By Donald H. Harrison 

Although it deserved high marks for some of its innovative programming over the years, the San Diego chapter of the American Jewish Committee had one grave deficit in the opinion of the national organization.  It barely raised enough money to pay for its own office and part-time staff, so practically nothing at all was sent from this city back to the national organization headquarters in New York.  More often than not, national had to subsidize the local office.

The last straw apparently was the Nov. 16 Judge Learned Hand Testimonial Dinner for 4th District Court of Appeal Judge Cynthia Aaron which failed to produce the kind of revenue for AJC that the organization once commanded with dinners for Lynn Schenk, then chief of staff to Governor Gray Davis; Anthony Pico, chairman of the Viejas Band of  Kumeyaay Indians., and Alan Bersin, the U.S. Attorney-turned-City School Superintendent, who now is Education Secretary for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.  

As a result,  AJC-San Diego President Tad Seth Parzen, Interim Director Paula Jacobs and Office Manager Marissa de Luna have been given orders to shut down by the end of this month the AJC regional office at 5095 Murphy Canyon Road.  Jacobs hereafter will do her part-time AJC work at home; the much appreciated de Luna regretfully will hunt for another job, and Parzen will lead the AJC membership in trying to decide which of its programs are essential and which can be sunsetted.

He said closing the office, while keeping the chapter open, seemed logical, given the fact that Jacobs can work on her computer and be in internet communication with the membership from wherever she chooses. Given how dispersed the San Diego Jewish population is, no matter where Jacobs works she'll be geographically close to some AJC members, and far from the others.

What will happen now to such vaunted programs as the Jewish-Latino Dialogue?  Board members will meet this coming Wednesday evening to hash out their options, according to Parzen. Additionally, they will consider whether or not to go forward with a proposal that surfaced at the end of last year to help attorney James McElroy in his suit against the city to have the large Christian cross removed from the public land atop Mount Soledad.

Jonathan Levine, the New York-based AJC official who oversees chapter affairs, was traveling in Chicago and did not return telephone calls seeking comment on these developments.  Reportedly the San Diego chapter is not the only one of AJC's 32 offices around the world that will cut back its operations in light of declining revenues.

The closure of the office reminded Paul Nierman, a longtime AJC activist, of the time 25 years ago when the local chapter's efforts were strictly volunteer, except for some occasional professional assistance from the Los Angeles office. In the early days, AJC members met at each other's homes, while committed volunteers provided the funds and the energy to keep the organization going.  However,  many of those stalwarts—people like Dorothy Garfield and Norman Hahn— have since died and the organization has not replenished its ranks of activists, despite a mailing list membership that has fluctuated between 400 and 600.

Some say the handwriting might have been on the wall when Sam Sokolove, AJC-San Diego's last full-time director, left the organization in August to become the director of the United Jewish Federation in Albuquerque.  There, Sokolove faces a task of building affiliation in a community with an estimated 11,000 Jews—most of them not at all active.  But even with such a small base, the Albuquerque position offered Sokolove a more financially lucrative career than did the AJC spot here.

Sokolove spent four years at the AJC helm in San Diego, about the same amount of time spent by his predecessor, Gary Rotto, who gave up the post in order to run unsuccessfully for a seat on the San Diego City Council.  Rotto later joined the staff of California Governor Gray Davis. Later,  after Davis was recalled from office, Rotto took a position at the local state Department of Transportation office working on border issues and relations with local Native Americans.

Rotto, Sokolove, and past San Diego AJC presidents Joan Dean and Marty Block all expressed regret in interviews with jewishsightseeing.com that financial necessity is forcing the closure of the office. All voiced hope that various AJC programs, including the Jewish-Latino Dialogue, would continue.  With Latinos becoming an increasingly powerful political force throughout the Southwestern states,  AJC members believe it is important for Jews and Latinos in San Diego to coalesce around their common interests.

Initially it was thought that the Jewish-Latino dialogue could be continued under the leadership of former Assemblyman Howard Wayne (D-San Diego) and Prof. Bernardo Ferdman of Alliant International University, the latter of whom is an Argentine-born Jew. 

However, Wayne's wife, Mary Lundberg, an Assistant United States Attorney, recently was invited to the Republic of South Africa to consult with that nation's law enforcement officials on legal mechanisms for seizing assets of drug dealers and other criminals.  Wayne plans on accompanying her to South Africa, so that takes him away from the AJC project for at least six months.

The problem with most volunteer organizations is that without a strong, dedicated person willing to devote practically all of  his or her free time to the "cause," projects can sometimes lose their momentum, as jobs, families, and other "full-time" concerns of the volunteers intervene.  Even when an organization has a full-time director, it takes times for that person to establish a network in the community.  The more turnover in an executive director's role, the less effective is the organization. How long Jacobs will be satisfied with the salary of a part-time director is an open question; she could not be reached for immediate comment.

Compare Rotto's and Sokolove's four years apiece, and Jacobs' nearly  half- year part-time tenure to the 25 years spent  thus far by Morris Casuto at the helm of the local Anti-Defamation League, which,  like the AJC,  works at developing good relations between our community and others. Casuto has shown no signs of slowing down, but someday even he may want to retire—and then where will the local ADL be?

While AJC was wrestling with closing its office, the United Jewish Federation under the leadership of its new executive vice president, Michael Rassler, has decided to beef up its long under-utilized Community Relations Committee.  Tina Friedman, who had staffed the CRC on a part-time basis,  has started working full time—apparently with the possibility of the CRC being upgraded to the voice of the San Diego Jewish community that  it had been many years ago as the Jewish Community Relations Council.  

Jews with experience dealing with the greater community are being recruited to serve on the expanded board, with Marty Block, the longtime president of the San Diego Community College Board, agreeing to head up the CRC's government relations committee. Parzen said he plans to attend a meeting of Jewish agency and organization heads, called by Rassler, to determine how Jewish organizations can create synergies among themselves, and perhaps eliminate some duplication.

Seemingly, the more things change, the more familiar they become.