By Miriam Raftery

Editor's Note:  Military authorities declined to speak with East County Magazine regarding this story. We also requested permission to interview veterans at Balboa Naval Hospital to obtain a diverse range of views on conditions in mlitary service.  Our request was denied.

October 18, 2008 (San Diego)--Army intelligence officer Selena Coppa has risked her freedom to speak out.  “One of my soldiers died. He had PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome),” she said.  “It was ignored.”  

After she revealed the truth about the soldier’s death, Coppa told East County Magazine, her commanding officer threatened her.  “He said if he’d known what I was going to do,  he would have put me in Walter Reed in the mental ward and made sure I never got out.  Then what would happen to my little girl?”

Coppa and Hess accuse the U.S. government and military officers of neglecting soldiers with serious mental health problems and of fostering a climate of intimidation against those who speak out.

Accountant April Boling refuses to comment on allegations of “illegal and unethical bookkeeping”; opponent Marti Emerald shares vision for San Diego’s future

By Joseph Rocha

October 15, 2009 (San Diego)--Touted  as “The Troubleshooter vs. the Accountant” by local media,  San Diego’s 7th District Council race sounds more like a build-up to a Saturday night cage fight than a hotly contested political contest..  But the issues at stake will impact many residents in San Diego’s eastern region, since the district includes Allied Gardens, City Heights, Del Cerro, Grantville, Redwood Village/Oak Park, Rolando, San Carlos, the SDSU college area, and Tierrasanta.  At stake:  fire protection for our region, energy and water issues, outsourcing of public jobs, responsibility to taxpayers, integrity and openness of our City government. 

By Miriam Raftery

Lake Morena

October
6, 2008 (Campo) - Concerns over the impacts of new and proposed
major developments on water supplies and community character have divided community
members in this rural region.  

Tensions ran high at a forum for Campo/Lake Morena Planning Group candidates
held on September 29th,  where community members posed tough questions
for candidates on two opposing slates, plus independents with sharply different
visions for future growth.

Candidates for the La Mesa City Council answered questions from the public
in a September forum hosted by the East County League of Women Voters and the
American Association of University Women. View the complete video, provided
courtesy of Citizens Oversight Projects:

www.copswiki.org/twiki/bin/view/Common/M646

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Leon Thompson

October 1, 2008 (San Diego) - The Obama-Biden campaign hosted a presidential debate-watching party to kick-off the opening of a new campaign office at 1744 Euclid Street in East San Diego. 

“We’ve had a larger than expected turnout,” Vince Hall, spokesperson for Obama for President in San Diego County told East County Magazine.  “We’ve had more than 500 volunteers who signed up to support our campaign tonight.”

The
League of Women Voters of East San Diego County and the American Association
of University Women of La Mesa-El Cajon will sponsor a series of nonpartisan
public forums to educate voters about candidates plus the pros and cons of
initiatives on the November ballot.  Come meet the candidates, ask questions,
and learn more about the issues – free!

By Miriam Raftery

"I've been a Republican for 35 years and I became a Democrat in January," La
Mesa Councilmember David Allan told a crowd of approximately 350 people at
the East County Uniting for Change picnic on Sunday at Harry Griffith Park
in La Mesa.

Wildebeest hunt bags a Congressman
By Sylvia Hampton

Our congressman Duncan Hunter (R-52nd district) is leaving his congressional
seat to his son. Sort of an inheritance or royalty passed on to the next generation
like in England. Since Duncan D. Hunter, the son, has the same name his election
should be like shooting fish in a barrel. But before Hunter senior leaves that
throne he hoped to squeeze in a great overseas exotic hunting trip paid for
by the taxpayers. To do that the trip needs to be official government business.
Like feeding the starving! That should do it! Oh, darn. Looks like that won’t
work out, thanks to those big blabber mouths at the Embassy in Chad. As they
say in the comic books, “Foiled again!”

For more information on these and other bills, visit www.vote-smart.org or www.govtrack.us