FRIENDS OF EAST COUNTY ARTS CELEBRATES 25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH GALA SEPT. 18
Printer-friendly version25 Years and $500,000 Given to the Arts… September 6, 2009 (El Cajon, CA)–Friends of East County Arts, Inc. will celebrate 25 years of giving to the performing and visual arts in the Greater East County with a spectacular Gala on September 18, 2009 at the Admiral Baker Clubhouse, located just off Friar’s Road at 2400 Admiral Baker Road, San Diego, CA. 92120. The evening will begin at 5:00 p.m. with a cocktail hour and silent auction on the balcony overlooking the golf course. A live auction will accompany a lovely dinner with featured entertainment by incredible song stylist Robin Grosmark. This year’s event is co-chaired by the past presidents of ‘Friends’ and will take a walk down memory lane, while looking forward to the next quarter century of philanthropic efforts. During the past 25 years, Friends of East County Arts, Inc has contributed over $500,000.00 to our community organizations and East County school programs in support of the visual and performing arts. For additional information contact Judy Moore (619)442-2778 or visit our website:http://www.friendsofecarts.org. Printer-friendly version
FATAL CRASH ON 94
Printer-friendly version September 6, 2009 (Dulzura) – A motorcyclist has died from a head-on collision at high speed on Highway 94 at Dulzura, one mile west of the Barrett Junction Café. Emergency medical personnel attempted CPR, but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Identification of the victim is withheld pending notification of kin. Printer-friendly version
EAST OF THE LINE: PARTISAN POLITICS ARE THE POISON PILL OF DEMOCRACY—EVEN IN THE BACKCOUNTRY
Printer-friendly version By Billie Jo Jannen September 6, 2009 (San Diego’s East County)–Which is more important to the health of a region or a nation: a government that responds to the voice of the people or one that responds to the drive for partisan dominance? Yes, I know. It seems like a silly question to us regular folks. So why do we often see people we trust to carry our wishes to Washington and Sacramento – and even members of our little rural advisory bodies – ignore our voices in favor of political goals that have little to do with what We The People want? At the Politics in Paradise event, sponsored last month by East County Chamber of Commerce, California Assemblyman Joel Anderson said he was having trouble getting a bill through that would require the state to accept its own IOUs as payment for fees and taxes it levies on businesses and non-profits and would not only help businesses, but would also save the state over $18 million in interest on outstanding IOUs. He described the straits of Noah Homes, which contracts with the state to care for impaired adults. The facility received $185,000 in IOUs as payment for services and owes nearly that in fees and taxes to the state. The state, in return, demands cash payment for those fees and taxes, even though the facility’s entire cash flow is in IOUs. This is a recipe for fiscal failure that you can multiply by thousands of small businesses/contractors statewide. Anderson, a Republican, canvassed both sides of the aisle and, shocking in the current political climate, has strong bi-partisan buy-in, plus over 1,000 letters in support of the bill. Yet Democrat Kevin de León, chairman of the Assembly Appropriations Committee had chosen to prevent the bill from going on by relegating it to the committee’s suspense file – a place where good bills go to die without a vote. He pulled it back out last week when Anderson (photo, right, with Barry Jantz at the Politics in Paradise event) brought approximately 1,500 letters of support to the table. Why should it take that kind of effort to promote something so obviously good as this bill? Is all of government doomed to be solely about keeping one’s opposite party from receiving credit for anything good and passing what your own party wants regardless of public opinion? In Washington D.C., two presidents in a row have insisted on squandering trillions in taxpayer dollars over the loud-and-clear protests of millions of Americans. They had the votes, so they went ahead and did it anyway. Is having the votes the only standard we want our lawmakers to use in adopting bills? Mountain Empire surveys Closer to home, two local groups – one that focuses on regional economic issues, and one that focuses on environment and quality of life – have done independent surveys to steer officials toward decisions that are good for local communities. Rural Economic Action League recently visited planning/sponsor group meetings in the Mountain Empire and requested attendees to fill out a survey detailing their concerns and interests. The goal was to discover issues common to all the Mountain Empire communities in order to better represent regional views about economic initiatives that affect property values and local businesses. Surveys were taken in Boulevard, Jacumba, Campo, Potrero, Descanso and Pine Valley. The vast majority (71 percent) in all communities listed groundwater protection as their top concern, followed by Sunrise Powerlink (51 percent), population growth (43 percent) and wind turbines (32 percent). The lowest interest levels were on the Multiple Species Conservation Plan (7 percent) business growth (6 percent), local employment (6 percent) and local health care (7 percent). These results dovetail with the majority of community plans, which specify rural-style growth and visitor based economic development. The other survey was conducted in Campo by Mountain Empire Resource Information Taskforce and was carried out via postage-paid cards mailed with the club’s community newsletter. The brief questionnaire asked residents to define what level of growth they thought was appropriate and whether they supported a 460-home development proposal for Star Ranch. In a presentation Monday night, MERIT President Cheryl Bush-Carmody told the Campo Lake Morena Planning Group that 178 postcards have been returned to date and the results are resounding in favor of conservative rural-style growth. 