Yet another storm to follow next weekend

By Miriam Raftery

May 20, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – Another late-season Pacific storm set to hit our region Tuesday night through Wednesday, bringing rain and strong westerly winds over local mountains, deserts and coastal areas. Gusts up to 81 miles an hour are forecast for Mount Laguna, with gusts over 60 mph forecast in Julian and Borrego Springs.

By Miriam Raftery

May 19, 2019 (La Mesa) – Frustrated by a lack of compromise between local businesses for and against the Friday night farmers market in downtown La Mesa, the city council has voted unanimously to end its contract with the La Mesa Village Association to run the market.  Council will put out a request for proposals from other operators to potentially move the market to another location or a different day,or keep the same location and days, but with improvements to resolve the rift.

If no entity comes forward, East County’s longest running farmer’s market could end after July 31, when the LMVA contract runs out.

By Miriam Raftery

May 17, 2019 (El Cajon) – Last night’s major fire at 920 El Cajon Blvd. in El Cajon was caused by an explosion at an illegal hash oil extraction lab which caused burn injuries to one victim. The explosion occurred less than two weeks after a hash oil lab exploded in Mira Mesa, seriously injuring three people.

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

May 17, 2919 (El Cajon) --In a unanimous vote, the El Cajon City Council on Tuesday approved planning commissioner and businessman David “Phil” Ortiz to fill the seat formerly held by Ben Kalasho. Ortiz edged out three other finalists for the position: Richard Agundez, Anthony Sottile, and Humbert Cabrera.

Other applicants were Gladys “Jo” Alegria, Juan Barajas, Richard Campbell, Margaret Carlson, Estela De Los Rio, James Elia, Mark Jamil, former El Cajon Mayor Mark Lewis, Amanda McGimpsey, Juan Carlos, Mercado, Michelle Metschel, Abraham Muheize, Nancy Wilson, and Steven Woods. Community activist Stephanie Harper dropped out of the race at Tuesday’s meeting. See our prior coverage for highlights on all 22 candidates.

Owner and CEO of New Earth Energy Specialists Inc. and a pastor of Foothills Church, Ortiz is also an active community volunteer. He serves on the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce board of directors and is founding member of the El Cajon Community Clean Up Group.  He has a B.A. degree in criminal justice administration from SDSU and a master’s in organizational management with emphasis in public administration.

According to his application with the city, his top priorities are public safety, including making retention of officers a priority, homelessness, including partnering with local organizations and having metrics to determine programs effectiveness, and having a balanced budget plus revitalization and incentivization to build on vacant lots.

Watch a streaming video of Tuesday’s evening's council session here and scroll down for details.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Retired Pvt. First Class Joseph Reilly, courtesy of the White House website

May 17, 2019 (San Diego) – Joseph Reilly, a D-Day veteran who parachuted behind enemy lines in Britain and fought other battles to help liberate Eastern Europe during World War II, has made his first political endorsement at age 97.  Reilly, whose courageous actions were honored by Donald Trump at the President’s State of the Union Address, has endorsed Ammar Campa-Najjar, the Democrat running against indicted Republican Congressman Duncan D. Hunter in the 50th Congressional district.

Hunter has been a strong supporter of Trump on the  campaign and during Trump’s presidency. But Reilly, a former Army private, said in a statement that he is “proud” to support Campa-Najjar because Hunter “has now crossed the line twice. First when he betrayed the public in order to enrich himself, and now again when he  makes such shameful and false attacks in order to hold onto his power.”

Hunter, a combat veteran in Iraq and Afghanistan, is awaiting trial on federal corruption charges. He and his wife are accusing of taking over $250,000 from his campaign and spending it on lavish personal expenditures including family vacations to Italy and Hawaii, jewelry, oral surgery bills, tuition at his children’s private school, and airfare for his son’s pet rabbit.

By Miriam Raftery and Paul Kruze

May 15, 2019 (El Cajon) – The Cajon Valley Union School District stepped up its war on the media during its May 7^th board workshop.  A guard demanded that East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery and contributing editor Paul Kruze move from the front row to the back, in a clear effort to prevent the investigative journalists from recording an audible copy of the meeting. Both refused, citing First Amendment freedom of the press and the district’s continued non-compliance with California public records act requests to receive audios of past meetings.

