Dozens Praise La Mesa, But Raise Concerns, at Centennial Town Hall

Updated at 2 a.m. Feb. 8, 2012

“I adore this city,” said Texas transplant Cassandra King.

“I am in love with La Mesa,” said Bud Willis, a musician and retired teacher.

“Your city is about the best I’ve ever seen,” said a man who recalled living in “a lot of suburbs.”

So it went for much of Tuesday night as 30 residents—some here many decades and one for a little over a year—lined up to address city leaders on the 100th anniversary of the vote that led to La Mesa becoming a city.

La Mesa has one of “the friendliest and most helpful police departments I’ve ever seen,” said another speaker at the La Mesa Community Center. 

“La Mesa residents are some of the smartest in the county,” said downtown travel agent Kelly Wieboldt.

And bookstore owner Deena While said she was born and raised in “the best town in the world.”

Called the Centennial Town Hall Meeting, the open forum was actually a City Council meeting with a limited agenda.

Some 160 people made their way to the Memorial Drive complex on a drizzly night to hear speakers cover more than a dozen issues—from speeding traffic and lack of light rail to the public-employee pension crisis and the stalled Park Station project.

First up was a 20-year resident who lauded the new police and fire stations but urged leaders to finish the Civic Center with a LEED Platinum-certified City Hall, which he said would help “restore the reputation of our police department to keep crooks away.”

Several women noted a lack of cultural events. One wished Oktoberfest would return to its local art origins—instead of the commercial vendor focus of recent years.

City Hall staff—some in front of the audience and others sitting on folding chairs amid residents—took notes.

But the dominant topic was whether The Village should establish a property-based business improvement district—or PBID—which seeks to raise more than $375,000 a year in higher property taxes for physical and service improvements. 

At least seven residents—most of them regulars at City Council meetings—spoke passionately for and against the proposal, now in a petition gathering phase. It could eventually lead to a vote of downtown residents and property owners.

Bill Jaynes, who owns a British-themed grocery and souvenir store in The Village, apologized for “playing the role of skunk at the garden party.” He cited concerns that nine property owners could determine the fate of a business district encompassing 190 others.

He quoted a series of email messages between city staff and city-hired PBID consultant Ed Henning that he acquired through a recent Public Records Act request. The notes suggest the city was steering downtown merchants toward a PBID and away from other ways of raising money for downtown improvements.

And one email suggested the existence of a confidential memo that contradicted any neutral stance the city was supposed to hold.

Craig Maxwell, a downtown bookstore owner and former mayoral candidate, said local politicians have conveyed a “sense of crisis or urgency when there is none” regarding The Village, which he called the “crown jewel” in the Jewel of the Hills.

“It is a long way from dead,” Maxwell said. “The Village’s pulse is strong” and shoppers rave about its charm and interesting appeal.

But William Walton, in what he called a rebuttal to Maxwell, said: “If the PBID doesn’t pass, it’s possible the city won’t spend $5 million” on downtown capital improvements. 

“The upside is enormous” for the PBID investment, said Walton, a member of the committee that designed the district.

And married couple Jim and Kelly Wiebolt added voices to the pro-PBID chorus, although Kelly said paperwork is still being collected “before a decision is made on whether to take it to a vote.”

For his part, Jim Wieboldt—a City Council candidate in November—announced that he was organizing a Village street cleanup from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday, meeting at the First Baptist Church of La Mesa.

“Let’s make the downtown Village sparkle” for the following week’s outdoor centennial events, he said.

Other topics led to back-and-forth with council members and city staff:

After saying, “You guys are doing a great job,” lifetime La Mesan Greg Williams, 58, bemoaned “the vagrant problem,” upset by the rise of  panhandlers on street medians and homeless people at playgrounds he visits with his granddaughter.

“That’s not what the park is for,” he said. “I don’t need to see someone urinating behind the Costco sign.”

He urged the city to “eliminate the welcoming of the panhandlers.”

Police Chief Ed Aceves urged residents to report crimes when they are seen, and noted the recurring issue of Larry Werner, who makes his home outside storefronts in The Village but recently was taken to a downtown San Diego psychiatric facility.

“When Larry comes back, he’ll probably come downtown,” Aceves said. “That’s what he knows and is comfortable with.”

But City Attorney Glenn Sabine said court rulings, including one involving Manhattan Beach, limit was steps cities can take to remove the homeless from the streets.

“Cities can’t discriminate against a class or status [of people],” Sabine said. But urinating outdoors or public drunkenness are crimes police can deal with. “There’s nothing out there that eliminates the problem” of street people.

Said Aceves: “We do enforce all the laws. If you see someone breaking the law, call us and tell us about it.”

Mayor Art Madrid suggested not giving money to panhandlers, saying: “Look at the consequences of continually giving support.”

Local taxpayer advocate Russell Buckley spoke of the city's public-employee pension obligations, saying it would be a “shame to celebrate the centennial” with a fiscal cloud “hanging over our heads.”

But Dawn Tol, a young woman who lives near Mount Helix, opposed cuts in benefits for police and firefighters especially, saying they attracted good people. She cautioned against “disincentivizing these people who protect us.”

Laurie Andrews, manager of the Jackson Drive apartments, raised issues of crime, lack of street lighting in her neighborhood and how suburbs near her former home, Kansas City, have art districts and better cultural offerings.

Still, she said, “I finally got smart and moved to La Mesa.”

Police Chief Aceves said four or five years ago the police department began issuing “press releases for every [major] crime.”

Although “we’re the only ones out there doing that,” he said, it led to public perceptions that La Mesa is crime-ridden.

“Believe it or not,” he said, “we’re at one of the lowest crime rates since 1966, especially for property crimes.”

He hailed the role of Erin Jones, the city’s new crime-prevention specialist.

Her name was a recurring theme Tuesday night.

By the end of the two-hour meeting, Jones was being kidded about people asking for her autograph.

A partial video archive of the meeting, shown live by intermittent web-streaming, can be found on this Ustream page.