JOINT ARSON TASK FORCE SEEKS INFO ON WILDFIRES
May 16, 2014 (San Diego) – A Joint Arson Task Force has been established to determine the origin and cause of the many fires throughout San Diego County this week. If you have any information regarding the fires, please call San Diego Crime Stoppers at 619-235-TIPS, that’s 619-235-8477. You can remain anonymous and reward may be offered if information leads to a conviction. The Joint Arson Task Force include collaboration with Cal Fire, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, San Diego Police Department, Oceanside Fire Department, ATF, FBI, and San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
TEA PARTY, GOP HOST CANDIDATE FORUM IN LAKESIDE MAY 19
May 17, 2014 (Lakeside) – The East County California Republican Assembly and the Lakeside Tea Party announce a forum with candidates running to represent East County. The forum, titled “How Conservatives Counter the Bigotry on the Left” will be held on Monday, May 19 at 6 p.m. in the VFW Hall Post $5867, 12650 Lindo Lane in Lakeside. Candidates confirmed include: Kirk Jorgenson for Congress CA #52 Ken Gosselin for Superior Court Judge #25 Ernie Dronenburg for Assessor/Recorder/Clerk Joel Marchese for Congress CA #53 Barbara Decker 78th Assembly Donna Woodrum Community College Dist #2 Guests are encouraged to bring questions. Sandwiches and snacks will be available for $5.00. To RSVP contact: Sylvia (Unit President) – (619)-328-9866 or Steve (Tea Party Leader) –(619)-520-5916
ARSON ARRESTS MADE IN ESCONDIDO AS FIREFIGHTERS GAIN GROUND ON BLAZES
Update 12 p.m. The Poinsettia Fire in Carlsbad is now 100% contained. By Miriam Raftery Photo courtesy ECM news partner 10 News May 16, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) 9 a.m. –Escondido Police have arrested Isaiah Silva, 19, and a juvenile for arson, U-T San Diego reports. The arrests came after a citizen reporting seeing two people start a fire in a field near South Escondido Boulevard and another citizen reporting seeing arsonists start a blaze at Kit Carson Park. However, Lt. Mike Kearney has stated that the two suspects are not believed to have started any of the major wildfires currently burning in San Diego County. Cause of the other fires countywide remain undetermined. There has been speculation in some media outlets of arson but officials have indicated the causes remain under investigation. An arson strike force has been assembled to investigate the fires. Over 121,000 evacuation notices have been sent by officials and hundreds stayed in shelters overnight as numerous fires burned across the region. Below are updates on the major fires. Approximately 1,000 firefighters continue battling the Cocos Fire, which has swelled to 1,200 acres and is 15% contained Friday morning. The blaze began in San Marcos and burned east to Escondido by yesterday. Some evacuation orders have been lifted. The Tomahawk Fire at Camp Pendleton is 15% contained after charring 6,200 acres and forcing evacuations in Fallbrook. A new fire at the base, the Las Pulgas Fire, is now even larger, at 8,000 acres. In Carlsbad, where damage is estimated at $22 million, the body of a fire victim was found near a transient camp, the only fatality known thus far from the fires. The Poinsettia Fire has burned 600 acres and is 85% contained. The Bernardo Fire is now 85% contained after charring over 1,500 acres. The Highway Fire near I-15 flared up overnight but is now in a mop-up stage. A blaze in Lakeside near I-8 was halted at 17 acres. For the latest information on evacuations, shelters and road closures, visit The County Emergency Services page at http://www.sdcountyemergency.com/ . In addition, the U-T has published this handy list: Discounts and freebies for fire victims.
