Subjects in today’s column:
* Three Jewish women making political headlines in San Diego
* Behavioral Modification for Homeless Dogs and Cats
* Suppose he had lived in Chevy Chase?
* An Example of Erotic Yiddish Poetry
By Donald H. Harrison
Three Jewish women making political headlines in San Diego
SAN DIEGO – Three Jewish women have been making headlines in San Diego politics, Susan Davis because she is retiring from Congress, and the two others because Davis is a factor in their quests for high office.
Deciding that two decades in Congress is more than enough, Davis has announced she’ll not seek reelection. Instead, she looks forward to returning to the home that she and her husband, Dr. Steve Davis, own in the Kensington section of San Diego. Assemblyman Todd Gloria has stated that she will help him in his campaign for mayor.
The connection between Susan Davis and Todd Gloria goes way back to the days when she, while serving on the San Diego Unified School District board, also worked as the executive director of the Aaron Price Fellowship. That group was created by philanthropist Sol Price and his son Robert Price in memory of their grandson and son, Aaron, who died in 1989 at age 15. The Fellowship, established in 1991, each year designates a cohort of ninth-grade students, from various backgrounds, and through the rest of their high school careers provides for them in-depth, behind-the-scenes looks at business, government, and the non-profit sectors. Todd Gloria was among the students so chosen.
Through college and beyond, Gloria kept up his association with Susan Davis, regarding her as his mentor. From the school board, Davis was elected to the California State Assembly, and later to Congress. Gloria eventually ran successfully for San Diego City Council, served as interim mayor after the resignation of Bob Filner in a sex scandal, and then, as Davis once did, went on to be elected to the California State Assembly, where he presently serves.
Another of the three Jewish, Democratic women is Barbara Bry, a former Los Angeles Times reporter who helped establish the Voice of San Diego news organization, and as an entrepreneur, also helped establish Pro-Flowers, and Atcom/Info, the latter a company that serviced hotel rooms with Internet connections.
A recent poll commissioned by The San Diego Union-Tribune/ KGTV-Channel 10 showed Gloria leading Bry with support from 31 percent of the voters to Bry’s 15 percent and another 8 percent for community activist Tasha Williamson. With nearly six months to go before the March 3 primary election, those numbers are expected to be quite fluid. As of now, 46 percent of the voters have no preference.
(At the San Diego City Council, Bry sits next to another female Jewish Democrat, 2nd District City Councilwoman Dr. Jennifer Campbell – known to her supporters as “Dr. Jen.” In the middle of her first term, Campbell has not been mentioned as an aspirant in the current scramble for higher office.)
After Congresswoman Davis announced her planned retirement from the 53rd Congressional District, Sara Jacobs, granddaughter of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs, let it be known that she will be in the running to replace Davis. Her congressional ambitions were no surprise, as she had gained a lot of visibility in her unsuccessful 2018 race in the northern San Diego County-southern Orange County 49th Congressional District. That district is now represented by Democratic Congressman Mike Levin, a whose father is Jewish and mother is Christian.
Whereas to be eligible for state legislative offices, candidates must live in the district they seek to represent, Congress does not have a similar requirement – although it is not unusual for out-of-district candidates to quickly relocate in order to be closer to their intended constituents.
In news coverage about Susan Davis’s planned retirement, it has been mentioned that she was only the second woman to represent San Diego County in Congress. For the record, the first was Lynn Schenk, a Democrat who also is a member of the Jewish community.
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Behavioral Modification for Homeless Dogs and Cats
Politicians sometimes are tempted to “fight like cats and dogs,” but real-life cats and dogs are now getting a break from such stress at the San Diego Humane Society’s new Behavior Center.
Under the leadership of its president and CEO, veterinarian Gary Weitzman, the society has opened a new unit across the street from the society’s Gaines Street location in San Diego.
According to Weitzman, the Behavioral Center “provides a uniquely designed space that removes the noise, unpredictability and other barriers to rehabilitation found in a traditional shelter, and replaces them with an environment that supports the intensive work these animals require. This Center plays a vital role in ensuring zero euthanasia of healthy and treatable animals throughout San Diego County and is the only hope for hundreds of our community’s most at-risk animals every year.”
The Center features 44 dog habitats with “privacy and sound-proofing to reduce stimulation” and direct access to outdoor play yards “allowing trainers to work with dogs in a safe environment who are too shy or fearful to be leashed without extreme anxiety.”
There is housing for more than 40 cats in a separate wing from the dogs “to reduce stress and facilitate their individualized training plans.”
There are “hiding places for shy and fearful cats and horizontal rather than vertical bars because “research shows that cats naturally scan their surroundings horizontally, and that vertical bars interrupt this process and cause unnecessary stress.”
Additionally, there is a community cat room with access to the outdoors for enrichment.
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Suppose he had lived in Chevy Chase?
I. Gerry Burstain, a former president of Ner Tamid Synagogue of Poway, is now living in the Del Webb development called “Lincoln Hills,” in Lincoln, California, which is a short commute from Sacramento. As it turns out, Burstain also drives a Lincoln. So, who was his favorite U.S. President? I asked by telephone. There was a pause. “Lincoln,” he affirmed. Burstain lives with his wife Judy and her mother, Eleanor Lieb. Other former congregants of Ner Tamid who are now neighbors are Stuart & Hilda Gallant. Perhaps they should rename Lincoln Hills as Poway North?
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An Example of Erotic Yiddish Poetry
A previous column reported that the Yiddish Arts and Academic Association of North America (YAAANA) plans a night of erotic Yiddish poetry on Saturday evening, Sept. 21 at a place to be disclosed to people who RSVP via info@YAAANA.com
The group’s founder, Jana Mazurkiewicz Meisarosh, offered the following poem by the late Celia Dropkin as an example of the kinds of works that will be read.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com