![\"canddiate-forumweb\"](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/canddiate-forumweb.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cAll of them, I\u2019m proud to say have been achieved,\u201d she said, listing recent actions by the City Council that included cutting the city\u2019s pension liability, reaching a deal to pay police and fire competitively, and construction on Collier Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn top of that, La Mesa is becoming a hot, new place to move to,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Parent shared his resume of experience in public policy \u2014 working at the East County Economic Development Council while in high school; campaigning for Gov. Jerry Brown and then working in Brown\u2019s administration for two years on affordable housing and economic development policy; and his current job as a transit safety advocate at Circulate San Diego.<\/p>\n
Parent then shared the top priorities of his campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first is public safety. Crime is actually going up in La Mesa,\u201d he said, pointing to a recent report that shows a 30 percent uptick in violent and property crime. Parent said the city should try to offer police longer contracts to retain good officers.<\/p>\n
Improving quality of life was Parent\u2019s second priority and he said he would support new growth and new businesses in the downtown area.<\/p>\n
Referencing the City Council\u2019s process to hire a new city manager, Parent said transparency would be the final priority of his campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just announced at the [City Council] meeting that the outgoing city manager was retiring and a new person was coming in. And I think that\u2019s just the absolute wrong approach,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not saying the person they hired isn\u2019t qualified. I\u2019m sure she\u2019ll do a fine job; but a City Council of our size does two important things \u2014 they pass a budget and hire a city manager. It\u2019s really important that we have an open process for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sales taxes<\/strong><\/p>\n The first question for the candidates was about the Proposition L sales tax and what their preferred plans to replace it would be, when it sunsets in 13 years.<\/p>\n Councilmember Alessio said the city has been sustained by Prop L money in recent years and she is worried that the SANDAG half cent sales tax increase on this November\u2019s ballot will make it difficult for the city to propose a future replacement for Prop L. She continued her criticism of the SANDAG proposal, saying that it leaves almost nothing to La Mesa.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we are going to sustain La Mesa\u2019s fiscal health, we need to be in control of our own destiny regarding taxation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Parent agreed that Prop L is crucial for the success of La Mesa\u2019s budget but that it is too early to predict the city\u2019s needs to replace it.<\/p>\n Unlike Alessio, Parent said he supports the SANDAG sales tax increase because it has \u201cvery clear explanations on how that money will be spent.\u201d<\/p>\n La Mesa will get $1.5 million for local transportation improvements and included in the measure are improvements to the 94 and 125 connections, he said, adding that the SANDAG proposal also has funds for grants that could be used to change the trolley interaction at Spring Street.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is the kind of proactive approach that that measure is going to enable La Mesa to take,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Funding local events<\/strong><\/p>\n A question on the funding of local events, like the car show and Oktoberfest, found the candidates in agreement that the city did the right thing by stepping in to keep them going after the Village Merchants Association went defunct.<\/p>\n \u201cI voted to support these events and the way I look at it, there are certain things that when there\u2019s a void, government needs to jump in there and take care of,\u201d Alessio said.<\/p>\n Promoting business<\/strong><\/p>\n Moving on to the next question regarding how La Mesa can lure new businesses to the city, Alessio said the council has been successful; she then pointed to a decision to hire a marketing consultant to promote the city that she voted for.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can see that its worked. La Mesa is booming,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have 20, 30 new projects. We have new restaurants coming. We have new housing. It\u2019s not just downtown either, it\u2019s all over the city.\u201d<\/p>\n Parent agreed that promoting small business is a key responsibility of City Council and added that projects like the downtown streetscape was \u201cthe right kind of approach.\u201d But he added some criticism that the project took longer than expected and some businesses were not able to survive the disruption.<\/p>\n He also questioned the effectiveness of the city\u2019s marketing strategy.<\/p>\n \u201cHiring a marketing consultant was perhaps the right choice given how far behind La Mesa was. I think we had a Facebook page as of this year,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know that we needed a marketing consultant to do that. I probably could have introduced you to a high school intern who could have set that up for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n Parent said that events in La Mesa are the biggest drivers of attention and marketing, and having an active business association would be more effective in promoting the city. He added that changing antiquated rules and a \u201cculture of hesitancy\u201d in approving new projects would help empower staff to encourage development in the city.<\/p>\n New library<\/strong><\/p>\n On whether La Mesa should build a new library or not, the two candidates agreed that they\u2019d like to see one, but had different takes on the feasibility of getting it done.<\/p>\n \u201cMy view on this is that if the City of La Mesa is going to invest in a new city center, \u2026 if we\u2019re going to do a big project like that, one of my conditions is that it has to have more space for the library,\u201d Parent said, describing libraries as \u201cvery important.\u201d<\/p>\n If the library were to be built into a new civic center, financing could come from a couple of different options, including a paid parking lot and adding housing or commercial space to the project, he added.