Other items in this column include:
* Fallen ANZAC cavalry man leads Ulla Hadar on genealogical quest
* Temple Solel’s first cantor a multi-tasker
* Political bytes
*In Memoriam
SAN DIEGO – From time to time, we’ll be checking the websites, Facebook pages, and news releases of local Jewish candidates to see what they are emphasizing to voters. As they are competing in contests for federal, state, county, and city offices, it is natural that they address different kinds of issues.
53rd Congressional District
This is the congressional seat from which Jewish community member Susan Davis is retiring. Democrat Sara Jacobs, currently the scholar-in-residence at the University of San Diego’s Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, is a millionaire granddaughter of Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs who is expected to purchase many television commercials to support her candidacy.
“We need members of Congress who work for our community instead of fighting for time in front of the camera,” she writes on her website. “And we need leaders who can look at old problems and find new solutions. I’m ready to fight for Medicare for All and a Green New Deal, and I won’t accept a dime of corporate PAC money — because San Diegans deserve a Congresswoman who doesn’t answer to anyone but them.
“I went to public schools here in San Diego. And growing up here, I know that I’ve had opportunities that many others haven’t. I believe it is my responsibility to make our system fairer, which is why I’ve dedicated my life to public service and to ensuring that everyone has access to the opportunities that they deserve, regardless of where they live, what they look like, or who they love.”
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75th State Assembly District
Democrat Kate Schwartz, a health care worker, is challenging Marie Waldron, the current minority leader of the state Assembly, in this district covering portions of northern San Diego County and southern Riverside County.
On the issue of homelessness, she says: “Innovators in Eugene, Oregon, have developed 60-square-foot Conestoga style huts as a community-supported approach to transitional housing for the homeless. The huts are nearly five to ten times more affordable to build than the more well-known tiny house approach.
“Tracy Joscelyn, a resident of one such hut described her living space as a godsend, noting that the main thing is that it gets her off the streets into somewhere warm, dry, and safe. ‘When you have a place to keep your possessions dry and safe instead of hauling them around, then you can start stabilizing your life and figuring out what the next step is,’ Joscelyn said.
“As California continues to reel from our housing crisis and from epidemic level homelessness, we must begin to consider solutions that provide an improved quality of life so individuals can begin to focus on becoming self-sufficient.
“In California, tiny home communities are cropping up all over the place, but locally the price tag of 40-100K can be cost prohibitive to many potential buyers and are a world away from being attainable by those currently struggling with homelessness.
“As a state, we should begin to consider cost effective methods such as these Conestoga huts to serve as transitional housing. The idea should even appeal to fans of homelessness solutions rooted in public-private partnership because there is an undeniable benefit to economic development as well.”
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78th Assembly District
This district in the heart of San Diego has been represented by Todd Gloria, who now is running for mayor. Two members of the Jewish community – Sarah Davis and Micah Perlin – are among the Democratic candidates seeking to succeed Gloria.
Sarah Davis recently noted that she was attending a conference of Native Americans titled “Native Truth and Healing Conference: The Genocide, Oppression, Resilience and Sovereignty of the First Peoples of California.” She wrote on her Facebook page: “I am in attendance, present and learning. I cannot work for California’s future without confronting our genocidal past. I cannot work for California’s present without working alongside tribal leaders and sovereign nations. So I am here to listen.”
Micah Perlin wrote: “We are now at a pivotal moment in the climate crisis. We are the last generation that can change the trajectory of our civilization and we must do it quickly. As the world’s 5th largest economy, California must lead the way in pivoting to a carbon-neutral economy. We have the technology and the tools to wean ourselves off fossil fuels — what we lack is the political will to make it happen. Send me to Sacramento to lead the political transition to a green, prosperous future for ourselves, our children, and our planet.”
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3rd County Supervisorial District
Democrat Terra Lawson-Remer, an attorney and PhD, is running for county supervisor against incumbent Kristin Gaspar, a Republican. Although party affiliations are not listed on the ballot for the technically non-partisan office, party organizations tend to make their preferences clear.
She writes, “San Diego’s beautiful beaches and coastlines are the heart of what makes this community such a special place. Yet every day, millions of gallons of only partially treated sewage and untreated storm water flow into the ocean right off our shores — polluting our waters with bacteria and carcinogenic chemicals, and leading to hundreds of beach closures every year due to unsafe levels of toxic contaminants.
“This coastal pollution is a direct result of failed political leadership that has refused to invest in adequate treatment of sewage and storm water. I will work with the municipalities in our County to build a 21st Century water system that uses cutting edge technologies to cost-effectively treat sewage and storm water before it runs into our oceans.”
Mayor of San Diego
San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Bry is hoping to replace termed-out Republican mayor Kevin Faulconer in a race in which Assemblyman Todd Gloria is her main opponent.
