Person of the Year

Lynn McRea, La Mesan Of The Year

LA MESA -- In just a few months, La Mesa will mark its 100th year. Much of this city's ceremonial history -- its parades, celebrations, festivals and much of its commerce -- has played out along a few blocks of La Mesa Boulevard in a quaint neighborhood referred to as The Village.

So it is perhaps fitting that 2011's La Mesan of the Year, as selected by LaMesaToday.com, spent much of the city's 100th year leading a debate about The Village's future.

While the list of nominees for this distinction was both long and impressive -- their dedication to La Mesa inspirational -- McRea raised her hand and took a leadership position on what virtually everyone knew was going to be a long and difficult challenge. Not a politician and clearly not accustomed to the rough-and-tumble of local politics, McRea nonetheless led the effort to study the creation of a Property Based Improvement District even as tempers rose and the occasional vitriolic barb was fired -- sometimes at her.

"I don't regret anything about the effort,'' McRea said recently, "except the time it has taken away from my own business. It has taken a lot of time.''

McRea and her husband, realtor Dave Woodson, purchased and renovated a building along La Mesa Boulevard, moved their own businesses in and hope to expand. She said she was moved to get involved because she believes the future of The Village will require more sophisticated collaboration and marketing.

"We love it here," she said recently. "We just want to make sure it stays on the way up.''

La Mesa Village has seen it all over the last century.  The rise of strip centers, regional malls and the birth of superstores. Throughout, La Mesa Village has managed to maintain a foothold in the community life. It is hard to know how the on-going boom in Internet commerce will impact its future. It is also hard to know whether the PBID will pass and, if so, if it will prolong The Village's era in the retail sun.

What is certain, however, is the contribution Lynn McRea made in leading some crucial soul searching at a key moment in The Village's history.

2010's Person Of The Year.