RIOT STILL PULLS AT LA MESA MAYOR

Mark Arapostathis doesn’t dispute its personal toll: ‘I have my moments,’ he says

He’s a hometown boy, affectionately known as Dr. A and admired for his robust personality. Like many in La Mesa, he’s struggling to regain his footing after a tumultuous summer.

Mayor Mark Arapostathis, a hefty man with a resonant voice and deep roots in La Mesa, could often be seen tooling around the East County city in his golf cart, waving hello and stopping to chat with residents and business owners.

He was the one who tapped the keg at the popular La Mesa Oktoberfest, emceed concerts and movies at local parks and led a youth theater group while teaching at La Mesa Arts Academy in the same district where he went to school.

Then came the coronavirus pandemic in March, followed two months later by the social justice movement, sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a White Minneapolis police officer. Floyd’s death on May 25 triggered worldwide protests, some of which turned violent, including in La

Mesa, leaving the region shaken and relations strained between longtime friends.

It also sorely tested the mayor’s leadership. Arapostathis, 54, acknowledges that this year’s been tough.

“I have my moments, I’m not going to lie,” he said last week, sitting in the spacious room where he teaches theater. “But in our world, unfortunately, it’s seen as a weakness. So as the mayor, I don’t want anyone to think that I’m looking for excuses or sympathy, so I try to be honest and say, I’m struggling just like everyone else is struggling.” SEE MAYOR • B12

KRISTIAN CARREON La Mesa Mayor Mark Arapostathis, also known as Dr. A, is shown in a hallway at La Mesa Arts Academy earlier this month.