She writes: “We need a data-driven comprehensive and collaborative approach that addresses the real causes of homelessness. One recent study from the Los Angeles Times showed that 46% of those living on the streets had substance abuse problems and 51% had mental health issues. Another study out of UCLA reported substance abuse and mental health concerns at 75% and 78%, respectively, among the homeless. And 67% of San Diegans recognize that issues other than housing are the primary drivers of homelessness.
“The new plan commissioned by the San Diego Housing Commission, while not perfect, finally breaks from this disastrous path. Living on the street or in a riverbed is unacceptable, unsafe for the homeless, and a public health threat. The Housing Commission plan recognizes both the legal and moral imperative that we provide safe alternative shelter. But it also recognizes that success is dependent upon dedicated teams of mental health professionals, drug rehabilitation specialists, vocational trainers, and broadly educated law enforcement officers to deal with the issues that are actually at the root of homelessness.”
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San Diego City Attorney
Cory Briggs is hoping to defeat incumbent City Attorney Mara Elliott, a fellow Democrat. In a video that appears on her website, he said: “In San Diego the city attorney is supposed to wear three hats: legal adviser on policy matters, litigator when the city ends up in court, and prosecutors for misdemeanors and infractions. The skills and experiences necessary for the job require the city attorney to act like a lawyer, not like a politician. Our city government works best when our mayor and council set policy and enact legislation. They need to be aided by a trusted legal adviser who implements their vision in the public’s best interest consistent with the law.
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San Diego City Council, District 5
On the website of Republican attorney Joe Leventhal, a former member of the city’s ethics commission, it states: “Joe’s priorities include reducing homelessness, public safety, and road repair. Joe believes that bold, collaborative leadership, as he’s demonstrated throughout his life, is the best way to approach San Diego’s persistent challenges. Through his work as an Ethics Commissioner, Joe has a crystal-clear perspective on what it means to serve with integrity as an elected official. Joe looks forward to the opportunity to improve the quality of life for San Diego’s citizens as a member of the City Council.”
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San Diego Community College Board, District B
Incumbent Bernie Rhinerson, a Democrat, doesn’t have a campaign website, but on his personal Facebook page, on which he tells about his family and travel, among other topics, he occasionally comments on Community College activities. Among recent postings was one lauding a community college degree program in brewing craft beers, with Rhinerson commenting, “Community Colleges are all about building transferable skills to help students enter the workforce.”
Another comment: “Proud that we passed a resolution supporting the Food for Thought Act (Schiff), legislation that would provide grants to community colleges to support free lunch programs for needy students.”
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Between now and the March 3 election, San Diego Jewish World periodically will revisit the candidates’ websites, Facebook pages, and news releases to pass on to readers what insights we can glean. I count nine Jewish candidates in the current round of elections – just one short of a minyan. If you are aware of other members of the Jewish community who will be on the ballot, please let me know via my email and I’ll add that candidate to our list for tracking.
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Fallen ANZAC cavalry man leads Ulla Hadar on genealogical quest
Ulla Hadar is a resident of Ruhama, one of the kibbutzim of Sha’ar Hanegev, the partnership region in Israel of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County. She has written stories about her region that lies next to the Gaza border for San Diego Jewish World, and over the years has made many friends at Temple Solel, which she had visited. Recently, she was the subject of a short documentary (see video above) by Israeli Television 11 because of the work she has done to memorialize the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who died in the World War I battle in 1917 for Be’er Sheva, which led to the Turkish Ottoman Empire being dislodged from the area and being replaced by the British Mandatory Government.
Her fascination with the fallen veterans of that battle began one day when she was walking through a graveyard, located about 15 miles from her home, and noticed the gravestone of Eigil de Neergard, a sergeant. Being an immigrant from Denmark herself, she wondered what someone with a Danish name was doing among the ANZAC soldiers, and so she began many, many hours of Internet research trying to piece together the puzzle of who de Neergaard was. Eventually, she learned that as the second son of a noble family he had no inheritance, so he migrated to Australia and subsequently joined the Australian Light Horse Regiment. Eventually, Hadar made contact with members of the de Neergaard family in Denmark, who subsequently traveled to Israel to visit his grave and to show her the medals he was awarded posthumously and the diary he had kept. In the diary he mentioned the names of the members of his company, and even the names of their horses. The diary was pierced by a bullet, probably the one that killed him.
This emotional experience led Hadar to do more research for relatives of the ANZAC soldiers, and in the process to start an Israel-based genealogical research business that takes her to cemeteries in various parts of Israel. Hadar may be contacted via her email.
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Temple Solel’s first cantor a multi-tasker
Cantor Kathy Robbins, who was the founding cantor of Temple Solel, is keeping busy as a multi-tasker. On some days, you may find her singing prayers at the Elijah Minyan in Carlsbad, where Rabbi Wayne Dosick is the spiritual leader, and sometimes at Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas.