81 percent say they want slow growth or no growth and only 25 percent favor some version – either full or scaled down – of Star Ranch. These two surveys, taken together, should provide planning groups, would-be developers and county/state/federal electeds with a clear picture of how they can best represent local interests. Yet even in our home communities, we sometimes hear an echo of the worst that Washington and Sacramento have to offer: we’ve got the votes and we’ll do what we want. In Campo, for example, the recently elected pro-growth planning group majority defied the community and the protests of four minority members and changed the group’s standing rules to allow them the power to choose replacement members. This right USED to belong to the voters. They had the votes to do it and all protests were ignored. During this stampede, they trampled several laws and spent a series of three meetings to accomplish this apparently vital partisan goal, while ignoring the land use work they were elected to do. When, three months after it was seated, the group finally DID take a vote on a land use issue, the letter of support that should have followed was never sent. Fortunately, partisan power-building is not the focus among most of the Mountain Empire’s planning groups. Equally fortunate, for Campo’s residents, most higher level electeds say they support residents’ preferences. During the Politics in Paradise event, Supervisor Dianne Jacob, first-term Congressman Duncan Hunter-R and seasoned Congressman Bob Filner-D all expressed support for backcountry conservation and economic preferences. Filner (photo, left) even quipped that his economic advisor on backcountry affairs is Boulevard’s well-known conservationist Donna Tisdale. Will Campo’s
FIRE ENGINE, CAR PLUMMET OVER EMBANKMENT ON BOULDER CREEK ROAD
Printer-friendly version September 6, 2009 (San Diego’s East County) – Two fire engines collided at Boulder Creek Road and Sherilton Valley near Alpine, with one engine plunging over the embankment at 11:24 p.m. Police radio reports minutes later indicate a car plunged 150 feet over the side in the same location. Significant blood was found in the car with no victim visible. An ASTREA Sheriff’s helicopter has been requested. No details on the engine company or make of the other vehicle were available from authorities at this time. The accidents occurred in the vicinity of a fire that burned approximately 10 acres near Boulder Creek earlier today. Printer-friendly version
EDITORIAL: WHY EAST COUNTY CITIES NEED MODIFIED PERMIT APPROVED FOR POINT LOMA WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT
Printer-friendly version By Ernest Ewin Chair, Metro Wastewater JPA and Metro Commission Over the past several years, the Metro Wastewater JPA and Metro Commission (comprised of the cities of Chula Vista, Coronado, Del Mar, El Cajon, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, National City, and Poway, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Otay Water District and the County of San Diego), all agencies whose wastewater is treated by the City of San Diego, have followed, evaluated and supported the City in its efforts to obtain a modified permit for the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant. We have a vested interest in the outcome, because as partners in the City of San Diego’s metro wastewater system, we are responsible for approximately 35% of the costs associated with the system. This means that failure to obtain the modified permit will result in our rate payers footing the bill for 35% of the costs associated with the then required, but scientifically unnecessary treatment plant upgrades which are currently estimated to be $1.5 Billion to construct and an additional $30 Million a year to operate. A current estimate of the cost impact to our rate payers can be found on our website, www.metrojpa.org. As chairperson of the Metro JPA/ Metro Commission, I want to express disappointment in the actions taken by the California Coastal Commission earlier this month. More importantly, I want to express the Metro JPA/Metro Commission’s continued support of the City of San Diego in its application efforts, not only because it will spare our ratepayers, but also because the City’s application for a modified permit is scientifically supported and meets the requirements of the Clean Water Act. The views expressed in this editorial reflect the views of its author and do not necessarily reflect the views of East County Magazine. If you wish to submit an editorial for consideration, contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org. Printer-friendly version
EL CAJON CUTS TOBACCO SALES TO MINORS 88%; RESULTS HAILED AS PROOF THAT TOBACCO RETAILER LICENSING ORDINANCE IS EFFECTIVE
Printer-friendly version By MIriam Raftery September 5, 2009 (El Cajon) – In 2004, the City of El Cajon adopted a tough ordinance to make retailers who sell tobacco to minors risk the same penalty as those who sell alcohol to under-age customers: suspension or revocation of their licenses. The program has proven effective: sales of tobacco to minors has dropped from 40% before the ordinance to just 5% in 2008, according to a report presented to the El Cajon City Council in late August. Alma Alvarez, Ivette Navarro, and Katie Watkins represesnting Students Together Against Alcohol and Drugs (STAAND) presented outcomes of the annual Tobacco Retailer Licensing Ordinance compliance checks to the El Cajon City Council and explained the Youth Purchase Survey procedures. In addition, Evelyn Hogan, CASA, presented California Healthy Kids Survey data and the connection between retail compliance, overall community health and long-term public health outcomes. California laws have prohibited tobacco sales to minors for more than 100 years, but these laws have not been routinely enforced—until now. An estimated 80% of all adult smokers in the US started smoking before the age of 18. More than sixty communities in California now have similar laws. Nearly all of them have seen big decreases in cigarette sales to minors. Administration of the tobacco retailer licensing program in El Cajon is funded by licensing fees paid for by those who profit from tobacco sales. Printer-friendly version