CHALDEAN CHAMBER LAUNCHES MATCHING FUND TO HELP FIRE VICTIMS
May 16, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – The Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce in East County has created a fund to help those who were evacuated during the 2014 wildfires in San Diego County. “We all have to do our part,” said Ben Kalasho, president of the Chamber. “If we raise $5,000 I will match that contribution with $5,000 of my own.” To make a donation, visit http://www.gofundme.com/98nxgo
READER’S EDITORIAL: CONTINUE GROSSMONT HOSPITAL & SHARP HEALTHCARE PARTNERSHIP: VOTE YES ON PROP H
By Colleen Murphy, RN May 15, 2014 (La Mesa)–Vote Yes on Proposition H to continue one of San Diego’s and East County’s greatest success stories –Grossmont Hospital. This premier model of public/private partnership with Sharp HealthCare combines the public resources of a state-of-the-art community hospital with a nationally recognized nonprofit healthcare system. Grossmont Healthcare District first affiliated with Sharp in 1991, knowing that a leading private healthcare provider could operate the hospital better than government AND control government spending to the public’s benefit. Since then, Sharp has saved taxpayers millions, investing over $300 million to improve our hospital. At the same time, NO employees of the hospital have received public benefits or public pensions. To navigate the current changes and uncertainty in healthcare, Grossmont Hospital could not have a better partner than Sharp HealthCare. Grossmont Healthcare District Board Member Emeritus Bob Yarris remembers the Grossmont Hospital’s dire months preceding the lease agreement with Sharp HealthCare in 1991: We had a growing number of empty beds, physicians were relocating, and we were forced to lay off valuable employees to address our ongoing budget crisis. There was deferred maintenance on all the buildings. We struggled to meet employee and physician needs and expectations. We found it impossible to compete in the growing and competitive managed care market as a stand-alone hospital. We struggled to meet all these challenges while continuing to provide the quality patient care our community was accustomed to receiving. Now, some 22 years later, I can share from experience, having served both as an elected Grossmont Healthcare District Board member for 16 years, and the Sharp Healthcare Board for 15 years, this was without a doubt, the right and best decision for our community. Sharp Healthcare has lived up to its reputation and commitment to provide accessible, quality-driven patient care to everyone it serves. Sharp has been a professional, visionary, and respectful partner. It has meant a new life for our hospital and patients it serves. East County needs this success story to continue. Your Yes VOTE on Prop H means: Grossmont Healthcare District will extend its lease agreement with Sharp HealthCare for 30 additional years, allowing nationally recognized Sharp HealthCare to continue managing the hospital until 2051. Sharp–not taxpayers–will fund necessary future hospital facility repairs and improvements, including costly earthquake safety retrofits. Sharp invests hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs and state-of-the-art, life-saving equipment at Grossmont Hospital. Sharp invests in hospital improvements without further delay-including $20 million to complete the Heart & Vascular Center at no additional cost to taxpayers. Residents deserve these high quality healthcare services. The San Diego County Taxpayers Association has endorsed Yes on H, concluding it makes good economic sense. Simply put: “Extending the lease will allow for Sharp to continue providing award winning service and investing into facilities at Grossmont Hospital rather than taxpayers.” Sharp operates on a not-for-profit basis, guaranteeing that all profits are reinvested in our community to improve healthcare services and hospital facilities. Grossmont Healthcare District does not penalize Sharp HealthCare with a lease fee to operate the hospital. That money instead goes into patient care at Grossmont Hospital. This is the way a public/private partnership should work-where the public resources of a state-of-the-art community hospital join with an award winning nonprofit healthcare system to benefit the public. The continuation of this incredible partnership and success story has been endorsed by both the San Diego County Republican and Democratic Parties. Every East County Mayor – El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells, La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid, Lemon Grove Mayor Mary Sessom, Santee Mayor Randy Voepel – and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer endorse Prop H. Join hundreds of medical professionals, first responders, former patients, and leaders throughout our community supporting Prop H. Colleen Murphy, RN is the Sharp Experience Spokesperson. The opinions in this editorial reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of East County Magazine. To submit an editorial for consideration, contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.
READER’S EDITORIAL: VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION H