Robbins also keeps busy giving secular concerts, in which she accompanies herself on guitar, as well as serving as an officiant of Jewish life cycle events including baby namings, bar/bat mitzvah training, weddings and funerals, She may be contacted via her email.
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Community educator Charlene Neely now teaching, learning, in Orlando, Florida
Longtime San Diego County Jewish educator Charlene Neely relocated about three years ago to the Orlando, Florida, area where her son, Joshua Neely is a rabbi at Temple Israel, a Conservative congregation. Living in an apartment about three blocks from her son’s synagogue, she regularly attends his lunch and learn sessions, and also gives lectures herself, having most recently completed a six-hour lecture course over three days on the Golden Age of Spain.
Another topic of interest to Neely is the Jewish experience in the Caribbean, about which she wrote a book review for San Diego Jewish World back in 2010.
Rabbi Joshua Neely and his wife Penelope have two children, Hannah and Nathaniel, who, of course, are also are a big part of Charlene’s life.
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Political bytes
* The San Diego County Democratic Party has endorsed the March 3, 2020 ballot measure to increase hotel taxes to finance an expansion of the downtown San Diego Convention Center.
*Terra Lawson-Remer, who is running against incumbent County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar, has released a nine-point climate action plan. Its major points are:
(1) Adopting a Community Choice Aggregation Program, to achieve 90% clean energy by 2030;
(2)Ending the off-shoring of carbon offsets — when developers are required to reduce GHG emissions to net zero with habitat restoration or other offset investments, those projects should happen here in our community, where we all benefit, and where the offsets are enforceable;
(3)Charging for parking spaces at all county buildings so that we stop subsidizing fossil fuel companies with “free” parking, and instead pay county employees for NOT commuting to work in gas-guzzling vehicles;
(4) Converting our fleet of county vehicles, including sheriff squad cars, fire trucks, and other emergency vehicles, to electric or hybrid;
(5) Retrofitting all county buildings to run on solar power, and to meet the highest LEED energy efficiency standards;
(6) Ending the conversion of farmland and chaparral and other carbon sinks by stopping urban sprawl through a moratorium on amendments to the county General Plan;
(7) Extending mass transit throughout the County, and building more protected lanes for bikes and scooters, so we cut the number of cars on the roads;
(8) Establishing a new “Mitigation Bank”, which developers finance to make new construction project carbon neutral — funding things like electrification of the Port of San Diego, habitat restoration for critical carbon sinks, and subsidies for homes and businesses to weatherize buildings, install solar, and build to LEED standards;
(9) Mandating solar energy, water reclamation and ecologically appropriate landscaping in all new public construction – both commercial and residential.
*San Diego Union-Tribune writer David Garrick reports that City Attorney Mara Elliott has ruled against the City of San Diego paying the costs for undergrounding power lines in the Alvarado Estates, a tony residential community near San Diego State University. Because it is gated, according to Elliott, is not available to the public and therefore is ineligible for such an expenditure of public funds. Not so, says Marshall Lewis, attorney for the homeowners there. Pedestrians, even SDSU runners, come through the community all the time.
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In Memoriam
In the section of Sunday’s San Diego Union-Tribune in which families may place paid obituaries, the deaths of three members of the Jewish community were noted. They included:
* B. Paul Jacobowitz, 87, who died on Nov. 15, was the father of three daughters: Jody Austin, Jan L. Jacobowitz, and Julie Potiker. Born in Pittburgh, Pennsylvania, where he married Ruth Scherr (who predeceased him), the family moved to Shaker Heights, Ohio, where he was a businessman, and in retirement, relocated to La Jolla. Contributions in his memory may be made to Scripps Health Foundation in La Jolla, or to the Ruth S. Jacobwitz Fund at the University of Miami School of Law in Coral Gables, Florida.
*Dr. Richard Allen Lieboff, 73, a psychologist who received his PhD in Human Development and Developmental Psychology from Purdue University, died Oct. 5, leaving behind his life partner Dave Gubser. Lieboff served as a director of programs for the aging with the Los Angeles Community College District before joining the Department of Aging with the City of Los Angeles. Later he became a grants manager for the Los Angeles Police Department. He created scholarships at several universities, including UC San Diego, and was a supporter of a number of charities including Jewish American Foster Care Options, to which donations in his memory may be made.
*Paul Schraer, 99, a former president of Beth Jacob Congregation, died Oct. 28, a little more than a year after his wife of 73 years, Lottie Schraer, predeceased him. His parents, Israel and Manya Schraer, immigrated from the Ukraine in 1905 following a pogrom, settling in Fall River, Massachusetts, where Paul went to school. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1939, serving in World War II campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, and mainland Italy. Two years after his marriage, he moved in 1947 to San Diego where he became an employee of Ratner’s Clothing, serving for 38 years as the shipping foreman. He is survived by three sons, George Schraer, Bruce Schraer, and Bob Schraer, 11 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com. Obituaries in this column are sponsored by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg.