By Miriam Raftery

May 2, 2019 (El Cajon) – The vacancy left on the El Cajon City Council by the resignation of Ben Kalasho has generated strong community interest.  Applications have been received from 22 residents, all seeking to fill the seat. They range from prominent individuals including a former mayor to community activists, members of the planning commission, and a retired police officer who received a Medal of Valor. They bring a diverse range of views and visions for  El Cajon as well.

The City Council will interview applicants at the May 14 meeting at 7 p.m.  Earlier, at the 3 p.m. meeting, Council members will discuss procedures for choosing the next Councilmember, who will fill the at-large seat held by Kalasho until the 2020 election.

The applicants are, in alphabetical order, are listed below along with highlights from their applications:

By Jose A. Alvarez, County of San Diego Communications Office

Image credit:  PhotoSpin

May 1, 2019 (San Diego) - The County Board of Supervisors today voted to spend an additional $25 million to build more affordable housing units in the region.

By Miriam Raftery

April 30, 2019 (Borrego Springs) – Newly elected County Supervisor Jim Desmond has been holding a series of community revitalization meetings in his district. Now he is starting a Borrego Springs Community Revitalization Committee to bring public resources to Borrego Springs.  This is a community meeting and the public is welcome to attend.  On Tuesday, May 7, the meeting will be held in the community room at the Borrego Springs Library.

By Donald H. Harrison, Editor, San Diego Jewish World, a member of the San Diego Online News Network

Photo:  House Education Committee members, from left, Reps. Susie Lee, Committee Counsel Claire Viall, Reps. Susan Davis, Mike Levin and Mark Takano at Grossmont College, April 24, 2019

April 25, 2019 (El Cajon) - Four Democratic members of Congress agreed Wednesday that the Trump Administration – particularly the Departments of Education and Veterans Affairs – must do more to protect veterans from the predatory practices of some for-profit colleges and technical schools.

East County News Service

April 23, 2019 (El Cajon) -- On Wednesday, April 24, the Congressional Committee on Education and Labor’s Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment and the Committee on Veterans Affairs’ Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity will hold a joint field hearing entitled, “Protecting Those Who Protect Us: Ensuring the Success of our Student Veterans.”

By Miriam Raftery

March 29, 2019 (Washington D.C.)—Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s long awaiting report has been submitted to the Justice Department.  A summary written by newly appointed Attorney General William Barr has been made public, but thus far, Congress and the media have not seen the full report.

According to Barr’s summary, Mueller’s two-year investigation did not find evidence of a conspiracy involving President Donald Trump and Russia to tamper with the 2016 election despite “multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.  But as for whether Trump committed the crime of obstructing justice, Barr states that while Mueller’s report does not recommend prosecution of Trump for obstruction of justice, “it also does not exonerate him.”

Trump called the report “a complete and total exoneration” based on Barr’s summary.

But that’s not fully accurate. The Justice Department has long held that it does not have the power to indict a sitting president, deferring investigation of presidential actions to Congress, which has the power to impeach under the Constitution. Without reading Mueller’s full report it is difficult to speculate on the Special Counsel’s intent, but Mueller could have intended for Congress to weigh any evidence his investigators found with regard to obstruction of justice.

Update March 27, 2019:  A press release from the city today states: "City staff will be presenting options of how to fill the vacancy to the City Council at an upcoming public meeting."  Public information officer  Monica Zech told ECM  that according to City Manager Graham Mitchell, "unless the City Council requests a special meeting sooner, we plan to present the Council with options to fill the vacancy during the April 9th City Council Meeting."

By Miriam Raftery and Paul Kruze

March 26, 2019 (El Cajon) – Citizens who filled the El Cajon City Council chambers last year calling on Councilman Ben Kalasho to resign finally got their wish. Kalasho has submitted a resignation letter effective immediately to the City Manager. 

His resignation creates a vacancy that Mayor Bill Wells said will most likely be filled by appointment to save taxpayers the cost of a special election.

By Tom Christensen, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo:  Ted Kagan, California Senior Legislature senator from San Diego County.

March 25, 2019 (San Diego) - Have you ever had ambitions to run for office but found the prospect of lawn signs, advertising and public appearances daunting?

If you’re a San Diego County resident over the age of 55, you can still fulfill your political aspirations without the rigors of a major campaign. The California Senior Legislature offers older adults the opportunity to advance issues important to them and advocate for legislation at the state level.

East County News Service

March 20, 2019 (La Mesa) - The City of La Mesa is seeking volunteers for an ad hoc citizen committee on homelessness.  If you're passionate about homeless issues and want to make a positive difference in the community, you are encouraged to sign up.

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

Miriam Raftery, Editor, contributed to this report

Update March 27, 2019: The margin has narrowed slightly but Measure A still leads by 114 votes and a 7.96% margin: yes 53.98%, no 46.02%

March 19, 2019 (Julian) – The County’s last all-volunteer fire department may soon be history. With 1,294 ballots counted tonight, Measure A is passing with 55.56%, the Registrar of Voters reports.

The measure would affirm a decision made last September by the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) to abolish the 35-year-old Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection District. Fire and ambulance services would be shifted entirely to the County Fire Authority, under the direction of Cal-Fire.

The Registrar’s office will continue to accept ballots until Friday, if postmarked by today. It is unclear how many ballots mailed out have not yet been returned, or whether there could be enough to make up the 145-vote gap (719 to 575).

Cal-Fire firefighters’ union local #2881 posted on Facebook tonight, “Thank you to the Citizens of Julian and Cuyamaca for the opportunity to serve them.” (photo, left)

For backers of the JCFPD who have fought hard to keep their volunteer firefighters, however, the outcome sparked strong emotions.

By Allan Acevedo

March 16, 2019 (La Mesa) – What a difference two weeks makes. The La Mesa City Council heard robust public comment from diverse perspectives concerning the approval of two so-called “granny flat” ordinances. On narrowly won passage from a divided Council, while the second passed unanimously.

By Miriam Raftery

March 14, 2019 (Washington D.C.) – In direct contradiction to his campaign trail promises not to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, President Donald Trump has proposed a budget that would deeply slash all of these programs—programs which help the elderly, the poor and the disabled.

“I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid,” Trump tweeted on May 7, 2015, adding, “Huckabee copied me.”  He repeated that pledge in media interviews and at rallies.

His proposed new budget, however, would cut trillions of dollars from Medicaid and Medicare. Social Security would also be slashed by $25 million over the next 10 years, including whacking $10 billion from the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) for people who are unable work.

The administration claims it will make up for these deep cuts in Social Security,Medicare and Medicaid programs by finding waste, fraud and abuse. But if not enough waste, fraud or abuse is found--and there have been years of efforts to do--benefits to recipients could be reduced reduced and some poor, disabled and elderly Americans might be denied medical or disability coverage completely.

Michelle Obama: A Life, by Peter Slevin (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, 2015, 418 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“A deeply informed portrait of the first lady and her native Chicago…. Her larger story, told so powerfully in Slevin’s biography, which suggests she will forever be a force with which to be reckoned.” – Chicago Tribune

March 11, 2019 (San Diego) - Peter Slevin, who has written extensively about Barack and Michelle Obama, from his vantage point of being on the staff of The Washington Post, before joining Northwestern University’s School of Journalism, where he is currently an associate professor, has written a uniquely American story of a woman from the Southside of Chicago that changed the course of prior inhabitants of the White House; Michelle Obama: A Life.