By Betty Stieringer The physicians, nurses and technicians of Sharp HealthCare are unsurpassed in their skill, professionalism and patient care. Why, then, is there opposition to Measure H? Measure H is an economic issue rather than a health care issue. If approved, the control, and income, of publicly owned Grossmont Hospital will be effectively transferred to a billion dollar corporation until the year 2051. In 2011 Sharp paid salaries in excess of $400,000 to each of more than a dozen administrators. These “overhead” employees were paid about twice the annual earnings of your highly skilled and overworked family physician and five times that of an experienced nurse. Sharp’s wholly owned insurance company is headquartered offshore in the Cayman Islands. I believe that they should relocate it to the United States, preferably somewhere in San Diego. Real estate professionals tell me that suitable commercial real estate is available in East County. Perhaps a relocation would create new local employment opportunities. Local community-based healthcare providers have experienced grant reductions or eliminations as property tax revenue is redirected to Sharp. Those providers include the Blood Bank, Communities Against Substance Abuse, the Jacobs/Cushman Food Bank, American Red Cross, Salvation Army, the Burn Institute, the Challenge Center, JFS Foodmobile, Stoney’s Kids, Home of Guiding Hands, Elderhelp, Alzheimer’s Association and Saint Madeline’s Center. Thoughtful residents are rightly confused as to why we’re being asked to vote now when the current lease still has seven years. Also, why place this proposition on the primary election (June) ballot rather than the general election (November) ballot? The answer is likely that no incumbent board member is up for election in June, but will have to face the voters in November. Because Measure H has nothing to do with health care, and everything to do with money, it is informative to compare the original 30 year lease with the proposed 30 year extension. In 1991 Sharp agreed to completely pay off the District’s existing $42,234,166 1985 and 1987 bond principal. However the currently proposed extension calls for Sharp to provide no cash consideration. Many public agencies such as cities and schools are experiencing financial problems while their traditional sources of income dwindle. However the Grossmont Healthcare District has no similar problem since its property tax income tends to increase during most years. Also, the $247,000,000 bond issue (Proposition G) approved by voters in 2006 is helping address the hospital’s seismic and infrastructure concerns. Nevertheless we should be demanding at least a token rent for the hospital. Even a small rent payment of $2,000,000 per year would enable the District to pay off early a portion of our current bond indebtedness. Alternatively the District could complete the Health Occupations Training Center (promised under Proposition G) and begin training the next generation of nurses that will be needed to care for our growing population. In summary, don’t be misled by those who suggest that this proposition is about your health. It isn’t. No one can fault Sharp HealthCare for wanting to control our hospital for zero rent. However my role, and that of my elected colleagues, is to see that the best interests of the public are well served. I regret that Proposition H does not satisfy that obligation. Be assured that your “no” vote will, in no way, affect the way your healthcare professionals treat your family’s illnesses and injuries. This is purely an economic issue. Accordingly the only persons affected will likely be a few Sharp administrative folks earning $400,000+. I’m certain that they will continue to do well. Betty Stieringer, RN Betty Stieringer, elected in 2012, is the newest member of the Grossmont Healthcare District Board of Directors. She is a former USAF nurse and is retired from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. She resides in La Mesa. The opinions in this editorial reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of East County Magazine. To submit an editorial for consideration, contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.
LA MESA RESIDENTS ENCOURAGED TO APPLY FOR VOLUNTEER POSITIONS ON CITY BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES
May 14, 2014 (La Mesa) – Applications are now being accepted for positions on the City’s boards, commissions, and committees. The deadline for submission of applications is 5:30 p.m., Thursday, June 5, 2014, in the City Clerk’s office at La Mesa City Hall, 8130 Allison Avenue. Applications may be obtained at City Hall or by accessing the City of La Mesa website, www.cityoflamesa.com. The La Mesa City Council will be interviewing applicants for appointments to the City’s advisory boards, commissions and committees at their meeting on June 24, 2014. A total of 20 vacancies exist on the Aging and Veterans Commission, Community Services Commission, Design Review Board, Historic Preservation Commission, Human Relations Advisory Commission, La Mesa Community Parking Commission, Personnel Appeals Board, Planning Commission, Traffic Commission and Youth Advisory Commission. “The Mayor and City Councilmembers value the input from our community volunteers,” said Mary Kennedy, City Clerk. By serving as a member on one of the boards, commissions or committees, residents have an opportunity to assist in the decisions that affect their neighborhoods and city.” Further information can be obtained from the Office of the City Clerk, 619.667.1120 or by visiting the City’s website.
SON ARRESTED FOR MURDERING MOTHER IN EL CAJON
By Miriam Raftery May 15, 2014 (El Cajon)—El Cajon Police have arrested Virgil Dion Richmond, 25, who is charged with the stabbing murder of his mother, Diane Mosley, 59. Mosely’s body was found inside her residence in the 800 block of Friendly Circle after officers responded to a 911 call of a possible stabbing. During the investigation, Richmond was identified as a suspect, though his motive is unclear at this time, said Lieutenant Frank LaHaye. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the El Cajon Police Department at (619) 579-3311. Individuals with information on this crime who wish to remain anonymous can contact the Crime Stoppers tip line at (888) 580-8477.
