Although it took a good month for final results to be tabulated and certified, both Patricia Dillard (pictured above far right) and Laura Lothian (far left) are on the La Mesa Council heading into the New Year.
Dillard and Lothian finished in the top two spots (four candidates ran for two spots) in last month’s election. The election was only recently certified.
The final vote tally was Dillard (8,600 votes), Lothian (8,414), Mejgan Afhsan (8,403), Tony Orlando (6,598). Kathleen Brand, who had dropped out of the race prior to Election Day, captured 3,938 votes.
“I am happy La Mesa voters voted to keep me on the City Council,” Lothian stated. “There were hundreds of donors, volunteers, supporters, endorsers who helped me win this very tough campaign and I thank them all profusely. Though I accomplished quite a bit in my first year – ARPA Funds for small businesses, ARPA Funds for litter pickup, meaningful improvements to the permit process, the discontinuance of disposable plastic water bottles at City Hall, additional pickleball courts for minuscule money, personally helping numerous businesses navigate City Hall – I cannot wait to have four more years to continue making La Mesa a better place to live, work, visit, open a business, play, etc.”
When asked what her priorities would be over these next four years, Lothian noted “My focus has been and will continue to be hyper-localized: police, permits and potholes. Specifically, my chief priorities are making the permit process more customer friendly and efficient, helping city management change City Hall to a ‘Culture of Yes,’ forming an ad-hoc committee to be the liaison between residents/businesses and the City’s community division (permits/planning/building), changing trolley policies that contribute to La Mesa’s homeless problem, supporting the LMPD’s efforts to keep our citizens safe, stopping unattractive boilerplate apartment buildings from diminishing La Mesa’s charm, adding murals to our city’s blank walls and improving transparency on our City’s homepage.”
In other races, Mayor Mark Arapostathis (pictured center) was re-elected to office.
Arapostathis captured 11,386 votes to challenger Kristine Alessio’s 8,989 tally.
In the race for treasurer, Matt Strabone was the winner over William Exeter.
Strabone finished with 10,185 votes to Exeter’s 8,622 votes.
Editor’s note: LMC reached out to Patricia Dillard for comments on her council win but did not hear back prior to going to press.
