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By Michael HowardPhoto: La Mesa City Councilmember Lauren Cazares speaking at the January 28, 2025 city council meeting. Courtesy of City of La Mesa
February 21, 2025 (La Mesa) – Citizens of La Mesa are speaking out about the appointment of retired Battalion Chief Dave Hardenburger to the Community Police Oversight Board (CPOB) last week when, without the proper notice and ignoring eligibility requirements, the City Council voted 5-0 to place him on the oversight body during the January 28, 2025 council meeting.
“You have flaunted, dodged and disrespected the rules set forth by the Community Police Oversight Board (CPOB) that is in place to serve your community,” Mairs Ryan wrote during the public comment portion of the Council’s next meeting. “Shame on you,” she admonished the Council before signing her name.
Photo, right: attendee Andy Trimlett of the February 11, 2025 La Mesa City Council meeting speaks out against an appointment to the Community Police Oversight Board. Courtesy of City of La MesaAccording to California code GOV 54974, the Council is prohibited from appointing new members to boards without first providing notice for at least 10 days, presumably to allow others to apply. While it is unclear whether the law applies to any vacancy or specifically only unscheduled vacancies, following this rule can prevent the appearance of collusion. That’s when agreements are allegedly made outside of the prescribed official process, which, whether actually true, or only having the appearance of being true, can have the same effect.
After the appointment of Chief Hardenburger on January 28, the City Council met on Tuesday, February 11 for its bi-monthly, regularly scheduled Council meeting. Public comments from in-person speakers kicked off when Andy Trimlett got right to the point, saying the La Mesa City Council is beginning to build a reputation.
“The city of La Mesa is starting to get the appearance that their hand-selecting people for the oversight board,” he accused the Council members.
“There are people that are showing up here who don’t even come to an interview, and they are getting selected,” Andy C continued. “This has happened more than once,” he claimed. “What does that say about us as a community?” he asked the Council.
Photo, left: Gene Carpenter speaks out against latest Community Police Oversight Board appointment during February 11, 2025 La Mesa City Council meeting. Courtesy of City of La MesaBut it’s not just the appearance of collusion that has drawn attention to the appointment. Also at issue is Chief Hardenburger’s recent retirement as Fire Captain for the city of La Mesa and his role as Battalion Chief. The city’s statute that outlines the requirements for placement on the CPOB restricts public safety officers from appointment to the board for five years once they’ve left public service in that role.
According to Chief Hardenburger’s social media accounts, he reports retiring as Fire Captain in 2023, and is listed as an active Battalion Chief, both of which designate him as ineligible according to the La Mesa city municipal code.
East County Magazine reached out to Mayor Mark Arapostathis and City Attorney Glenn Sabine for comment, but neither returned email or phone calls.
The outrage of the Council’s move appeared widespread. Longstanding citizen activist Gene Carpenter spoke, visibly upset from the podium Tuesday about the issue.
“I want to thank you Mayor, and you, Patricia Dillard, Assistant Mayor, for not doing your job,” he rebuked them both pointedly.
Mayor Arapostathis and Assistant Mayor Dillard made up the subcommittee who put forth the recommendations for the Council to vote for appointments to the CPOB on January 28. The pair did not pass along an application from Janet Castaños, who co-founded the CPOB and has acted as both Chair and Vice Chair since 2021.
Even the other City Council members seemed surprised when the nomination was announced. Newly elected City Council member Lauren Cazares, before voting to approve the appointment of Hardenburger, expressed her bewilderment.
Speaking of Hardenburger’s nomination, she said, “[That] one is tricky. I was not aware that there were two [nominations] until this evening,” she said before going on to praise nominee Castaños.
Photo, right: retired Fire Captain and current Battalion Chief Dave Hardenburger, recently appointed to the Community Police Oversight Board amid citizen outcry. View an interview with Battalion Chief Hardenburger during a fire at a local nursing home in this video.“Before we vote on this, I just wanted to thank Janet,” the councilmember stated, noting Castaños wasn’t present, but continued anyway.
“She’s really been an asset on that board,” Cazares declared.
Castaños, in an email to supporters, raised these objections.
“I was designated by the Helix Charter High School administration to serve as their representative, The newly selected member was not. submitted all the necessary paperwork and letters from the high school administration by the imposed deadline. The newly selected member did not.I was invited to present myself at the prior city council meeting to allow the council to know more about me and to ask any questions, The newly selected member was not.The Helix High administration did not know of the newly selected member's application nor did they send any letter identifying this person as their designee on the CPOB.”
Castaños told ECM that she has reached out to the City Attorney with her concerns.
SOURCES
California Legislative Information. (n.d.-a). California Code, GOV 54974. Retrieved February 20, 2025, from https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=54974.&lawCode=GOV
California Legislative Information. (n.d.-b). California Code, PEN 830.37. Retrieved February 20, 2025, from https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=830.37.&nodeTreePath=5.5.6&lawCode=PEN
City of La Mesa. (n.d.-a). Chapter 2.30—COMMUNITY POLICE OVERSIGHT BOARD | Code of Ordinances | La Mesa, CA | Municode Library. Retrieved February 20, 2025, from https://library.municode.com/ca/la_mesa/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT2ADGO_CH2.30COPOOVBO
City of La Mesa. (n.d.-b). City Council—February 11, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2025, from https://pub-lamesa.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=75ab4db9-9693-40b1-a774-2d4919e05c4f&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English&Item=9&Tab=comments
LinkedIn. (n.d.). Dave Hardenburger | LinkedIn. Retrieved February 20, 2025, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-hardenburger-29904878/
Public Comment. https://pub-lamesa.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=75ab4db9-9693-40b1-a774-2d4919e05c4f&lang=English&Agenda=Agenda&Item=9&Tab=attachments
Comments
Firefighters are not ineligible…
Should applicants be held to different standards?
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Local citizens do their best to vet their political candidates to ensure they get public officials into office that are honest, have integrity, and will work for the best interests of the community. When the media comes forth with news about fraud in government, it's a huge letdown, especially when it happens in local government.
Secrecy creates an environment where there is the potential for the lack of accountability and abuse of power. When information about how a local government operates isn't forthcoming, it causes the public to be skeptical. Best practices for good governance recommend that transparency is a vital component of good government and strong communities.
The more a local government can provide in the way of transparency, the more it increases trust, honesty, and integrity in the government leaders.
Another area where local governments can improve the public's trust in them is by sharing policies publicly. That way the public knows how the government officials should be handling things and can hold them accountable for doing so. Code enforcement rules and requirements, board meeting minutes, council meeting minutes, financial documents, budgets, and annual reports should all be easily accessible by the public.
Integrity is inherently connected with trust. When citizens feel that their government officials are working hard to earn their trust, it builds confidence in the public's view of the government. For local governments to be proactive in transparency speaks volumes to their constituents. When the general public has questions, they need a place to get answers. The public expects details on how governments made their decisions. Local governments that initiate processes to provide the information that matters most to citizens proves that the government officials have their citizens' best interests at heart.
The benefit of providing as much information to the public as possible is that it gives them an opportunity to think about decisions that the local officials made and provide valuable feedback to them. The comments and feedback open up yet another opportunity for the all-important two-way communication. Local governments are continually looking at how to improve the quality of life for their citizens. The best decision-making is a result of multiple perspectives, including the perspectives of community members. Based on their comments, government officials can incorporate necessary changes. The value in two-way communication is that it shows that the local government is listening and responding to the community's needs.
People often forget that responsibility works both ways. The government needs to honest and transparent. The community has responsibilities as well. Citizens have a responsibility to be informed and hold their local governments accountable.
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