By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO COUNTY (Tuesday, May 9, 2023)
Attorney Cory Briggs, representing Lemon Grove City Councilwoman Liana LeBaron, who is the subject of a restraining order sought by fellow councilmember Jennifer Mendoza, accused Mendoza of being untruthful during a hearing before Superior Court Judge Peter A. Lynch. “You don’t have any incidents that would make a reasonable person be upset or be concerned about his or her safety,” he said. In the past, according to San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Blake Nelson, LeBaron had acknowledged calling fellow council members “a bunch of f***ing buffoons.” Mendoza said on another occasion that LeBaron called her a f***ing b**ch.” Judge Lynch on Monday extended the restraining order for 90 days, requiring LeBaron to remain at a distance from Mendoza except when they are together in public meetings.
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San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera said Balboa Park’s cultural institutions overcame their hesitancy about the city creating two tent towns for homeless people in parking lots at the edge of Balboa Park. He told Gary Warth of The San Diego Union-Tribune that he met with Peter Comiskey, executive director of the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, and “I made it very clear to Mr. Comiskey that on this problem of homelessness we can’t just hear ‘no.’ If you say ‘no’ to something, you better be offering an alternative.” Steven Snyder, president and CEO of the Fleet Science Center, agreed that collaboration was necessary, commenting “We all have a role.” The little tent towns which combined can accommodate 536 tents will be equipped with bathrooms, security, meals, and services, according to City Councilman Stephen Whitburn, in whose district Balboa Park is located.
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County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer says in a fundraising letter that now that Nathan Fletcher’s seat is being vacated, and a special election planned August 15, “big money right-wing donors smell blood in the water. But there is hope, if we can show strong grassroots financial support in my next fundraising report, big-pocketed developer interests will see that their money will be better spent elsewhere—and drive rightwing Republicans out of our race.” Although the Board of Supervisors technically is non-partisan, there is a current 2-2 divide with Lawson-Remer and Nora Vargas being Democrats, and Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond being Republicans.
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Ruth Mastron, president of the House of Israel in Balboa Park, has issued a call for volunteers in advance of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of Israel Independence from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, May 21, at the international cottages across from the organ pavilion.
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Political consultant Dan Rottenstreich, in behalf of Heather Ferbert, a candidate for City Attorney, has accused a rival candidate, Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, of being unlikely to pursue the city’s environmental priorities. Rottenstreich said that as a member of the state Legislature, Maienschein has accepted “$200,000 from big oil and the fossil fuel industry.” In ratings of his performance by environmental groups, Rottenstreich said, Maienschein has received “an F from the California Environmental Justice Alliance, a 46 percent from California Environmental Voters, and a 30 percent from the Sierra Club.”
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Fred Weitzen, a former president of Congregation Beth Israel who was honored as an outstanding Jewish citizen by the National Conference of Christians and Jews, had died at age 93 under hospice care at Seacrest Village Retirement Community. Weitzen had served as a court reporter for Judges Mickey Greer and Louis Welsch.
NATIONAL
A jury in the federal courtroom of Judge Lewis Kaplan deliberated less than three hours before awarding former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll $5 million. They found that former President Donald Trump had sexually assaulted her and defamed her, but did not come to the conclusion that Carroll had been raped. The award was broken down as follows: $2 million in compensatory damages for sexual abuse; $20,000 punitive damages for battery; $1 million in damages for defamation; $1.7 million for reputation repair and $280,000 in punitive damages. Carroll held hands with her attorney Roberta Kaplan (no relation to the judge) as the verdict was being read. Trump, in a Truth Social post, prior to the verdict vowed to “appeal the unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome.” Once the verdict was announced, Trump wrote on Truth Social in all capital letters: “I have absolutely no idea who this woman is. This verdict is a disgrace—a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.” Judge Kaplan told members of the nine-person jury that they were free to identify themselves, but that he would advise against it. “My advice to you is not to identify yourself. Not now and not for a long time,” CNN reported. “If you’re one who elects to speak to others and to identify yourself to others, I direct you not to identify anyone else who sat on this jury. Each of you owes that to the other whatever you decide for yourself.”
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Hadley Gamble, the CNBC anchor whose “inappropriate relationship” with NBC Universal CEO Jeff Shell’s led to his ouster, has herself been let go from CNBC, according to the New York Post. The network praised her on-air work, saying that she had “deep expertise in the Middle East and beyond… Her initiative and drive have secured valuable interviews with several world political leaders.”
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Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, is urging a letter writing campaign to urge Congress to reauthorize the assault weapons ban. JDCA has provided a petition for those who would like to simply add their names.
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Amy Spitalnick has been appointed as CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, which split off from the Jewish Federations of North America in order to pursue more “progressive” policies. She was previously the executive director of Integrity First for America, which “led the successful lawsuit against the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups responsible for the 2007 Charlottesville violence,” according to her website.
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U.S. Reps Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) and David Kustoff (R-Tennessee) are among members of the House of Representatives and Senators Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) and Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) are among the members of the Senate introducing a bipartisan, bicameral resolution honoring Jewish American Heritage Month. “As we celebrate the 17th year of Jewish American Heritage Month, we open the doors of understanding to everyone about all the remarkable contributions that generations of Jewish Americans have made to shape our nation’s history, culture and society,” Wasserman-Schultz said. “Jewish values, like Tikkun Olam, or repairing the world, are an inherent part of what it means to be a Jew today,” Cardin commented. “This month is an opportunity to learn more about how Jewish Americans have been an important part of American society and celebrate the men and women who continue to contribute to our great nation. We also take time to examine the immense challenges facing modern Jewish Americans, and band with allies to eliminate hate and antisemitism wherever they appear.” Others helping to introduce the legislation were House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York); Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania), who is a cochair of the Bipartisan Task Force for Combatting Antisemitism; and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida).
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) attended a meeting among President Biden, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York); Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) over the national debt ceiling. McCarthy reported that neither side budged on his demand that spending cuts accompany legislation to raise the debt ceiling, and Biden’s insistence that budget cuts be dealt with separately.
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U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has announced that billionaire Harlan Crow has refused to turn over an accounting of the gifts he has bestowed upon U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Wyden said he will now explore other ways of securing the information. That might include issuing a subpoena for the records.
INTERNATIONAL
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is being threatened with a contempt of Congress citation by Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for what McCaul said was the State Department’s failure to comply with a subpoena demanding documents concerning the withdrawal by the United States from Afghanistan. State Department Spokesman Vedant Patel commented: “It’s unfortunate that despite having received a classified briefing … as well as a written summary, that the House Foreign Affairs Committee continues to pursue this unnecessary and unproductive action. Nevertheless, we will continue to respond to appropriate oversight inquiries and provide Congress the information it needs to do its job while protecting the ability of State Department employees to do theirs.”
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Elana Brotman, a senior vice president of the Jewish Federations of North America, told ABC News that there will be continued advocacy within the American Jewish community “to make sure that Evan [Gershkovich} stays front and center. We will continue to rally as we need to.” Gershkovich, a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, was arrested by Russia on charges of espionage, which the U.S. State Department has denied. President Biden and the State Department have both declared Gershkovich wrongly detained.
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Haifa Mayor Einat Kalisch-Rotem and San Francisco Mayor London Breed are celebrating in Haifa the 50th anniversary of the two municipalities becoming Sister Cities.
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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides will complete his tenure this summer, according to Axios. After nearly two years as America’s envoy, he told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he’d like to come home.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com