Por JEFF CLEMETSON | Mensajero de La Mesa<\/p>\n
In 2016, Colin Parent was the first Democrat to be elected in the city of La Mesa in a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very proud of that and I also think the fact that I got elected as a Democrat changed a lot of the tenor of the politics in La Mesa for the good,\u201d he said. \u201cI really hope La Mesans continue to want to have a Democrat on the council to push for the values that we together have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parent\u2019s 2016 election victory to the City Council was his first run for public office, although he had been involved in politics for some time.<\/p>\n
His first \u201creal job\u201d in politics was working for Gov. Jerry Brown\u2019s 2010 campaign and following that he worked in the governor\u2019s housing and community development office \u201cWhile there, I was really focused on affordable housing and economic development policy,\u201d Parent said.<\/p>\n
After working in Sacramento, Parent returned to San Diego where he got a job on the San Diego Housing Commission before leaving to join local transportation safety advocate group Circulate San Diego as policy council where he worked on promoting safe routes to school and other safety policies for pedestrians. Parent took over as executive director of Circulate in 2017.<\/p>\n
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Farmers Market<\/strong><\/p>\n Because of his extensive background pushing for pedestrian-friendly cities and walkability, it is unsurprising that Parent views his vote to bring the La Mesa Farmers Market to the center of the Village, and subsequent votes to keep it there, as one of his accomplishments in his time on the City Council.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a surprise to a lot of voters that it was controversial,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a surprise to me too, because every Friday night I would go out there and see thousands of people having a good time, enjoying their neighborhood and being a part of the La Mesa community.\u201d<\/p>\n Parent said most businesses in the Village supported the market, and only a \u201crelatively small group\u201d was \u201cnot happy about it but had influence over some council members.\u201d<\/p>\n The eventual vote that kept the market in the Village was not without controversy, however. The La Mesa Village Association lost its control over the market \u2014 and the money it was getting to promote the Village businesses. Parent said he ultimately voted for keeping the market even though it meant the LMVA losing its main funding source because it was \u201cmade clear\u201d to him by other council members that the only way to get enough votes to keep the market was to take control away from the Village Association.<\/p>\n \u201cMy strong preference was to continue the contract with the Village Association and to keep the business community in the driver\u2019s seat of that event, but I could not get two other votes to do that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Because the Council looked for alternatives as a compromise to the Village businesses\u2019 dispute over the market and requested proposals from other market managers to move the market, Parent said he introduced a program \u2014 the Village Enhancement Fund \u2014 as a way to counter the possibility of the market moving elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cAt that time when I saw applications that were coming in, I knew there was a very real possibility the Council would not move forward with the Village Association\u2019s bid,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I proposed the Village Enhancement Fund, it was to hedge against that possibility to make sure that no matter what happened with the Farmers Market, there would still be some revenue that the business community would have access to put on events and promote the Village.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ADU vote<\/strong><\/p>\n Similar to his support the farmers market, Parent sees his support for the city\u2019s Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance as taking a popular position, despite pushback from a minority of critics.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we have in La Mesa is a small group of people who want to maintain economic and racial exclusion in their neighborhoods and are extremely incensed that their neighbors might be able to invest in their own property to create a new rental unit,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a weird, troubling thing in La Mesa that you have this small group of really angry people trying to fight against new homes and new opportunities for home owners.\u201d<\/p>\n To Parent, these kinds of blocks to housing are a continuation of the historical practice of red-lining \u2014 a practice residential communities have used to exclude minorities.<\/p>\n \u201cIs it true that the people arguing about this are waking up in the morning thinking about how to be racist? No. But is it informing their perspective? Yeah,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n In the year since the ADU ordinance was adopted by the city, there have been over 100 applications to build, Parent said \u2014 a number he points to to prove the program\u2019s popularity.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re looking at a dozen people who don\u2019t like it versus 100 people who have clearly decided they\u2019re going to benefit from it, that to me is a good indication of a public policy success,\u201d he said, adding that the city\u2019s projections show that 5% of property owners will ultimately take advantage of the ordinance and build an ADU.