Other items in today’s column include:
*Political byes
*High Holy Day services
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — The Jewish Teen Foundation (JTF) is recruiting San Diego County Jewish high school students to learn about philanthropy, tikkun olam, and tzedakah.
Under auspices of the Jewish Community Foundation, “teens will learn grant making, collaboration, public speaking, and constructive discourse skills while building their own personal networks,” according to a JTF news release.
Open to 9th through 12th graders, JTF will meet twice a month during the academic year. “The program,” according to the news release, “will be fully flexible for the public health situation, but will mix in-person meetings (to the extent possible) and virtual gatherings.
Applications for the program along with more information may be accessed via this link.
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Political bytes
*Cory Briggs, who is opposing incumbent City Attorney Mara Elliott in the November election, notes that interim City Auditor Kyle Elser has requested permission from the City Council to hire outside legal counsel to investigate the controversial lease-to-purchase of the unusable building at 101 Ash Street for city offices. He cites The Voice of San Diego as reporting that Elliott’s office “refused to answer auditor’s questions about whether certain acts were legal or illegal.” Briggs charged that Elliott “doesn’t want to admit that her malpractice turned what was touted as a money-saving acquisition into one more dumpster fire — this time costing taxpayers $300 million.”
* Sara Jacobs, candidate in the 53rd Congressional District against fellow Democrat Georgette Gomez, has been endorsed by the Council for a Livable World. Former Congressman John Tierney of Massachusetts, who now serves as the group’s executive director, wrote: “We know she will bring all of her foreign and national security policy experience to bear in Congress and be a leader at the forefront of building a more progressive national security policy. We look forward to working with her to reduce the threats posed by nuclear weapons worldwide, and to eliminate waste and abuse in U.S. defense spending, so that we can focus on the real threats facing America and the world today.”
* Terra Lawson-Remer’s campaign says the challenger to incumbent County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar will protect beaches, coastlines and waterways. A press release contends Gaspar “has failed to invest in adequate treatment of sewage and storm water, allowing our waters to be polluted with bacteria and toxic contaminants. This leads to hundreds of beach closures annually due to unsafe levels of toxic contaminants.”
*Assemblyman Todd Gloria who is contesting in the San Diego mayoral campaign with City Councilwoman Barbara Bry, has accused KNSD-NBC 7 of falsifying documents to make him look bad in its reporting over the continuing controversy about how the city acquired 101 Ash Street for offices that is has been unable to use because of asbestos and other safety concerns. As of Friday morning, KNSD reported Gloria’s complaint against the television station, but did not immediately respond. By late afternoon, when KNSD still hadn’t responded, Gloria issued a second statement. “It has been 24 hours since NBC 7 was made aware that their news story on 101 Ash Street was based on a fabricated document. NBC still has not taken down the story, released the report they supposedly have, or revealed their source. Let’s be very clear: it’s one thing to not know, it’s another to know that a story is fictitious and harmful and still choose to do nothing. My team and I will be evaluating our next steps.” Gloria attached Letter from Burke, Williams, & Sorensen to document his charge of falsification.
*The San Diego County Democratic Party has endorsed “Measure B, a 2020 City of San Diego charter amendment creating an independent, community-led Commission on Police Practices. “Measure B, first introduced to City Council by Women Occupy San Diego and Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association, will create a police oversight commission with subpoena power, independent investigators, and independent legal counsel,” a county committee news release added.
*Times of San Diego reported that U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein on Thursday participated in keel-laying ceremonies at General Dynamics NASSCO of the USNS Harvey Milk, which was named for the assassinated San Francisco County supervisor, who was the first openly gay man elected to public office in California. Feinstein had served with Milk on the Board of Supervisors at the time he was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone.
*Kelvin Barrios, who is in a general election runoff with Sean Elo for the 9th District seat of the San Diego City Council, has acknowledged that he was on the payroll of a labor union at the same time he was employed in the office of City Councilwoman Georgette Gomez, who is trying to succeed. The Voice of San Diego reports this may trigger yet another ethics investigation into Barrios. The district attorney separately is looking into allegations that Barrios embezzled money from a local Democratic Club.
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High Holy Day services
*Beth Jacob Congregation plans to have assigned indoor and patio seating, with seats 6 feet apart for people not members of the same household, during the High Holy Days and per state orders, face masks will be mandatory. Registration forms are required to be turned in by Sept. 11.
*Rabbi Josh Dorsch, spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, will host a Zoom discussion at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 9, on how High Holy Days at home may be made meaningful and memorable.
*Rabbi-Cantor Cheri Weiss of the San Diego Outreach Synagogue says “The Outreach Band and I will be livestreaming three services via Vimeo: Rosh Hashanah morning, Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur morning. We also have a wide array of other programs that will take place on Zoom including an Erev Rosh Hashanah “Seder,” Torah Study with Rabbi Philip Graubart and a Teen / Young Adult Torah Talk with my dear friend and classmate Rabbinical Student Ami Monson. Please check our website for our full schedule of online services and events: www.sdo-synagogue.org/high-holy-days.
*Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort of Chabad of La Costa reports: “Due to the updated guidelines issued by the Governor’s office and with the agreement from Rabbinic authorities we will be offering services this Shabbos INSIDE of the sanctuary AND outside in the breezeway. We will be keeping our occupancy at 25% of capacity inside – so please, if you wish to join us, respond to this email. Those who wish to sit in the breezeway for services are welcome to do so. Please note that we have invested heavily so as to be able to open up safely and comfortably. In fact, we are exceeding the protocols called for by the governmental agencies. You might say that, “We answer to a Higher Authority.” We are in the midst of installing shade ‘sails’ over our patios enabling us to offer more covered seating outside. The sails will hopefully be up before Shabbos. A sincere thank you to Jon and Julie Rozansky for sponsoring the sails!”
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com. Names in this report appearing in bold face type are self-identified members of the Jewish community. It is possible the names of other Jews, unknown to us, appear in regular type face.