East Count News Service

June 10, 2023 (Alpine)-- In Saturday, June 17, Supervisor Joel Anderson will be hosting a town-hall style Community Coffee in Japatul at the residence of John & Cori Mendez, 23155 Illahee Drive in Alpine, from 3:00 to 5:00  p.m.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left to right: Janessa Goldbeck, Paul McQuigg, Amy Reichert, Monica Montgomery Steppes

June 7, 2023 (San Diego) – Yesterday was the deadline to file papers to run in in the special election to fill the vacancy on the County Board of Supervisors in District 4 left by Nathan Fletcher’s resignation. 

Four candidates qualified to appear on the ballot for the special primary election August 15. If no candidate wins a majority, a run-off between the top two vote-getters will be held Nov. 7.  The qualifying candidates are:

• Janessa Goldbeck, Marine veteran and CEO of Vet Voice Foundation
• Paul McQuigg, Military veteran and speaker for disabled veterans
• Amy Reichert, small business owner and founder of ReOpen San Diego
• Monica Montgomery Steppes, President Pro Tem of the San Diego City Council

A fifth candidate who pulled nomination papers, Lemon Grove Mayor Racquel Vasquez, has announced that she decided not to run.

Scroll down for information on the District 4 candidates.

East County News Service

June 4, 2023 (San Diego) – Ballots will be mailed the week of July 16 for the August 15 special primary election in San Diego’s 4^th Supervisorial District. This election will fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Nathan Fletcher following sexual misconduct allegations. If no candidate receives a majority vote at the primary election, then a special general election will be held on November 7, 2023.

Here are your voting options, which include mail-in, ballot drop-off boxes, and in-person voting prior to or on election day:

East County News Service

Photo via San Diego County News Service

May 29, 2023 (San Diego) – To address the housing crisis in San Diego County’s unincorporated areas, Supervisors last week approved 22 actions aimed at helping renters and homebuyers.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Miriam Raftery: Rooftop solar on People's Market in Ocean Beach

May 29, 2023 (San Diego) – For years, residents in San Diego’s rural and desert areas have argued that it would make more sense to put solar on roofs and parking lots in urban areas where power is used, instead of building massive wind and solar projects in the backcountry that negatively impact communities and require miles of new power lines. On May 25, County Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a proposal by Supervisor Jim Desmond that will include studying capacity for renewable energy projects on infill lots, roofs and parking lots.

The study will be part of the proposed Regional Decarbonization Framework (RDF), which sets a goal of reducing carbon emissions to net-zero levels by 2045. The Chief Administrator has six months to complete the study and report back to the Board of  Supervisors, though the board cannot vote until the vacancy in District four has been filled by a special election.

As ECM reported in early March, the Protect Our Communities Foundation filed a lawsuit in late February against the County over its RDF, contending that the County hired a  biased utility industry consultant to direct the County’s RDF and that its conclusions are skewed toward utilities’ interests over consumers’ interests based on flawed data and that it would actually cost less for infill energy projects than for large-scale energy facilities in remote areas, if costs of transmission is factored in.

By Ken Stone,Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  La Mesa Councilwoman Laura Lothian, seeing no chance of council OK, made no motion for her policy proposal. Image via Facebook

May 25, 2023 (La Mesa) - La Mesa Councilwoman Laura Lothian ran a proposal up the flagpole but saw it shot down in a hail of public scorn and derision.

Three candidates are running to replace Nathan Fletcher so far

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left to right: Monica Montgomery Steppe, Amy Reichert,and Janessa Goldbeck

May 24, 2023 (San Diego) – Supervisors have authorized an Aug. 15 special primary election to fill the vacancy in District 4 left by Nathan Fletcher’s resignation Candidates must file paperwork to run at the Registrar of Voters’ office between May 30 and June 6, though if they wish to submit signatures instead of a filing fee, they must pick up those forms by this Friday.  If no candidate wins a majority of votes in the primary, then a general election will be held on Nov. 7.

District 4 includes the East County communities of La Mesa, Lemon Grove,  Crest, Dehesa, Casa de Oro, Spring Valley, Mt. Helix, and Rancho San Diego as well as San Diego neighborhoods including Clairemont, Hillcrest, Balboa Park, North Park, Bankers Hill,  Old Town, Mission Hills, Normal Heights, University Heights, Oak Park, Valencia Park, Encanto, Bay Terraces, Paradise Hills, Birdland, SerraMesa, Civita, and parts of Grantville, City Heights, Rolando, Azalea Park, Chollas Creek, Rolando Park, Kensington, Talmadge, Mid-City, Montezuma Mesa, SDSU and Mission Valley.

American Carnage:Shattering the Myths That Fuel Gun Violence, by Thomas Gabor and Fred Guttenberg (Mango Publishing Group, Coral Gables, Fl., 2023, 228 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

View interview with co-author Thomas Gabor on the "Bookshelf" section with host Anat Tour by clicking here.