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not going to solve the housing crisis, but nor is it going to have any large impact to any neighborhood,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n City-owned property<\/strong><\/p>\n On Aug. 11, the City Council met with developers who made an offer to purchase the Allison Avenue parking lot. Although by state law, real estate negotiations are required to be held in closed session, any actions by the city has to be reported and nay decisions must be ratified at a public meeting. Despite rumors to the contrary, Parent said it is unlikely that the parking lot will be sold.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do need to have more homes in La Mesa \u2014 and I think people agree with that \u2014 but there are a lot easier places to do that than on public land that is currently being used by a lot of important businesses,\u201d he said, adding that sites like the old police station lot where a housing project is already in motion or the underutilized Civic Center parking lot are much better choices for development.<\/p>\n \u201cThose are areas where we should be having talks,\u201d Parent said. \u201cThe Allison Avenue lot which is actually pretty well utilized? That shouldn\u2019t be a priority for new apartments.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Police oversight<\/strong><\/p>\n On Sept. 15, Parent voted in favor of adopting a Citizen Public Safety Oversight Commission in La Mesa. The proposed citizen oversight was in response to publicized incidents involving La Mesa Police use of force on Black residents. Before the vote, Parent explained why he supports citizen oversight of police.<\/p>\n \u201cMy view is, I\u2019m grateful for members of law enforcement who put themselves at risk trying to defend our communities,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I also feel \u2014 and think most La Mesans feel \u2014 that we should expect some accountability for people that are put in positions of significant responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Parent said he hopes the oversight board will help create accountability in a way that is constructive and not \u201cbased around demonizing any individuals or departments of city government.\u201d He added that oversight won\u2019t solve all the problems but in an \u201cimportant piece of the puzzle to rebuilding trust in community around law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n To rebuild trust in law enforcement, Parent also sees a need for public engagement in hiring a new police chief. LMPD should also approach its assessment of its actions before and during the Black Lives Matter protests with \u201chumility\u201d and realize that it did things wrong, he said. At the same time, protesters need to respect the law and other people\u2019s property.<\/p>\n \u201cPeaceful protests are good \u2014 they\u2019re part of what makes America America. We should protect and cherish those things,\u201d Parent said. \u201cBut violence, threats of violence, public disorder, those things are totally unacceptable regardless of who is responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n COVID response<\/strong><\/p>\n In describing La Mesa\u2019s handling of the coronavirus crisis, Parent said, \u201cWe\u2019ve had some ups and downs.\u201d<\/p>\n He pointed to the city being overly cautious in closing down parks earlier in the pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some ways that\u2019s good because we\u2019re learning and we shouldn\u2019t be afraid of changing course if we have new information,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s biggest mistake, he said, is in its use of CARES Act funds. The city\u2019s initial proposal was to use all the money for city costs or some relief to businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cI think both those things are good to spend money on but we were completely missing any direct support for our most vulnerable residents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Parent proposed spending an equal amount on businesses and renters behind on payments, but ultimately only managed to get some money for at-risk residents, with the lion\u2019s share going to local businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cBudgets are really expressions of values and I think La Mesa wants to look after our most vulnerable and we want to prevent people from falling into homelessness and we want to treat people with compassion,\u201d he said \u201cI was able to get a little compassion out of my colleagues but not what I think is a fair amount.\u201d<\/p>\n With the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic, Parent sees City Council budget discussions on the horizon.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in a position where we do have pretty substantial operating reserves, so we don\u2019t have to make really hard choices right away, but we do got to look to the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Parent said his spending priorities are public safety and any program that helps get out of the economic troubles from COVID.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to make sure that we\u2019re not cutting our development services so tightly that no one can get a permit application to open a new business,\u201d he added. \u201cWe need to make sure that if someone wants to come to the city and create jobs, a tax revenue generating business, we\u2019re in a position to say yes to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Parent said his other priorities if he is elected to the next City Council will be implementing the Climate Action Plan and expanding bike lanes and pedestrian safety.<\/p>\n