Resolving the sewage crisis and restoring the economic landscape for small businesses are top-of-the-mind priorities for newly appointed Imperial Beach Mayor Mitch McKay.
“To me, those are the two paramount, kind of hand-in-hand, issues right now that I think need the attention,” said McKay. “We’re going to continue pushing forward.”
McKay, 67, will be sworn in to fill the vacant mayor’s seat on Wednesday, Aug. 20, following the City Council’s majority vote for his appointment this month. His term ends November of 2026.
On July 22, former Mayor Paloma Aguirre resigned to become the District 1 San Diego County supervisor, creating the vacancy.
Mayor pro tempore Carol Seabury’s nomination to appoint McKay followed a lengthy period of public comment on Aug. 6 wherein several residents voiced support for an appointment while others requested a special election, which the city projected could cost upward of $250,000.
McKay’s appointment moved forward in a 3-1 vote with District 4 Council member Matthew Leyba-González voting in opposition. He declined to comment.
“I’m humbled that I was nominated for the appointment,” said McKay. “I certainly was willing, and I made that known.”
The day McKay takes the oath of office as mayor, his current District 3 council seat – won in 2022 – becomes vacant.
The council will have 60 days to either fill the vacancy by appointment or call a special election, according to a city report that notes any person filling the vacancy must reside in the district where the vacancy occurs.
“They’ve asked me to take on a little more responsibility than I originally signed up for, but I’m willing to do that for the next 15 months. We’re saving the city probably closer to half a million dollars,” McKay added. “I think it’s the right thing to do.”
McKay’s roots in Imperial Beach
McKay grew up in the Bay Area during the time his dad, who was in the Navy, was stationed at the former Alameda Naval Air Station.
His family moved to San Diego when he was 6, and he’s called Imperial Beach home for six decades.
McKay said he lived in Nestor, a half mile from Imperial Beach, until he moved inside the city limits in 1984.
“All of our activities were in the city of Imperial Beach as far as school and church and friends and going to the beach,” said McKay. “In my mind, I lived and grew up in Imperial Beach.”
Mckay was part of the Mar Vista High School graduating class of 1976 and then studied at San Diego State University.
He worked in the local Aerospace Industry for 35 years.
Personal experience with the crisis
McKay’s advocacy on the sewage crisis began in 2017 after his wife, Suzanne, got sick during a walk on the south end of Seacoast, at the Boca Rio, he said.
“It’s definitely a passion project for me,” said McKay.
McKay said a doctor from Coronado diagnosed his wife with spinal meningitis traced back to the sewage water that contacted a small blister on her heel while walking by the beach.
“It was pretty serious,” said McKay. “I recognized that, you know, the sewage issue was getting worse and worse. … If anybody walking down the beach can almost die from spinal meningitis, then we have a serious public health problem.”
McKay said he decided to run for City Council in 2022 following that event.
15-month outlook
In the months McKay will serve as mayor, he is focused on keeping the pressure on the federal government.
“It’s just a matter of continuing to push, push and advocate for the things we know we need,” said McKay. “I personally think there’s a strong need for wastewater reclamation, not just cleaning the water and dumping it into the ocean.”
In the meantime, McKay said he has met with the current leaders of the Environmental Protection Agency and the International Boundary and Water Commission, and is looking forward to the expansion of the main treatment plant serving Tijuana in late August.
“I’m cautiously optimistic we will see a lot of action,” McKay added. “These next 15 months are the crucial part of that, because there’s all these projects that are lined up and they need to get started if we’re going to actually finish in 2027.”
