{"id":3133,"date":"2025-10-14T05:06:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T05:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/3133\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T05:06:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T05:06:06","slug":"mariko-nakawatase-to-be-sworn-in-as-imperial-beachs-newest-councilmember-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/3133\/","title":{"rendered":"Mariko Nakawatase to be sworn in as Imperial Beach\u2019s newest councilmember \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mariko Nakawatase, an Imperial Beach native who works as a staff member for county Supervisor Joel Anderson<\/a> and serves as president of the San Diego Young Republicans,<\/a> will be sworn in Wednesday as the newest member of the Imperial Beach City Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The council voted 3-1 on Oct. 1 to appoint Nakawatase to the District 3 position vacated when former Councilmember Mitch McKay was appointed mayor following Paloma Aguirre\u2019s election to the county Board of Supervisors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The final vote saw McKay, Councilmember Jack Fisher and Mayor Pro Tem Carol Seabury in favor, and Councilmember Matthew Leyba-Gonzalez opposed.<\/p>\n

\"MarikoMariko Nakawatase, an Imperial Beach native and staff member for County Supervisor Joel Anderson, will be sworn in Wednesday as the newest member of the Imperial Beach City Council, representing District 3.
\n(Courtesy Mariko Nakawatase)<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, serving as a City Council member has been a dream since 2017, when I was a college student eager to see local government do more for its people,\u201d Nakawatase, 30, said in a statement. \u201cAs a frustrated student, I wanted to better understand why certain systems worked the way they did and I realized that if I wanted to see real change, I had to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKay said the city opted for an appointment rather than a special election, citing high costs and limited timing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe primary factor is it\u2019s really expensive,\u201d McKay said. \u201cThe cost that we were quoted for a council position was almost $250,000\u2026 Our small city \u2014 we don\u2019t have half a million dollars for an election, or $250,000 for a council seat election. So I think most people understood that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city received eight applications, McKay said. The council conducted two rounds of public interviews, narrowing the field to four finalists before two withdrew.<\/p>\n

McKay said he was aware of public perceptions that council appointments can favor political allies but maintained that wasn\u2019t the case in Imperial Beach. He described the council as politically diverse and collaborative, noting it includes members with varying affiliations.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur council has been quite diverse,\u201d McKay said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got two independents, one Democrat and one Republican. Our council always got along, and we had very few ultra-contentious issues over the years. So I don\u2019t think people were particularly concerned about (stacking the council) but, you know, there\u2019s always a perception.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nakawatase said the appointment process, rather than a traditional election, can leave some residents feeling unheard. She said she understands those frustrations, but hopes to turn that energy into continued civic participation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI completely empathize with those who may have hoped for a different outcome, it\u2019s not an easy process,\u201d she said. \u201cTo those who applied, I encourage them to stay involved and even run again in November. Imperial Beach needs more people willing to step up and be part of the change alongside this Council.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emphasizing accessibility, responsiveness and connection to residents across District 3, Nakawatase said she plans to make representation a cornerstone of her service. She added that she intends to build those connections through direct outreach and consistent engagement with residents and businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy role is not to speak for residents, but to make sure their voices shape the decisions we make,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

McKay said Nakawatase\u2019s local roots and community involvement made her a strong addition to the council.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s fairly well known in the community for working with the Kiwanis group and the high school Key Club and other organizations \u2014 the Sun and Sea Festival \u2014 so she\u2019s a fairly well-known quantity,\u201d McKay said.<\/p>\n

Nakawatase joins a four-member council alongside McKay, Fisher, Seabury and Leyva-Gonzalez. McKay said her appointment restores a full council and will help balance the city\u2019s workload across various regional boards and committees.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving another council member on board gives us, you know, hopefully some more opportunities to share the assignments and make it feel a little more of an equal load across the council,\u201d McKay said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mariko Nakawatase, an Imperial Beach native who works as a staff member for county Supervisor Joel Anderson and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7,181,23,100,74,84,76,75,3055],"class_list":{"0":"post-3133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-county","14":"tag-san-diego-headlines","15":"tag-san-diego-news","16":"tag-south-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}