Author: garry33a

Is the Green New Deal part of San Diego’s Future? Learn more at our June 5 meeting!

Hasan Ikhrata, new director of SANDAG, our regional transportation and planning agency, with millions of TransNet monies to distribute, recently proposed blowing up the old, long-term freeway centric transit plan. He sought to replace it with a more public transit focused, eco-friendly model, to better reach our state-mandated climate action goals. Ikhrata’s proposal sent shock waves throughout San Diego and its 29 local jurisdictions.

The County Board of Supervisors just voted 3-2 against the new plan, but with Nathan Fletcher voting in the minority to support Ikhrata’s initiative. On the other hand, the city of San Diego, with City Council (and MTS) President Georgette Gomez in strong support, will use its clout on the SANDAG board to push the new plan.

Join us at our June 5 meeting to hear more about the region’s transportation future and what it means in our fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Our all-star panel includes Ikhrata, Gomez, Fletcher, and Sophie Wolfram, a longtime advocate of mass transit over more freeway construction, who is director of programs for Climate Action Campaign and recently appointed to San Diego’s important Mobility Board. Also joining the panel: Moderator Colin Parent, CEO of Circulate San Diego and a member of the La Mesa City Council, and our long-time member Jack Shu, president of the Cleveland National Forest Foundation and a staunch advocate of public transit initiatives.

The panel is Wednesday June 5 at the regular meeting of the La Mesa-Foothills Democratic Club, at the usual place, the La Mesa Community Center, 4975 Memorial Drive, just north of University Avenue in the heart of La Mesa. Meeting starts at 7 pm with a social half-hour 6:30-7 pm preceding the meeting. The club and members supply snacks, salads, desserts and beverages to all attendees. Hope to see you there!

Quick note here to remind you that our monthly meeting is Wednesday — that’s tomorrow as I type this — back at the usual location, the La Mesa Community Center, 4975 Memorial Drive, just north of University Avenue in La Mesa. Our guest is SDSU President Dr. Adela de la Torre. She’ll talk about  plans for Mission Valley West and the expansion fo SDSU, along with the “mini-dorm” crisis and other issues of interest to our community. 

And we’ll hear from Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, the newly elected chairman of the San Diego Democratic Party, about important issues facing local progressives, the upcoming 2020 election cycle, and more. 

Carol Perkins will be our program interviewer. 

Also, Congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar for a quick update on his campaign to unseat Duncan Hunter. 

The meeting starts at 6:30 pm with social time and programming starts at 7 pm. 

We’re please to have a couple of superstar speakers for our next meeting, April 3, to talk about President Trump’s numerous legal quagmires. Our guests are Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law and prolific author; and Carol Lam, former Judge and US Attorney.

Professor Cohn is former president of the National Lawyers Guild, deputy general of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, and member of the advisory board of Veterans for Peace. Her most recent book is Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral and Geopolitical Issues; she’ll have copies of the book to sign at the meeting. This is a return engagement to the club for Professor Cohn, she talked to us about the Trump Presidency two years ago.

Professor Cohn also contributes regularly to the daily emag Truthout, which works to spark action by revealing systemic injustice and providing a platform for progressive and transformative ideas, through in-depth investigative reporting and critical analysis.

At Truthout, she recently synopsized Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony: Cohen Knows What Trump Is Capable Of. His Testimony Should Terrify Us. Professor Cohn said he fears that if Trump loses in 2020, “there will never be a peaceful transition of power.”

Counselor Lam is a frequent guest on MSNBC as an expert commentator on the ongoing Trump investigations.

Most recently, Counselor Lam was senior vice president and deputy general counselor at Qualcomm, 2007-2018. She was United States Attorney for the Southern District of California, 2002-2007. Prior to that position, she was a judge of the Superior Court of San Diego, where she presided over a criminal trial calendar. And she was Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of California 1986-2000, where she was Chief of the Major Frauds Section.

We’ll meet at the usual time — first Wednesday of the month, April 3, 6:30 pm for socializing, snacks, beverages and desserts supplied by the membership, with programming beginning at 7 pm. We’re meeting at a different location than usual — the La Mesa Adult Enrichment Center (aka the Senior Center), 8450 La Mesa Blvd., La Mesa, CA 91942, at the corner of La Mesa Blvd. and University Avenue. This is the same place where we met in March. It’s just a short hop from our usual location at the Community Center, across the street from the Little League field at the base of the hill leading up to the Community Center. There’s plenty of parking in the Little League lot, just a short walk across University Avenue to the Senior Center, as well as a few limited parking spaces right next to the Senior Center, for those needing disabled parking or a shorter walk. Here it is on Google Maps.

We hope to be back in the Community Center in May — and hope to see you in April!