Snapshot
Title:
Mayor, city of La Mesa
Education:
Attended San Diego Junior College and San Diego State College
Age:
66
Family:
Wife, Sally; sons, Darren and David; daughters, Dana and Lisa.
Hobbies:
Reading, playing golf
A Busy Man
La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid keeps plenty busy. Aside from overseeing the city of La Mesa, Madrid holds posts on numerous boards and commissions. They include: immediate past chair of the San Diego Association of Governments; president of the California Council of Governments; past president of the League of California Cities, San Diego division; board member of the League of California Cities, state level; board member of the Airport Land Use Commission; board member of the Regional Transportation Commission; board member of the Integrated Waste Management Task Force; board member of the San Diego County Growth Management Board; member of the National Association of Regional Councils; and vice chair of the Automated Regional Justice Information System.
Art Madrid Puts Overtime Effort Into His Part-Time Position as La Mesa’s Mayor
Art Madrid has been involved in politics for the majority of his career, but don’t call the 43-year La Mesa resident a career politician.
Madrid, currently in his third term as mayor of La Mesa, got his start in politics in 1960, walking the campaign trail for San Diego City Council candidate Jack Walsh.
From there, Madrid assisted several other elected officials in their campaigns, including Barry Goldwater in his bid for president in 1964 and Pete Wilson in his run for San Diego mayor in 1971.
At that time, Madrid was the director of government relations for Pacific Bell and said running a political campaign was similar to running a marketing program.
“As far as I’m concerned, a political campaign is just a marketing effort, and your candidate is your product,” Madrid says.
After Wilson’s victory, Madrid took a short leave from Pacific Bell and joined his staff. But it wasn’t until 10 years later that Madrid decided to seek elected office.
An Elected Official
He first was appointed to fill a vacancy on the La Mesa City Council in 1981, and later successfully ran for a City Council seat in 1984 and 1988.
In 1990, he ran for mayor of La Mesa , a job he has held ever since.
“There are three kinds of people in life,” Madrid says. “There are those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who ask what happened. I choose to be the former.”
That was the same year Madrid retired from Pacific Bell for a part-time, $20,000-a-year job running a city of 60,000 people that covers 9.4 square miles in East County. The job, on the other hand, has been anything but part-time, the mayor says.
“I work about 60 hours a week, although this is a part-time job,” Madrid says. “I do it because this is my community, and if you don’t stay engaged or involved, things can get out of hand.
“Our budget is $64 million. You can’t manage a budget or entity of that magnitude on a part-time basis.”
Drastic Change
Over the past 20 years, Madrid has seen a drastic change in the way things are done in local politics.
“I really have seen a diminishing commitment from elected officials throughout the region to do what is right for their respective communities and the majority of their constituents,” he says. “Many of the elected officials are in-house lobbyists for the special interest that gave political contributions and helped them get elected.”
He cited the recent San Diego mayor’s race as an example, saying people want elected officials who are credible, have integrity, ethics and respect from their constituents.
“That’s why Mayor (Dick) Murphy was elected,” Madrid says. “People are dissatisfied with candidates and rhetoric, and are fed up with the good old boy system.”
Having held posts on more than 110 local and state commissions and boards over the past 35 years, Madrid has seen many regional issues come to the table and then put on a shelf, unfinished.
There has been a recommendation on the table since 1972 on where to locate a new airport.
“Sandag has always designated Miramar for an international airport, but it doesn’t have the authority to do it because (Miramar) is in the jurisdiction of the city of San Diego,” he says. “The recommendation has always been sound. It’s the implementation process that is flawed.”
Madrid has been a Sandag representative for more than 16 years and says the organization is the best planning body in the region.
The problem is, he said, Sandag can only make recommendations to the 18 cities and the county. Because of that, Madrid says it’s crucial for the cities to work together on regional issues.
Regionalization
He doesn’t knock the concept by state Sen. Steve Peace to do just that, but says the plan has some holes.
Peace’s plan calls for a consolidated, collaborative regional decision-making body, instead of numerous agencies with different powers to control transportation and land-use issues.
“They don’t have the necessary resources to conduct appropriate studies,” Madrid says of the Regional Government Efficiency Commission. “And the structure and make-up of the committee is not inclusive of all the parties that should be involved in creating a regional governance structure.”
He says the commission lacks representatives from the environmental, development, social services and health care communities, and the water district.
“The concept is great,” Madrid says. “There isn’t a single intelligent person that I know that doesn’t agree that we need some degree of consolidation of regional governance.”
Lemon Grove Mayor Mary Sessom, which neighbors La Mesa, has worked with Madrid on the Sandag board and other commissions. She has never known him to work without the region’s interest in mind. Sessom says it’s imperative for East County’s elected officials to work as a whole to get things done.
“It’s more important than any other subregion in the county, because of the lack of political power we would have if we didn’t work together,” Sessom says. “We’re a smaller region with huge unincorporated areas. Some of our state representatives are not located in San Diego County.”
Madrid has no plans to seek political office at another level. He ran for a seat on the county Board of Supervisors in March 2000, but says that was to give the East County better representation on that board.
He plans to seek re-election as mayor of La Mesa in 2002 and will continue his work until “I stop enjoying it.”
“I’m 66 going on 34,” Madrid says. “My philosophy is age is a number; it’s a state of mind.
“I sometimes feel like I’m 118 after city council meetings, but the very next day I’m back to my blazing 34.”
When he’s not running the city or attending a board or commission meeting, Madrid is likely to be found on a golf course or a Little League game of one of his three grandchildren.
Madrid’s love for golf has taken him to tournaments both near and far. Two years ago, he played in a tournament in New Zealand with golf pros Russell Koots and Brad Butterworth. It was with those two that Madrid and some friends started the Pacific Cup tournament in 1994.
This year, the Pacific Cup will be held in Australia.
