Town Hall Meeting

Town Hall Becomes A 'La Mesa Love-fest'

LA MESA -- When a large group of people show up at a City Council meeting it usually means two things: People are angry and it is going to be a long night.

So as the crowd continued to swell past 150 Tuesday night at what had been billed as the city's Centennial Town Hall meeting, there were some worried looks.

What followed over the next two hours even the most cynical observer would have to describe as a La Mesa love-fest.

"I adore this city,'' declared Cassandra King, a Texas transplant.

With the exception of the PBID obsessed, virtually every speaker began with a paean to living in the Jewel of the Hills. The small-town feel. The police force. The firefighters. The professional, "well-run'' city. All were praised early and often.

Perhaps it was the Centennial overlay and the historic displays that bordered the Community Center meeting space, but this was not at all the civic kvetch session that town halls everywhere usually become. The City Manager, the usually understated David Witt (pictured above), came decked out in Edwardian period clothes that were popular 100 years ago and began the meeting with an eloquent soliloquy on history and the evolution of the city.

Even when one citizen rose to complain about vagrants in the city, he actually named the homeless man (It was Larry) and most of the crowd seemed to know exactly who "Larry" is. You may be homeless in La Mesa, but you won't be nameless!

Local resident Russell Buckley did take an opportunity to remind the city of its looming $6.5 million pension deficit, but even he prefaced his remarks with a compliment to the city's stewards.

To prove it wasn't all about history, the night included familiar performances by the pro- and anti-forces for the on-going debate over whether the La Mesa Village area should establish a Property Based Improvement District. Village book seller Craig Maxwell argued that the Village is attracting new business and criticized city officials for implying a crisis of decay was threatening it. "The Village pulse is strong,'' Maxwell said, sounding an almost State of The Union tone.

Jim Wieboldt, owner of a Village travel agency, was among the PBID proponents and reported efforts to gather pro-PBID petitions were moving along well. He also took the opportunity to announce PBID supporters -- including Mayor Art Madrid -- would gather Saturday morning in the Village to conduct a two-hour cleanup; street-sweeping, curb painting and trash pick up.

"We'll have it looking good for Tuesday,'' Wieboldt said.

Tuesday, of course, is the kickoff of the city's Centennial and, if this night was any indication, the populace seems in the mood to celebrate for a time.

When asked after the meeting to what he attributed the large, relatively happy crowd, Madrid offered: "They love their mayor!''

Nearby City Council members Ernie Ewin and Ruth Sterling offered a slightly broader analysis: "They love their City Council.''

And on Tuesday afternoon, much of the city's political and business leadership will board an MTS trolley wrapped with an historic La Mesa photo and ride into the Village for the official Centennial kickoff.

Larry will probably be there too.