Cross-border sewage pollution and community blight were top goals for two-term politician
“The sewage is killing us.”
Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina did not mince words in 2017 after yet another spill from Tijuana’s broken wastewater system contaminated local beaches.
He also did not waste time.
Dedina pushed for answers from U.S. and Mexico officials, and got none that were satisfying. So he sued the federal government in 2018 and was later joined in the lawsuit by Chula Vista and the Port of San Diego.
“We didn’t have anything to lose,” Dedina said. “We’ve lost our beach. The best days we spend of our lives are on the beach and it’s free … and that’s been taken away from us — 12 miles of coastline in San Diego — and that’s unacceptable.”
Serge Dedina’s time as Imperial Beach mayor has concluded after serving two terms. He recently gave an impassioned walkthrough of City Hall, reflecting on some of the changes that occurred from within the building and outside in the community.
Dedina, 58, walked the corridors of City Hall last week, reflecting on his two terms as the South County city’s mayor. He is exiting politics, and is returning to the environmental activism that informed so much of what he did while leading the border city.
But his tenure was marked by much more than his tenacity in ensuring residents enjoyed a pollution-free coastline. He also pushed for a more open and welcoming government at City Hall; art now lines the walls and the planning department is a more inviting place for the public.
“I spent time in this building when I was a teenager … but it was never that fun,” Dedina said standing near two rows of framed photographs of past mayors and remembering when he served on the city’s youth commission.
“And so, I just think what we did was we connected the spirit of the community, because (Imperial Beach) is a very grassroots, a very friendly, unpretentious town, and then that culture has infused the city,” he said. “The city is now in lockstep with the community.” That is reflected in the colorful crosswalks along the busiest streets and the empty lots that have been transformed into recreational spaces.
Dedina, a registered Democrat and co-founder of the Wildcoast environmental organization, was first elected mayor in 2014 after he defeated former eight-year Mayor Jim Janney by 43 votes. He won handily in his bid for a second term, with 68 percent of the vote.
Small city, big fight
Imperial Beach has long been a beach town beset by water contamination due to sewage spilling from Mexico. The battle for clean water has sometimes turned neighbor against neighbor, such as when Imperial Beach officials criticized their more affluent neighbor Coronado for not joining the 2018 lawsuit. But despite their differences at the time, Republican Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey said Tuesday he admired Dedina’s passion to confront the issue for his community and the region.
“When I look back on my 10 years as Coronado’s mayor, that’s one of the items that I’m most grateful for is that partnership I had with Mayor Dedina to help address this issue,” he said.
A settlement was announced earlier this year in which the International Boundary and Water Commission — they own and manage the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Tijuana River Valley — agreed to mitigate wastewater flows and expeditiously notify the public about flows and remedial actions.
The U.S. pledged $350 million and Mexico about $144 million to replace failing sewage treatment facilities in Tijuana.
Dedina brought an assertive voice that was necessary to finally bring attention from higher levels of government and to “put it in people’s consciousness,” said Denise Moreno Ducheny, a former state senator and current board member of the North American Development Bank.
“That’s always a challenge for the South Bay,” she said. “Trying to get our South Bay issues up on the radar in Sacramento and in Washington, D.C., is always a challenge. (Dedina) brought the South Bay together and he was the leading voice.”
Rep. Scott Peters, who represents the 50th Congressional District and worked closely with Dedina on cross-border pollution, said the mayor’s leadership “will leave a lasting legacy throughout our region” and showed “how deeply elected leaders should care about the people they represent and their quality of life.”
His advocacy for clean water and addressing sea-level rise has even inspired others to run for office, including Paloma Aguirre. She got a first-hand look at Dedina’s environmental efforts when she worked for him at Wildcoast and joined him as a council member in 2018.
Pollution on South County beaches remains unresolved and was a top-of-mind issue during the recent midterm election. This summer “was truly horrendous,” said Dedina, with persistent beach closures that took a toll on local residents, tourists and business owners when compared with the rest of the region’s coastal communities.
Aguirre, who is poised to become the city’s first Latina mayor, pledged to further Dedina’s efforts and ensure commitments to solve the issue don’t “just get shelved.”
A yes, can-do attitude
Many might consider Dedina’s fight for clean water his signature work, but he also has a list of hyperlocal accomplishments.
“(Dedina) gets his fingernails dirty a lot,” said Dave Frink, executive director of the Imperial Beach Arts Bureau. “Things were improving (before he became mayor) just on the attitude of the populace. But when he came in, he really had a different attitude about things. If people wanted to do something positive, his first response was, ‘Yes, we can make that happen,’ which is really important.”
For one, it helped that Dedina had a rich history of serving in the community and understanding what residents truly wanted for their city, said Frink.
The mayor, the son of parents who migrated from France to California in the 1960s, moved from Los Angeles to Imperial Beach at the age of seven. He learned to swim at the Mar Vista High School pool, became a lifeguard and grew up helping to preserve the Tijuana Estuary as a natural wildlife refuge.
Growing up in the South County city, he noticed many dirt lots and vacant buildings behind chain-linked fences.
“I hate chain-linked fences because it just symbolizes that we’re walling off our communities,” Dedina said.
Imperial Beach, with a population of about 26,100, most of whom are predominately low-income families, deserved better, he thought. He ran for office with a hyperlocal lens to restore the city into a safe, vibrant and inviting community.
“The city was seen as very bureaucratic and the answer was always, ‘no.’ And so (by) just flipping the switch from ‘no’ to ‘yes’ … the city became a real, big supporter of these grassroots efforts that didn’t take a lot of money, but they had a big impact,” Dedina said.
He hit the ground running on addressing basic city tasks such as paving alleys, removing graffiti and keeping streets clean. Thanks to support from his council colleagues and partnerships with community groups and regional boards, the city has literally turned more colorful.
In 2016, the city gave two crosswalks on 13th Street at Grove Avenue a makeover with a bright tidelands design. The addition of highly visible crosswalks was made to improve pedestrian safety, particularly for children as the area has served as their main route to school.
Dedina was also integral in the formation of the Imperial Beach Arts Bureau, Frink said. The organization is credited with bringing about 30 murals on display at various buildings once neglected, as well as hosting music events and other community gatherings.
He’s also credited with resurrecting the local Parks and Recreation department after the city dissolved it in 2014 because of budget cuts. The city has hired a department director; allocated millions in stimulus funding for its sports park, a multi-use field and community centers; and installed fitness equipment at its Veterans Park. The City Council also recently approved an agreement with the Sweetwater Union High School District to allow public use of a new, world-class swimming pool soon to open at Mar Vista High School.
The City Council has also approved numerous projects that have brought more business to Seacoast Drive and other major corridors. They approved adding Measure I, the 1-cent sales tax increase for public safety improvements, on the 2020 ballot. This year, they agreed on Measure R, which would raise the transient occupancy tax for hotels, motels and vacation rentals from 10 percent to 14 percent. Voters appeared to favor the tax with 67 percent of the vote.
Dedina said he will focus full time on his work with Wildcoast in restoring wetlands and mangroves in Mexico. Imperial Beach, he added, is “positioned to provide more benefits to its residents.”
“As of now, we have a historic opportunity to have a vibrant Parks and Rec. Department and to improve our senior services, continue to partner with our school districts … attract more affordable housing … and quality businesses,” he said.
Reporter Joshua Emerson Smith contributed to this report.
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