 At a subsequent meeting May 14, the guard repeated this demand for Kruze to move out of a front row seat, even threatening to the El Cajon Police for “disruption” if he would not comply. Kruze’s recording device is inobtrusive, about the size of a cell phone. There is nothing inherently disruptive about a journalist quietly recording a meeting, which is a right guaranteed to any citizen by the California Ralph M. Brown Act, the state’s public records act.

These intimidation tactics come after the board admitted destroying recordings of public meetings despite our requests for the recordings.  After receiving a cease and desist letter from an attorney at CalAware, the board on March 29 responded with a letter agreeing to comply with the law, as we reported, but has not done so. The board also voted to retain recordings for a year and make copies available on request. But the  district’s lawyer claims our more records request, along with other emails sent to multiple  people at the district, all went to a spam folder.

By Miriam Raftery

May 15, 2019 (Washington D.C.) -- The Federal Trade Commission is warning the public about a surge in phone calls from scammers posing as Social Security agents. The imposters try to con people into providing their Social Security numbers or other personal or financial data.

Update May 15, 2019: The San Diego City Council has voted to approve the new vehicle habitation ordinance.

By Miriam Raftery

May 13, 2019 (San Diego) – After a federal judge found San Diego’s vehicle habitation ordinance unconstitutional and issued an injunction to halt its enforcement of the ban on sleeping in vehicles, a new ordinance backed by Mayor Kevin Faulconer has been passed 3-1 by a committee and forwarded to the full city council, where a vote is expected on Tuesday, May 14 at 2 p.m.  

By Tom Christensen, County of San Diego Communications Office

May 12, 2019 (San Diego) - Starting in June 2019, the CalFresh program will allow many seniors and people with disabilities receiving SSI/SSP to participate and have access to nutritious food.

CalFresh is designed to reduce food insecurity and increase food budgets, improving participants’ access to fresh and healthy food.

Source:  San Diego County Taxpayers Association

Annual dinner recognizes best and worst use of public funds in San Diego County; this year’s 1970’s-themed event takes place on May 16

May 10, 2019 (San Diego) -- The San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA) hasreleased the list of finalists for its 24th annual Golden Watchdog & Fleece Awards. The annual awards dinner recognizes the best and worst in local government spending and decision-making in San Diego County. Winners will be announced at the awards dinner on Thursday, May 16. The theme: a 1970’s extravaganza, “Thursday Night Fever.”

Source: Calif. Attorney General

May 9, 2019 (Sacramento) – Calif. Attorney General Xavier Becerra today announced that consumers may begin to apply for relief as part of the coordinated government and private class action settlements with Fiat Chrysler. The settlements, announced in January 2019 and approved on May 3, 2019, resolved allegations that the company violated environmental and consumer protection laws by using “defeat device software” to circumvent emissions testing.

Fiat Chrysler is accused of installing the defeat device software in approximately 100,000 vehicles nationwide and about 13,500 vehicles in California. The affected vehicles are 2014-2016 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Ram 1500s equipped with 3.0L EcoDiesel engines.

By Miriam Raftery

May 8, 2019 (Jamul) – On Tuesday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m., the Jamul-Dulzura Community Planning Group agenda includes a proposed general plan amendment for Otay Ranch Village 14 and Planning Areas 16 and 19, prior to County Supervisors upcoming June 26 hearing. (Note, the county rescheduled its May 22 hearing to June 26.)

The project would include homes, a school, recreational facilities and more on property in the Otay Ranch area as well as land between Jamul and Chula Vista. Concerns have been raised by school districts, tribes, environmentalists and the Jamul-Dulzura Planning Group.  

The Jamul-Dulzura Planning Group’s agenda also includes an update on the Jamul Casino, a General Plan clean-up process and officers’ reports.  

See the full agenda below.

East County News Service

May 7, 2019 (San Diego) - More than 100 birds that were surrendered to San Diego Humane Society by their previous owner on April 25 are now ready for new homes. The pigeons and doves will be available for adoption at SDHS’s San Diego Campus on Wednesday, May 8.

By Miriam Raftery, Editor, East County Magazine

May 6, 2019 (El Cajon) – Cajon Valley Union School District Superintendent David Miyashiro, Ed.D., sent a blistering editorial in an e-mail to East County Magazine, board members and others blasting our article on board President Tamara Otero’s failure to disclose that her son owned a company that received a $665,000 contract.   He did not list any actions planned to address Otero’s lack of disclosure and transparency.