Suzuki announces campaign for La Mesa City Council

La Mesa attorney and community volunteer Genevieve Suzuki announced this week her intention to run for La Mesa City Council in the November 2024 election.

“La Mesa is a fabulous community with a unique identity. I am running for City Council because I believe we can do much more to make this city safe, prosperous and welcoming to families, workers and small business owners,” Suzuki said. “I have had the opportunity to volunteer with many friends and neighbors in La Mesa, and I look forward to taking my commitment to this community to the next level.”

Voters will elect two new city council members in the Nov. 5 election.

Council member Jack Shu, whose term expires in December, announced he will not seek re-election. Councilman Colin Parent, whose term also expires this year, is running for State Assembly and is not seeking re-election to the City Council.

Shu and Parent have previously supported Suzuki for city council. Suzuki also won

endorsements from County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe and La Mesa Mayor Dr. Mark

Arapostathis, La Mesa Council Member Patricia Dillard, and La Mesa City Treasurer Matt Strabone.

Suzuki, one of two Democrats to announce their campaign

Suzuki is one of two Democrats who have announced campaigns for City Council.

She is joined by Lauren Cazares, policy advisor at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, who announced her campaign in 2023. Cazares expressed support for Suzuki.

“Genevieve would be a fantastic city council member – I’m excited to have her in the race,” Cazares said. “Genevieve and I have similar core values ​​and priorities for La Mesa, and it would be an honor to serve our community together on the City Council.”

If elected, Suzuki would be the first Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) woman on the La Mesa City Council, while Cazares would be the first openly LGBTQ+ member of the council. Four out of five members of the municipal council would be women.

Suzuki and her husband Derek have lived in La Mesa for 15 years and in the San Diego area for almost 20 years. She has practiced law in La Mesa since 2010 and recently joined a larger law firm to lead a new office in San Diego.

She has more than 10 years of service on the City of La Mesa Community Services Commission and the La Mesa Parks and Recreation Foundation Board of Directors. She served as president of the parent-teacher group at St. Martin of Tours Academy and is an active member of St. Martin of Tours Parish in La Mesa. His daughter, Quinn, attended Académie Saint-Martin de Tours (SMA) from kindergarten through eighth grade and his son, Deacon, currently attends SMA.

Suzuki is a member of the San Diego Family Law Bar Association, the San Diego County Bar Association, the Lawyers Club (an organization that promotes women in law), the Filipino American Lawyers of San Diego, the Japanese American Bar Association and of the Pan Asian Lawyers. from San Diego. She also served on the board of directors of the Family Law Bar Association.

She has been nominated as one of San Diego’s Top Young Lawyers by the San Diego Daily Transcript and was named one of San Diego Metro Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40. She was also named to the San Diego Business Journal’s Best of The Bar and received the Rising Star award. Super Lawyers designation. She also received the Wiley W. Manuel Award for her volunteer work with the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program.

Suzuki holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and received his Juris Doctor degree from the California Western School of Law in San Diego. Before becoming a lawyer, Genevieve was a journalist and editor in Honolulu and San Diego. She continues to use her journalistic skills as co-editor of the San Diego Lawyer Magazine, a publication of the San Diego County Bar Association. Before devoting herself fully to her legal practice, Geneviève was editor-in-chief of La Mesa Mail.

Suzuki’s work in journalism led her to write a children’s book, The Original Poi Cats on O’ahu, published by Mutual Publishing in 2005.

(Courtesy image)