Other items in today’s column include
*ADL Objects to Appointment of Darren Beattie to U.S. Heritage Commission
*Mazal tov! Mazal tov!
SAN DIEGO — By a 4-1 proportion, members of the San Diego Democratic Central Committee endorsed City Councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe to serve as the next president of the San Diego City Council, rejecting the candidacy of her fellow Democrat, Dr. Jennifer Campbell. Montgomery Steppe represents the 4th Council District, and Campbell represents the 2nd District.
The vote Tuesday night came after Montgomery Steppe was endorsed by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, and outgoing Council President Georgette Gomez, The Voice of San Diego reported.
While Gomez will have left the council when the Dec. 10th vote occurs, Montgomery Steppe and Moreno will account for two of the five votes necessary to win the council presidency. Sean Elo Rivera, who will be sworn in at the new 9th District City Councilman, indicated in a previous interview with San Diego Jewish World that he will be voting for Montgomery Steppe, with whom he has been friends for years through the RISE San Diego organization. With the holdover Republican City Councilman Chris Cate considered likely to vote for Campbell, that calculation leaves Montgomery Steppe in an apparent 3-2 lead over Campbell.
The deciding votes will be cast by the other incoming new councilmembers including Joe LaCava in the 1st Council District; Stephen Whitburn in the 3rd Council District; Marni von Wilpert in the 5th Council District, and Raul Campillo in the 7th Council District.
The President of the City Council assigns fellow council members to the various City Council Committees as well as to such external agencies as the Metropolitan Transit Board and the San Diego Association of Governments. She also controls the City Council’s docket which determines when various ordinances and resolutions will be heard by the City Council.
In endorsing Montgomery Steppe, Gomez said, “We as a party, we have to dig into these issues around race, and we have to dig into these issues around equity, because we are still lacking of understanding. I think that this is the time. We have to take the advantage of it.” Campbell had appealed to the Central Committee to remain neutral in the contest as she and Montgomery Steppe are both Democrats in good standing.
Montgomery Steppe is Black; Campbell is White and Jewish. Elo-Rivera, who is supporting Montgomery Steppe, is Latino and Jewish.
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ADL Objects to Appointment of Darren Beattie to U.S. Heritage Commission
The Anti Defamation League has posted its strong objection to the appointment by President Trump of Darren Beattie to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, which deals with monuments, cemeteries and historic buildings in Central and Eastern Europe, including Holocaust killing sites.
Explaining why, ADL CEO Jason Greenblatt said: “It is downright shocking that the White House has appointed Darren Beattie, who once attended an event with white supremacists and participated in a panel discussion with white nationalist Peter Brimelow, to serve as a member of a commission specifically created to help preserve the memory of Jewish victims of Nazi atrocities during the Holocaust.
“Beattie spoke at a conference of the racist and extremist H.L. Mencken Club, where he participated in a discussion with Brimelow, the creator of the racist and anti-immigrant website VDare. As we have said before, there is no place in any presidential administration or government commission for an individual who would attend and participate in such well-known racist events.
“It is absolutely outrageous that someone who has consorted with racists would even be considered for a position on a commission devoted to preserving Holocaust memorials in Europe. We urge the administration to rescind his appointment immediately.”
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Mazal tov! Mazal tov!
Judith Rubenstein of San Diego reports that her late husband Howard Rubenstein’s adaptation of Prometheus Bound has been selected for off-Broadway production at The Tank, where it will be filmed for showing by “On Demand” television. Filming is scheduled to occur in January, if the coronavirus does not force another postponement. Initially the play had been planned for production in September but Covid19 forced postponement.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com