I spent the last eight years serving on the La Mesa City Council. I am grateful for the opportunity here to reflect on those two terms in office.

My time on the Council was one of transition.

Over the last decade, many younger people moved into our city. Like my own parents who first moved to East County to find affordability, many new La Mesans moved to buy their first home, or to start a family. Younger households joined the many older and longtime residents, who remain the mainstay of our community. 

A major appeal of La Mesa is our small-town charm. Still, all communities change over time. On the Council, I sought to strike a balance between maintaining what we cherish, and meeting the evolving needs of our community.

New residents have different expectations. 

Many have dogs and want dog parks. More children mean more needs for play equipment, traffic calming, and safe bicycle lanes near our schools. New residents bring new tastes, and entrepreneurs arise to meet them. Our Village still has many antique shops, but now we are also known as a destination for dining and entertainment. 

When I joined the Council, our Farmer’s Market was small, confined to a sterile municipal parking lot. With the efforts of the Village Association and others, we moved the market to La Mesa Boulevard where attendance skyrocketed. 

Most businesses supported the move, but not all. Some advocated to end the market, or return it to its smaller, less attractive location. I lead an effort of hundreds of citizens who emailed and petitioned the Council to save the Market. We succeeded, and today the Farmers Market is a beloved tradition.

I was the first Democrat elected to the La Mesa City Council in decades. As more Democrats joined me on the Council, we reflected the changing politics of our community. 

I was proud to lead La Mesa’s effort to create the region’s first city-wide Project Labor Agreement. Public works projects will now create high quality local jobs. We voted to support the workers organizing a union at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, the largest labor action in our city’s history. 

La Mesa adopted East County’s first legally enforceable Climate Action Plan, and we were the first in East County to raise the Pride flag. I voted for La Mesa to become a founding member of San Diego Community Power, lowering both our city’s emissions, and the cost of electricity for our ratepayers. 

My career in government began as a Jerry Brown appointee at the California Department of Housing, so housing has always been a priority for me. While the vast majority agree on the need for more homes, there is often disagreement about where they should go, or how they should look.

In La Mesa, I tried to steer a balanced approach. We did not alter single family zoning, which is very important to many homeowners. Instead we empowered homeowners to make improvements on their properties, to build backyard cottages, and reduced fees for other home improvements.  

We approved the first permanently affordable development in decades, with 140 new affordable homes for families under construction right now. We permanently funded a Homeless Outreach Team for the first time.

La Mesa faithfully implemented new state housing laws, like the Affordable Homes Bonus. That policy streamlines some developments if they include permanently affordable homes. Dozens of projects are now including these permanently affordable homes we need. I also introduced our policy to hold developers accountable, requiring for the first time that they pay monitoring fees to ensure their affordable units are only rented or sold to income-eligible households. 

La Mesa’s balanced approach on housing was even profiled in the Boston Globe by the famous Spotlight team.

Earlier this year, I voted with our Council to ask the voters to extend Proposition L, a measure that is essential to maintaining funding for our Police and Fire Departments. This November, the voters agreed by a wide margin. 

One thing I learned as an Eagle Scout is that you should always leave a place better than you found it. 

That has been my goal with La Mesa, and it has been an honor to have served our community.

Editor’s note: This piece was written by outgoing La Mesa Councilmember Colin Parent.

(Courtesy photos)