May 26, 2023 (San Diego) – Criminologist Tom Gabor and activist Fred Guttenberg, who lost his 14-year old daughter Jaime in the 2018 Parkland school shooting, team up to dismantle some of the leading myths on guns and gun violence in their groundbreaking book and treatise; American Carnage: Shattering the Myths That Fuel Gun Violence. Many of these myths have been promoted by the gun lobby to facilitate gun sales and normalize the presence of guns in American society.

Co-author Tom Gabor reiterates much about what is said in this book in a video above by Anat Tour, the host of the "Bookshelf" section of the East County Magazine. The interview by this excellent talent, Tour, can be viewed and listened to by clicking on the link above.

This extraordinary book resonates with me in a profound and personal way, for I am a survivor of gun violence myself, along with two of my sons, and in my more than 400 book reviews written, American Carnage has impacted my psyche more than any other. This book touches my heart and soul!

East County News Service

May 15, 2023 (Sacramento) – Senate Bill 31, a measure by  Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) which aimed to “compassionately clear homeless camps” according to Jones, has failed to win passage in the Senate Public Safety Committee.

East County News Service

May 10, 2023 (Sacramento) - The California Tribal Business Alliance (CTBA) joined other tribal leaders at the California State Assembly to support the first annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Week from May 1 to May 5.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Kupa, one of the last dozen descendants of San Diego's heritage herd, has died of a rattlesnake bite. His owner is asking the County to protect  the remaining herd descedants under the County's MultipleSpecies Conservation Plan.

April 17, 2023 (San Diego’s East County) – Kupa, one of only a dozen descendants of San Diego’s heritage herd of wild horses, has died. Kathleen Hayden made the announcement “with a breaking heart” on Facebook yesterday, stating that “during the night, our four-year-old Coyote Canyon stallion, Kupa, was bitten in his eye by a rattlesnake and died.”

Hayden is cofounder of Coyote Canyon Caballos d’Anza, a nonprofit in Santa Ysabel.  For years, she and her foundation have been fighting to gain protection for the heritage herd. The federal government has long refused to recognize horses as native species worthy of protection, believing they were brought here by European explorers.

But on March 23, 2023, Science published a report by 84 researchers who concluded that horses evolved first in North America and later crossed a land bridge over the Bering Strait to Eurasia. There are ancient fossils found in the Anza Borrego desert and Carlsbad  predating the early Spanish and English explorers to bolster that claim, as well as references to Native American horses in writings of Sir Francis Drake in 1580.

Those findings have reignited the urgent call to save wild horses and try to repopulate San Diego’s heritage herd on public lands, before it is too late.

By Daniela Torres

Video by ECM interns Daniela Torres and Jacob Pamus

April 14, 2023 (El Cajon)-- The first of four town halls in order to address homelessness in El Cajon was held on April 4, amidst concerns from the city’s residents.

Outrage and controversy have been sparked after the arrests of two sex offenders at a Motel 6 last month for allegedly sexually assaulting an underage girl. The offenders were placed there under the People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) motel voucher program funded by the County of San Diego.

By Miriam Raftery

April 11, 2023 (San Diego) – During a special meeting convened today,  San Diego County Supervisors passed a vote of no confidence and approved a letter calling on disgraced Supervisor Nathan Fletcher to resign immediately. The vote was 4-0, with Fletcher absent while undergoing treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and alcohol abuse.

On March 29, Fletcher announced his resignation effective May 15, after an MTS employee went public with allegations that Fletcher sexually assaulted and harassed her when he was MTS chair. Fletcher, who is married with children, has denied those allegations but said he had a “consensual” relationship. The woman, Grecia Figueroa, has denied this and filed a lawsuit against Fletcher and MTS. Fletcher has resigned as MTS chair and dropped his campaign for the State Senate.

Nora Vargas, Chair of the County Board of Supervisors, said before the vote, “"My priority is ensuring that we are able to serve the people of San Diego” noting that Fletcher has been absent for the past two weeks and hasn't answered the troubling allegations against him. "We encourage him to resign immediately so he (can) focus solely on his treatment, and the people of San Diego can move forward with the representation they deserve."

Calls grow for Fletcher to step down immediately from Board of Supervisors; second woman claims harassment by Fletcher

By Miriam Raftery

April 9, 2023 (San Diego) – The Metropolitan Transit Board (MTS) on Thursday announced that it will hire outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation into allegations of sexual assault and harassment made by MTS public information officer Grecia Figueroa  against Nathan Fletcher, ([photo, left), who was chair of MTS at the time.

Grecia was fired on February 6, the date Fletcher announced his intent to run for the State Senate. Fletcher withdrew from that race on March 26 and announced he was entering rehab for PTSD and alcohol abuse. After the MTS allegations surfaced soon after, he  resigned from the MTS board and announced he will resign as Supervisor effective May 15.  Fletcher, who is married with children, has denied sexually assaulting or harassing Figueroa but claimed a “consensual” relationship.

Acting MTS Board Chair Stephen Whitburn issued a statement after a closed-door session of the MTS board,  Whitburn indicated that findings in the independent investigation will be made public. The transit board has also cut off legal support to Fletcher, who must pay for his own defense. ”Mr. Fletcher failed to act in good faith and in a manner reasonably believed to be in the best interest of MTS,” Whitburn stated.