by Susana Villegas
Experiences in our life determine what we do in the future. For Serge Dedina, Mayor of Imperial Beach, those experiences all have to do family, community, many borders, and the ocean.
Dedina is proud to come from a family of immigrants. His parents, an English mother who served as a public defender and a French father with a long career as a writer and filmmaker, came to America fleeing German occupation during World War II. Born in Los Angeles, California, his family moved to Imperial Beach in 1971, when he was 7 years old.
Dedina remembers with nostalgia going biking on weekends and crossing the border into Mexico for clam cocktail, chicharrones, and snacks. It was easier in those days and his best family memories are of his visits to Tijuana. All this gave him the opportunity to appreciate the diversity of the California-Mexico border.
But that’s only the first of many borders that the young Dedina would cross. His father worked in El Salvador well before its Civil War. That gave Dedina the experience of living abroad, broadening Serge’s already international background at an early age. El Salvador gave him the opportunity to learn Spanish and to witness the great social, economic, and cultural inequality in that country. “Everyone deserves the same respect, regardless if you’re a farmer or business owner, everyone deserves the same treatment,” said Dedina.
Serge learned to surf in Imperial Beach and continues to be a regular fixture on the waves of the “IB.” Protecting the coast has always been a family affair for the Dedinas. Decades ago, the news of a proposal to transform the Tijuana River Valley into a marina was not well received by his parents. They became activists and outright opposed that project. They won and were part of a community that that helped declare the area as a reserve and regional park.
A product of Berry and Harbor View Elementary Schools, Mar Vista Junior High and Mar Vista High School, he worked his way through the University of California, San Diego, as a lifeguard at Silver Strand State Beach. In his senior year, he was an exchange student in Spain, Morocco, and Peru. He earned a Masters degree in Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his PhD in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin. Upon leaving school, he worked in Baja California for three years, in remote fishing villages in Laguna San Ignacio, Mexico. He founded their local chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
He wasn’t finished staring organizations. He founded Wild Coast, a binational non-profit organization dedicated to protecting something that couldn’t be any more dear to Dedina’s heart. “Our mission is simple: to preserve the beautiful coastal area of southern California and Baja,” said Dedina.
After 45 years living in Imperial Beach, Dedina wondered what he could do to improve the poor condition of the streets, the weak infrastructure, and the poverty of services available to the people of Imperial Beach. He knew that it would not be easy and that a different approach was needed – he decided to get involved in local politics, directly.
Today, Dedina is the Mayor of the City of Imperial Beach. His goal is to achieve a great quality of life, built on promoting conservation and sustainable development, for all residents of Imperial Beach. “Society and nature can be compatible,” said Dedina. He has reached out to leaders in the cities of San Diego, National City, and Chula Vista, recognizing that they all have a stake in improving the economy and the environment of the Bayfront.
For Dedina and Imperial Beach, a part of the strategy means tourism to generate economic benefit to Imperial Beach. The City has planned the construction of three new hotels in a five-year period. Dedina’s agenda includes the small affordable hotels that integrate a healthy ecology in the region into its tourism and local economy. The continued closure of the City beaches has always been a concern to Dedina. Dedina is a strong supporter of bilateral dialogue among US and Mexican state, federal, and local governments in order to address the problem of beach closures.
Another part of the Dedina’s strategy is to focus on unpaved alleys in the City. Many residents have waited 35 years for the City to pave their alleys. Dedina is working to speed up that process, so that residents and visiting tourists alike can traverse the City on bike. Also on the Dedina’s agenda is the lack of affordable supermarkets. At the heart of this problem is making the City attractive to investors and grocery stores in strategic locations in the city.
The residents of Imperial Beach don’t have to look far to find their Mayor. Dedina ride his bike daily though all areas of Imperial Beach to talk to residents and hear their concerns. “We are a community, we are a family, that’s the beauty of Imperial Beach,” said Dedina. The Mayor is hoping that soon he and those residents will be riding their bikes on paved alleyways.