By Donald H. Harrison

For many years, I wrote about the political scene in San Diego County for the San Diego Union and later for the San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage. From time to time on this website, we will try to record the comings and goings, accomplishments and setbacks experienced by politically active Jews, whose names, on first reference, will appear in boldface type. Your tips, comments and contributions will be welcome indeed via email sdheritage@cox.net. If you would like us to publish a letter to the editor on subjects that have appeared on the website, be sure to include your name and city of residence.

SCHOOL DAYS—At the San Diego Unified School District, one member of our community, Ron Ottinger, has completed his tenure on the board, leaving the largest school district in our area, for the first time in many years, without a Jewish member. At one point, Ottinger and Sue Braun had served together on the five-member board. Before their retirements, both had been considered allies of School Superintendent Alan Bersin, who now faces what some consider, for him, a hostile board.  Miyo Reff ran unsuccessfully for the school board seat representing the northern portion of the school district, but was defeated by Mitz Lee. So, what role should the Jewish community be playing in our public schools?  What special problems do Jews experience in our public schools?  The Men's Club of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, in conjunction with the San Diego Jewish Times, has scheduled a forum on this subject at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 9, at the synagogue, 6660 Cowles Mountain Blvd. Bersin, Braun, Ottinger and Reff all have accepted invitations to give their views.

GROOMING A CANDIDATE—Also expected to participate in the Tifereth Israel Synagogue forum is Marty Block, who was reelected by the voters to the San Diego Community College Board. Block's board colleagues thereafter reelected him as their president—a tribute to his quiet leadership.  Block, who previously had served as a trustee of the San Diego County Board of Education, is being urged by some Democrats to consider running in 2006 for the 78th Assembly District seat now occupied by Republican Shirley Horton, a former mayor of Chula Vista. Block is flattered by the attention, but nowhere near making a commitment—except to Cindy Edwards, whom he will marry this coming Sunday.  Like her husband to be, Edwards was a California delegate pledged to Senator John F. Kerry at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. 



WHERE THE JEWS ARE —Just as there are no Jewish members of the San Diego Unified School District, neither are there any Jewish members of either the San Diego City Council or the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Susan Golding was the last member of our community to serve on either of these bodies—first as a county supervisor and later, of course, as the mayor whose term ended in 2000. There's a chance that former Assemblyman Howard Wayne will run for Donna Frye's seat, but only if courts decide that Frye, and not incumbent Mayor Dick Murphy, should be the mayor of San Diego. I, for one, don't even want to try predicting what judges might say about the voters who wrote in Frye's name but didn't fill in the corresponding bubble on the ballot. Wayne served successfully for three terms in the state Legislature, but had to retire because of term limits. Now there are no Jews in the San Diego delegation to either the California Assembly or to the California Senate. So where are there San Diego County Jews serving  in public office? 

Three members of our community serve as independently elected members of the San Diego County government.  They are Sheriff Bill Kolender, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and County Assessor/Recorder/Clerk Greg Smith. Another two members of our community are members of the United States Congress: Democrats Bob Filner and Susan Davis. 



LATINO/JEWISH DIALOGUE—The Jewish community, of course, is not the only community which takes pride in its members winning public office. Filipinos were pleased when  Mitz Lee became the first Filipina to win a San Diego Unified School District seat.  Latinos are interested in winning a congressional seat, with the district where they have the most voting strength being Filner's. There's a possibility that the veteran congressman will face opposition in 2006 from Assemblyman Juan Vargas, who will have completed his last term.  Filner has many friends in the Latino community—and Vargas has friends in the Jewish community, including political consultant Larry Remer—so such a Democratic primary contest would never be reduced simply  to one of Latinos versus Jews. However for such a powerful post, it's possible the contest could be spirited—maybe even too spirited—and that is something leaders in both communities would like to avoid.  For two years, the American Jewish Committee has been sponsoring a series of Latino/Jewish dialogues to make certain that the two communities understand and appreciate each other's aspirations and needs.  Dialoguers recognize that however such a congressional battle might turn out, it's important for the two communities to work together.  

HEARING ON 'LOUIS ROSE POINT'—As anyone who has read my book knows, the first Jew to settle in San Diego was Louis Rose, who two years after his arrival in 1850 was elected to the three-member San Diego City Board of Trustees.  That qualified Rose in 1853 to serve with other trustees on the first San Diego County Board of Supervisors—a group of men whose photos are on permanent display at the County Administration Building, 1600 Pacific Coast Highway. Rose, whose name is remembered in such areas of the city as "Rose Canyon" and "Roseville,"  also set a precedent for our Jewish community of ongoing involvement in the civic affairs of our city and county. In September of this year, Mayor Dick Murphy and City Councilmember Michael Zucchet dedicated a piece of land in the former Naval Training Center complex as the future site of "Louis Rose Point" to honor this pioneer's contributions to San Diego. Liberty Station, as the NTC now is called, overlaps the area of the city originally laid out as "Roseville" by Louis Rose. When Murphy and Zucchet spoke at the foot of Womble Street, the ceremony coincided with similar events across the nation honoring 350 years of Jewish life in North America.  

The next step is for the San Diego City Park and Recreation Board to formally adopt the name "Louis Rose Point" at its meeting at 2 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 20, in the 12th floor hearing room of San Diego City Hall, 202 C Street, downtown San Diego. Norman Greene, former co-publisher with me of the San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage, has a seat on that 11-member board, which is chaired by Jim Austin. Greene said public testimony about Louis Rose Point would be most welcome. He said it is important that Louis Rose Point be accorded its formal name now  because "government has no collective memory and it may take years before a monument to Louis Rose can be designed, financed, and in place." 



PASEO DE MISSION HILLS—Land developer Robert Lawrence and his wife, Laurie Black, will go before the San Diego City Planning Commission at 9 a.m., Monday, Jan. 27, to argue in behalf of their shopping center redevelopment project to be known as Paseo de Mission Hills, bordered by Falcon, Goldfinch and Washington streets. According to Black, the project has won support from the Save Our Heritage Organizatin (SOHO), the Mission Hills Business Improvement District and Uptown Planners, but an ad hoc group calling itself Mission Hills Heritage Association has been generating opposition.  The Planning Commission hearing in the 12th floor Council Chambers at City Hall is expected to be a lively one.