STUDENT SUCCESS PROFILE: CUYAMACA COLLEGE STUDENT DERREK GUDINO REMEMBERS HIS ROOTS
This is part of an occasional series of profiles of successful Cuyamaca and Grossmont students. May 14, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Cuyamaca College student Derrek Gudino hasn’t forgotten his roots. The product of an impoverished San Diego neighborhood, Gudino now spends endless hours helping youth there as a volunteer teaching young children how to read at the Malcolm X Library in southeastern San Diego and working with the AVID program at an Encanto middle school. “I just want to do what I can to help kids who are in the same situation I was in when I was growing up,” said Gudino, who still lives in the neighborhood with his family. “I want to have an impact.” The road to Cuyamaca College was a meandering one filled with myriad challenges, but Gudino is determined to set an example. It isn’t easy. Walking to school has its perils. Gang members are ubiquitous. “Graffiti is everywhere. Broken windows, shootings, it’s normal to see stuff like that in my neighborhood all the time,” said the 25-year-old. Gudino’s family, though, supported his education and enrolled him at the prestigious High Tech High School in Point Loma. He was accepted to several universities, including Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Chico, in his senior year of high school, but opted to start working instead. “I wasn’t that serious about getting a college education at the time,” Gudino said. But after working as a bagger in a grocery store, a clerk at Lowe’s and an executive assistant at Yellow Cab of San Diego, Gudino decided to focus on his education. “It was time to get serious about school,” he said. Gudino is the first in his family to go to college, and he has been named an Osher scholar. Why Cuyamaca? “It’s the smallest of the community colleges around here and it’s only 15 minutes from my house, so it was perfect,” Gudino said. “After my first semester here, I was sold. I decided to stay.” He is on pace to earn his associate of arts degree this summer with a major in humanities and fine arts. He plans to transfer to a University of California campus in the fall. He’s leaving his career options open for now. In the meantime, he continues to volunteer. He also works weekends in Encinitas to help finance his education. And he remains devoted to the opportunity he had at Cuyamaca College. “Cuyamaca has incredible counselors and fantastic professors, and everybody there is working for the students,” Gudino said. “It is just a great community college.”
A STUDENT SUCCESS PROFILE: GROSSMONT COLLEGE NURSING STUDENT TAMARA MCMILLAN
This is one in an occasional series of profiles of Grossmont and Cuyamaca College students who exemplify student success. May 14, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Grossmont College was Tamara McMillan’s destiny. It just took her a little while to get there. Born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, McMillan was a standout discus thrower in high school, a national champion in the weight throw at Cowley County Junior College in Arkansas City, Kansas, and an Academic All American athlete at San Diego State University. A few years after graduating from SDSU, McMillan enrolled at Grossmont College in the fall of 2013 to pursue her longtime dream of becoming a nurse. “Being a nurse is something I really want to do,” McMillan said. “It is my calling.” McMillan’s odyssey began while she was attending W. J. Woodman High School in the Gulf city of Pensacola. The campus featured a pre-nursing program and McMillan eagerly took part, gravitating to volunteer work in hospitals and helping out in medical clinics. Her ambitions took a turn, though, when a friend convinced McMillan to try out for the track and field team. McMillan found she had a knack for the shot put and discus, and she would rank in the top 5 among Florida prep discus throwers before earning her diploma. From there, McMillan enrolled at Cowley College, about 45 minutes south of Wichita, where she and a friend were recruited into that school’s athletic program. “It was culture shock,” McMillan said. “From the people to the weather, to being so far away from home to being in college, to seeing deer two feet in front of you to the snow, it was very different from anything I had known.” But she didn’t disappoint. McMillan was the weight throw national champion the National Junior College Athletic Association’s National Indoor Championships and an NJCAA All-American in the hammer throw during the outdoor campaign. She also helped lead the Lady Tigers to a third-place finish at the indoor and outdoor national championships. McMillan suddenly found herself being recruited heavily by four-year universities around the country. She chose San Diego State, where she shined both on the field and in the classroom. McMillan graduated from SDSU in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and Africana studies and landed a job as an emergency dispatcher. But aspirations of becoming a registered nurse never died. McMillan took an anatomy course at Cuyamaca College, and she was accepted into Grossmont College’s Registered Nursing Program in the spring of 2013. McMillan, now 27, is picking up several fans along the way. “Tamara is an excellent student and she has such a professional attitude,” said Grossmont College nursing Professor Angela Ngo. “She puts a premium on collaboration and is focused on quality patient outcomes. We are honored and fortunate to have her here as a nursing student.” McMillan, an Osher scholar, already has completed clinical work at Kaiser, Sharp Grossmont, Scripps La Jolla and Rady Children’s Hospital. She hopes to graduate with an associate’s degree in registered nursing in the spring of 2015, work for a year or two as an emergency room nurse, and then head back to school to earn a master’s degree in nursing. She has a bright future ahead of her. Nurses currently account for the largest group of licensed health care professionals in the country. By 2020, there will be 1.2 million job openings for registered nurses, including 470,000 openings for RNs with associate degrees, according to the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce. And there will be 370,000 job openings for licensed practical nurses and licensed vocational nurses – 134,000 of which will be for LPNs and LVNs with associate degrees. “Coming to Grossmont College was the best thing I did,” McMillan said. “The classes are small and we have an excellent simulation lab, incredible resources, and unbelievable clinical opportunities. It’s just a great school. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. “I wouldn’t trade my path for anything.”