Other items in today’s column include:
MOPA acquires photo of Jewish ghetto in Krakow
Political bytes
Coming our way
SAN DIEGO – Elana Levens-Craig, granddaughter of the late Rabbi Monroe Levens of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, is seeking election to a third term on the Santee School District Board. In 2016, she ran unopposed, and, so far, it looks as if she will again have no opposition. The Santee School District has nine K-8 schools, serving approximately 7,000 students.
Levens-Craig, who also is the president of the Santee-Lakeside Rotary Club, says she and her colleagues on the fiscally conservative board are interested in bringing the arts back to the curriculum, despite cuts in state spending that over the years have caused cuts in those programs. She said the school district is hoping to develop a program utilizing the resources of Cuyamaca College.
A former special education teacher in the La Mesa-Spring Valley and the Santee districts, Levens-Craig has been in private business since 2004. Her company, Packaging Solutions, designs custom, corrugated packages for manufacturers. As a start-up, the company was located in Santee, but growth forced it to move to El Cajon, in the Parkway Plaza area.
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MOPA acquires photograph of Jewish ghetto in Krakow
Roman Vishniac’s haunting photography”Entrance to Kazimierz, the old ghetto of Krakow,” now part of the collection of the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park, was made sometime between 1935 and 1938. It shows in foreboding black and white tones a locale that in just a few year’s time would be the scene of mass degradation, exploitation, and murder by occupying forces from Nazi Germany. The copyright on the photograph is held by the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at UC Berkeley.
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Political bytes
*Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Halpern, who negotiated the plea agreement with Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter said the one count to which Hunter pleaded guilty was “the major count.” Hunter admitted that “he and his wife conspired to steal more than $150,000” and within that count there is documentation of more than 150 examples of theft, Halpern told San Diego Jewish World. That admission alone makes Hunter subject to a possible sentence of up to five years imprisonment, depending on what U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Whelan decides. Given Hunter’s admission, Halpern said, other back-up counts in the indictment would not have exposed Hunter to further punishment. Asked why Hunter’s resignation from Congress was not part of the plea deal, Halpern explained that the Congress itself will require Hunter to resign, so there was no point asking in a plea bargain negotiation for something that would have occurred anyway.
*Escondido Mayor Paul McNamara has withdrawn his endorsement of his City Council colleague Olga Diaz and now supports Terra Lawson-Remer for the 3rd District County Board of Supervisors seat held by Republican incumbent Kristin Gaspar. His switch comes perhaps not so coincidentally after the Voice of San Diego, in an article about McNamara’s first year in office, quoted her as saying, “I think we’re out of sync and it’s probably a result of different leadership styles. I respect the fact that he’s the mayor of Escondido and its OK to disagree with my colleagues. I recognize that some people struggle with disagreement.” McNamara, Diaz, and Laswon-Remer all are Democrats. About his new favored candidate, McNamara told the Voice of San Diego that Lawson-Remer “has the intellect and practical problem-solving skills needed. She brings enormous understanding and experience on issues (such) as the environment and others…”
*Former San Diego City Councilmember Marti Emerald has told San Diego Jewish World her picks among the current group of candidates seeking election to the council: “District One: Will Moore, an attorney who has been involved in many civic issues and successful political campaigns. He is progressive and believes in government accountability. District Three: I believe Chris Olsen is the best qualified candidate for this position. He has been in the Independent Budget Analyst’s office for seven years, counseling city staff and council members on budget issues. With serious budget issues facing the city going forward, we need a budget expert on the council. District five, hands down Marni Von Wilpert! Her resume is too long to list here. (It includes) her years practicing law, working with the Peace Corps and on labor issues, now with our City Attorney’s office supporting San Diegans. And District seven, Wendy Wheatcroft. Wendy is one of San Diego’s leading advocates for gun control, safe neighborhoods, and protecting our environment. I believe the people in district will genuinely appreciate Wendy’s competence and genuine concern about the well-being of constituents.”
*Toni Atkins, the president pro tempore of the state Senate, says she is supporting San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez for the 53rd District Congressional seat from which Susan Davis is retiring because “when the rights and livelihoods of so many are under attack – immigrants, people of color, the LGBTQ community, disadvantaged families—we need a leader with a proven track record of delivering for this community.”
*UC San Diego political science professor Tom Wong said as the father of young triplets, he had to think carefully about family income before jumping into the race for the 53rd Congressional District. Now that he’s decided to go ahead, he said, ” I’m running for Congress as a progressive Democrat in California’s 53rd congressional district. If elected, I will become the first formerly undocumented Asian member of Congress.” Among his priorities: “I will work to improve federal hate crimes tracking so we can take stronger action to better protect communities of color, LGBTQ persons, Muslims, Jews, and people of faith, and others who feel marginalized by this administration.”
*Attorney Pete Mesich, a former deputy city attorney now in private practice, has joined the race for San Diego City Attorney, opposing both Mara Elliott, the incumbent, and Cory Briggs, a challenger. A story in today’s San Diego Union-Tribune by David Garrick quoted Mesich as saying: “It seems like the office is being used more as a social media platform to launch a political career than handling the legal business of the city. An attorney’s work is not supposed to be glamorous. It’s not supposed to be a politician’s work.”
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Coming our way
*Ohr Shalom Synagogue at 2512 3rd Avenue, will host a Chanukah party at 5 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 22, featuring candle-lighting (bring your own channukiah), latkes, sufganiyot, donut decorating, music, dancing, dreidel games, and a piñata.
* Cheryl Rattner-Price, Steven Schindler, Jacqueline Gmach, Yale Strom, and Jeff Pekarek will team up at 4:30 p.m., January 22, in the Seuss Room of UC San Diego’s Geisel Library to tell “The Living History of Terezin,” sponsored by the Holocaust Living History Workshop. Registration via this website.
*Amit Pinchevski addresses UC San Diego’s Holocaust Living Workshop at 5 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 19 on the subject of “Transmitted Wounds: Media and the Mediation of Trauma” in the Seuss Room of the Geisel Library. Registration via this website.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com