Our Shtetl San Diego County: Faulconer Seeks to Raise Campaign Cash over Misstep by Supervisor Lawson-Remer

SAN DIEGO  (SDJW) – Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who wrote a column for San Diego Jewish World, telling of his support for Israel, is now attempting to raise money from constituents angered by incumbent Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer’s  vote to reappoint Imam Mohamed Taha Hassane to the County Human Relations Commission.

In a fundraising message sent Tuesday, Feb. 13, to constituents in the 3^rd Supervisorial District in which Faulconer is challenging Lawson-Remer in the March 5 election, Faulconer called the incumbent’s vote “not only disrespectful to the people she claims to represent, but it is also dangerous because of the message it sends to our Jewish community.  The County’s Human Relation Commission was re-established as a direct response to the shooting that took place at the Chabad of Poway synagogue, as a means to combat hate of al kinds in the community, especially antisemitism.”

He added: “Uninformed and ill-prepared, Terra Lawson-Remer failed to understand the background of the reappointment and ignored the concerns of her constituents and community leaders.”

Faulconer described Hassane as “the same individual who defended the horrific acts that took place on October 7^th, leading to the massacre of over 1,200 innocent civilians.” He discounted Lawson-Remer’s “attempt to back track her vote,” a reference to a column she wrote the next day, expressing regret.

Lawson-Remer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Faulconer’s commentary and fundraising appeal.

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The experience of San Diego County resident Dr. Roneet Lev as an emergency physician volunteer in Israel are the subject of Franklin Felber’s cover story for the February edition of L’Chaim San Diego magazine. Lev helped train Israelis in emergency response medicine in Haifa and near the Gaza border.  She also visited Kfar Azza, the Sha’ar Hanegev kibbutz that suffered heavy casualties on Oct. 7.

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Sage Canyon Elementary School in the Carmel Valley neighborhood of San Diego is displaying ceramic butterflies painted by sixth graders as part of a Holocaust remembrance project.  Each of the butterflies represents one of the 1.5 million children murdered during the Holocaust.  These individual memorials are encouraged by Cheryl Rattner Price and Jan Landau, founders of The Butterfly Project. San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer Karen Billings reports that Linked, a fictional book by Gordon Korman about school children responding to the appearance of a swastika on their campus, precipitated discussions at Sage Canyon about how they could stand up to hate.

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Logan Washburn,  a San Diego Padres account manager for group tickets, informs us that the Jewish Heritage Celebration at the May 14 Padres game against the Colorado Rockies, “will include tickets in sections throughout the ballpark and a themed hat giveaway with each ticket purchased via this link.  He also reported that “a community section will be offered for group purchases in the Right Field Lower Reserved Sections at a current discounted price of just $40 per ticket. Ticket pricing is subject to change.  There will also be a Joe Musgrove & Theo Bobblehead Giveaway at the gates for the first 40,000 fans in attendance.”

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Attorney Cory Briggs, who represented Port Commissioner Sandy Naranjo when she was being censured by her colleagues , contends in a federal law suit that his own civil rights were violated by the Port District. San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer Jennifer Van Grove reports that after the public hearing in which Briggs read a letter from Naranjo’s ex-husband Andrew McKercher alleging that the Port’s  assistant general counsel Rebecca Harrington admitted a personal animus toward Naranjo, the Port District initiated an investigation.  According to Briggs, the Port hired Karen Carrera to investigate whether Briggs made false statements.  In his suit, Briggs contended that “the port has no legal authority to ‘investigate’ plaintiff,’” and that by so doing, the port damaged his reputation and finances.  Frank Urtasun, chairman of the Port Commission, said the port “has a legal obligation to investigate personnel matters and will proceed as required.”

–OBITUARY NOTICE–

Chabad of East County reports that former Navy enlisted woman Sandra Ramey was buried at Miramar National Cemetery on Tuesday, Feb. 13, after her body was released by the medical examiner.  “This was a very unique case with no known next of kin,” commented Rabbi Rafi Andrusier. Ramey died on December 31, 2023.  She had “been in infrequent contact with us over the years,” the rabbi said.

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SDJW staff report