La Mesa, California, United States

🇺🇸 La Mesa (Spanish for "The Table") is a city in San Diego County, located 9 miles (14 km) east of Downtown San Diego in Southern California. Its civic motto is "the Jewel of the Hills".

History La Mesa in Spanish means "the table", or alternately "the plateau", relating to its geography. La Mesa was part of a larger tract, Mission San Diego de Alcalá, and was used by Spanish missionaries.

La Mesa was founded in 1869 and The City of La Mesa was incorporated on February 16, 1912. It does not have a city charter but operates under the laws of the state of California.

Its official flower is the bougainvillea.

In 2020, La Mesa was the site of civil unrest in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Two days after Floyd's murder, an unarmed black man was grabbed and shoved by a white La Mesa Police officer and arrested at the Grossmont Trolley Station. The video of the incident went viral and led to more than 1000 protesters converging on the city. An African-American grandmother was shot in the face with a bean bag round from police. The officer in the trolley station incident was charged with falsifying a police report in connection with the reason for the arrest but acquitted in December 2021.

Geography La Mesa is bordered by the city of San Diego on the west and north, Spring Valley and Lemon Grove on the south, and El Cajon on the east. It includes the neighborhood of Grossmont.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.1 square miles (24 km²). 9.1 square miles (24 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) of it (0.44%) is water.

Transport The City of La Mesa is served by the San Diego Trolley's Orange Line at its stations in Spring Street, La Mesa Boulevard, Grossmont Transit Center, and Amaya Drive, the last two of which are also served by the Green Line.

By car, the city is served by Interstate 8, California State Route 94, and California State Route 125.

Farmer's market There is a farmer's market in La Mesa Village every Friday afternoon.

Flag Day Parade On June 14, 1997, with the help of Council member Ruth Sterling, the City of La Mesa inaugurated its First Annual Flag Day Parade.

La Mesa Walkway of the Stars The “Walkway of the Stars” is a pedestrian walkway that has been transformed into an urban park in downtown La Mesa. The vision for a place to recognize La Mesa's extraordinary volunteers was provided by Councilmember Ruth Sterling. The park's theme honors the city's outstanding volunteers who have provided 10,000 or more hours of service to the city of La Mesa. “Walkway of the Stars” is located between the Allison Avenue municipal parking lot and La Mesa Boulevard.

Oktoberfest At the beginning of each October, La Mesa holds its biggest event of the year, Oktoberfest, attended by approximately 200,000 people over the three nights of the event.

Back to the 50s Car Show The Back to the '50s Car Show is an annual summer event where classic car enthusiasts come to display their vehicles. The event is held every Thursday evening during the months of June through August in La Mesa Village along La Mesa Boulevard. Admission to the event is free.

Sundays At Six Sundays At Six is a free concert series that is offered every year in the months of June and July. For six Sundays, free concerts are performed in Harry Griffen Park from 6pm to 7pm. The concerts began in 2002 after being conceived by then-city councilman Mark Arapostathis and assistant city manager Yvonne Garrett along with members of the community. They are organized by the La Mesa Arts Alliance and sponsored by the Boys & Girls Clubs of East County Foundation.

Other events Other annual events include Christmas in the Village and Trick-or-Treating in La Mesa Village.

Grossmont Center The city's major mall, Grossmont Center, opened by the Cushman Family in 1961. In 2021, Grossmont Center was purchased from the Cushman Family by Federal Realty Trust, which valued the shopping centre at $175 Million and plans to redevelop and modernize the 925,000 square-foot property.

Alternative media The original offices of The San Diego Door, a popular underground newspaper of the 1960s, were located in La Mesa at 7053 University Avenue.

City government La Mesa is a general law city which uses a council-manager system of government with a directly elected mayor. The city council consists of a mayor and four councilmembers, all of whom are elected from the city at large and serve four-year terms. The council meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. The current mayor is Mark Arapostathis, who was re-elected in 2018.

State and federal representation

In the California State Legislature, La Mesa is in the 38th Senate District, represented by Democrat Catherine Blakespear, and in the 79th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Akilah Weber.

In the United States House of Representatives, La Mesa is in California's 51st congressional district, represented by Democrat Sara Jacobs.

Education The schools in La Mesa are operated by two districts. The La Mesa-Spring Valley School District operates most of the elementary and middle schools in the city, while the Grossmont Union High School District operates Helix High School and the Gateway day schools.

Elementary schools • Rolando Elementary School (La Mesa-Spring Valley School District) • La Mesa Dale Elementary School (La Mesa-Spring Valley School District) • Maryland Avenue Elementary School (La Mesa-Spring Valley School District) • RHR DFAF Private Charter School • Murdock Elementary School (La Mesa-Spring Valley School District) • Murray Manor Elementary School (La Mesa-Spring Valley School District) • Northmont Elementary School (La Mesa-Spring Valley School District) • Lemon Avenue Elementary School (La Mesa-Spring Valley School District) • Vista La Mesa Academy (Lemon Grove School District) • Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran School (private, K-8) • St. Martin's Academy (private) • Liberty Charter School (private) • San Diego Jewish Academy (private) • Christ Lutheran School (private) • Innovation Center La Mesa – Julian Charter School (charter) • La Mesa Arts Academy (4th - 8th Grade) - La Mesa-Spring Valley School District; Middle/junior high schools • Parkway Middle School (La Mesa-Spring Valley School District) • La Mesa Arts Academy (4-8 Grade) (LMAAC) (La Mesa-Spring Valley School District) • Vista La Mesa Academy (Lemon Grove School District) • Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran School (private, K-8); High schools • Helix High School (Grossmont Union High School District) • Grossmont High School (Grossmont Union High School District) includes some students from La Mesa while having an El Cajon street address; K–12 • Gateway Community Day (Grossmont Union High School District) • Gateway West Community Day (Grossmont Union High School District) • Mt. Helix Academy (Private Administration)