Parent, Shu hold early leads for City Council

One incumbent and one new candidate held slim leads Tuesday in a six-way race for a pair of seats on the L a Mesa City Council, according to early returns from the reg istrar of voters.

Colin Parent, who runs a local nonprof it and was elected to the council in 2016, and Jack Shu, a retired California State Parks system employee, were ahead of four others aiming for the spots.

Incumbent Kristine Alessio, a long time Planning Commissioner f irst elected to the City Council in 2012, was trailing in third af ter the f irst results were repor ted.

Also behind were L aura Lothian, a Realtor who previously was unsuccessful in two separate bids in L a Mesa for mayor and city council; Allen Durden, who works for State Farm as an agency f ield lead; and Mark Papenfuss, who works for a telecommunications ser vice provider as a liaison for people who f ile complaints.

Parent is an attorney and is the executive director for Circulate San Diego, which advocates for affordable homes, accessible transit for all and reducing g reenhouse gas emissions.

He has been a staunch voice for the city’s climate action plan and pushed for leg islation that made it easier for homeowners to construct accessory dwelling units.

Shu, past president of Cleveland National Forest Foundation, has been a vocal advocate for more than three decades on social justice and human rights issues, homelessness and environmental concerns. He also helped establish the Citizens Public Safety Oversight Task Force in L a Mesa.

Those elected to the City Council will confront some social and economic challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing af termath of social justice protests in the city.

The f irst demonstration on May 30 turned violent and is being investigated by an outside consultant that plans to repor t its collective f indings next month.

The city is also in the early par t of a search for a new police chief af ter Walt Vasquez announced his retirement in Aug ust.

•