<\/p>\n Alessio said funding the library would more likely have to come from a bond measure.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of problem for getting funding for a new library is that we have a new library already,\u201d she said, adding that there are other options to increase the size of the current library.<\/p>\n And if the civic center redo is planned with a new library?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m all for it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Sin hogar<\/strong><\/p>\n The candidates had different approaches when it came to dealing with homelessness in the city.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving experience with a family member who was homeless at one time, I understand this issue,\u201d Alessio said. \u201cIt\u2019s a difficult bind. Government can\u2019t solve it all, but we are doing a lot of things through our police force; the councilors directing to service; and pressuring the county for money to help.\u201d<\/p>\n Alessio said the police department, city manager and city attorney meet weekly to address the issue and the city also has the support of many faith-based organizations to help the homeless.<\/p>\n \u201cLa Mesa is not going to solve the problem of homelessness,\u201d she said. \u201cIt goes to mental health. It goes to the county needing to cut loose some money to treat people who want help. What we can do is take care of people here and make our residents feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n Parent said he worked on the issues of homelessness and affordable housing with the Brown Administration at the Department of Housing and Community Development, as well as the City of San Diego\u2019s Housing Commission.<\/p>\n \u201cYes we have to have services for the homeless, but what the homeless really need is housing,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why they\u2019re homeless and that needs to be the focus.\u201d<\/p>\n Parent said La Mesa needs to be more aggressive in getting resources from the county, which receives federal dollars and vouchers specifically earmarked for affordable housing projects.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to go to these guys and say, \u2018Maybe homelessness wasn\u2019t a big deal in East County five, 10 years ago when you wrote these policies, but it\u2019s a big deal now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Community choice energy<\/strong><\/p>\n The candidates gave similar responses to a question of whether La Mesa should pursue a community choice energy plan.<\/p>\n Parent said the city should study community choice energy and look at whether it will cost more for consumers, be effective, and whether it can be done efficiently and competently in La Mesa.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not persuaded that we can run our own utility in La Mesa by ourselves, but perhaps part of a [Joint Powers Authority] or a regional agency, so we\u2019d have the economy of scale to do that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Alessio agreed that it would be a difficult program for the city to do on its own but that she thinks the city should investigate the feasibility of community choice energy.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m always in favor of giving consumers choice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Medical marijuana dispensaries<\/strong><\/p>\n The candidates also had differing positions on medical marijuana dispensaries \u2014 Parent said he is not entirely against them and Alessio does not want them in the community at all.<\/p>\n Parent believes that voters will overturn the current ban on marijuana dispensaries this November.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we have to be prepared for that situation,\u201d he said, adding that the city needs to be strict about rules and shut down any illegal dispensaries even though the cost to do so is about $10,000 to $12,000 for each illegal operation.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s a reasonable investment to make to preserve the safety and the tranquility of people in their neighborhoods,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Alessio said the illegal marijuana dispensaries are a problem.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city doesn\u2019t just sit there and let them operate,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a very complex legal process that we have to go through to get them shut down. If the landlords won\u2019t cooperate with us, then we have to go to court.\u201d<\/p>\n She said La Mesa has increased funds to the city attorney by $75,000 just to address illegal dispensaries.<\/p>\n Alessio said she hopes voters don\u2019t pass the ballot measure to allow legal dispensaries in La Mesa, but if the measure does pass, the city has already begun researching how to regulate them and where to put them \u2014 away from schools and residents.<\/p>\n The candidates then gave their closing remarks, touting their strengths and making pitches for votes.<\/p>\n Alessio again listed her accomplishments on the City Council and cited La Mesa\u2019s strong growth over the last four years.<\/p>\n \u201cI am your neighbor. Your concerns are my concerns,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Parent listed his own accomplishments and added that, if elected, he\u2019s be the only Democrat on the council.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it is important to have some different views representing the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The next chance for voters to listen to the candidates talk about these issues will be Sept. 28 when the La Mesa First United Methodist Church, 4690 Palm Ave., will hold its public forum for City Council candidates.<\/p>\n The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a chance to meet the candidates and the forum starts at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n \u2014Comun\u00edquese con Jeff Clemetson en jeff@sdcnn.com.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By\u00a0Jeff Clemetson | Editor<\/p>","protected":false},"author":778,"featured_media":223762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11548","_seopress_titles_title":"Alessio, Parent square off at candidate forum","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11548,11551,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-la-mesa-courier","category-news","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/778"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}