graffiti — within two minutes of his travel agency — to disprove his obvious misstatement. 

When I resisted the Parking Commission’s momentum for recommending the installation of public toilets in La Mesa Village, voicing a concern that the toilets could worsen our crime and homeless problem, Wieboldt went on record saying, “I don’t know where Commissioner Lothian gets her homeless data.” I, once again, published photos of dozens of homeless people in and around La Mesa Village to disprove his obvious misstatement.

When I fought to have less than $5,000 of parking meter money allocated toward flowers in our planters, he fought to have the planters removed entirely. Any rational person would agree beautiful flowers enhance the shopping/dining experience. Removal of the planters would have degraded the Village’s ambiance. Wieboldt took his mission to remove the planters all the way to City Council. Luckily, City Council voted 5-0 to keep the planters. 

The Parking Commission has now voted 4-1 to recommend up to $32,000 from the Downtown Parking Fund be used to power wash Village sidewalks and planters and to weekly sweep downtown streets for our Centennial. Wieboldt was the lone dissenter. 

Whatever his agenda, I do not think it is good for La Mesa, and despite his threats of legal action, I stand by what I say and will continue to do what I feel is in the best interest of La Mesa. 

For the record, graffiti has all but vanished from La Mesa’s walls, utility boxes, curbs and sidewalks. No doubt the publicity from the 2010 campaign helped eradicate what was a terrible problem. 

Discussion regarding the installation of public toilets in the Village has at least stalled and there’s a wonderful chance at the next City Council meeting that council members will vote to accept the recommendation of the Parking Commission and we will soon be seeing clean sidewalks, streets and planters for our Centennial paid with already collected quarters — not raised fees or taxes!

As long as community residents are allowed to speak their minds, including criticizing the status quo, positive change can happen. However, if appointed or elected officials can throw around lawsuit threats when citizens or volunteers, for heaven’s sake, don’t toe the line, La Mesa, we have a problem.