Communities

By Michael Howard

Photo:  La Mesa City Councilmember Laura Lothian speaks during a January 14, 2025 City Council meeting. Screenshot from City of La Mesa meeting video.

January 19, 2025 (La Mesa, CA) - La Mesa City Councilmember Laura Lothian is calling for a “15-Strikes And You’re Out” policy to address the rising cost and associated risks of managing the homelessness crisis in the city.

“If you watch the [Homeless Outreach and Mobile Engagement] video on our website, they say, right there, that it takes at least 15 contacts before a person experiencing homelessness is ready to accept services,” Lothian reported during the January 14 City Council meeting. “My feeling is this,” the first-term council member continued. “If the City of La Mesa offers a homeless individual – approaches them – 15 times and offers them help, and 15 times that homeless person rejects that help, I think it’s time for the city to say you need to go,” she insisted. 

Lothian’s comments came during the City Council's consent calendar portion of the meeting, when the Council typically votes to approve agenda items in bulk.  La Mesa’s Homeless Outreach and Mobile Engagement (HOME) program’s 3rd Quarter report was an item on the calendar, prompting her to speak up. 

“Despite increased spending on La Mesa’s Homeless Outreach and Mobile Engagement program, the 2024 count for La Mesa showed a 47% increase in unsheltered homelessness compared to 2023,” Lothian began. “The program is not reducing homelessness in La Mesa and we keep doubling down,” she went on to say. “If the L.A. fires tell us anything, it’s time we stop wishing for results and start getting them with common sense.”

Lothian’s statement comes amid the ongoing, but now slowing spread of fires in the Los Angeles area. Lothian associated fire risk with homelessness in her remarks.

“According to the news I’ve been reading, 54% of the fires that the LA Fire Department responds to are started by the homeless.  NBC 7 investigation showed fire incident calls tied to homelessness is sharply on the rise in San Diego,” she cited.  

 It is true that a rising number of fires in L.A. are caused by homeless people; NBC Los Angeles reported last May that 13,909 fires in 2023 were tied to homelessness, double the prior year. However, according to Cal Fire, the cause of the major wildfires currently burning in L.A. have not yet been determined.  

A number of small fires locally have also started at homeless camps.  Most recently, according to a recent NBC 7 report, firefighters responded to a fire in El Cajon this past Wednesday that was started by a homeless man trying to stay warm, prompting warnings of a heightened risk of fires due to the cold and dry weather.

“When you have people that are homeless, and they're trying to survive outside, they will do what they need to do to try and stay warm. Sometimes that involves lighting a fire and, as we know, in these conditions, fires like that could potentially spread,” Heartland Fire and Rescue Deputy Chief Todd Nelson said in the news story.

To offset homelessness in La Mesa, the La Mesa City Council in February of 2021 adopted the “2021-2026 Homeless Action Plan” that outlined a proactive approach where the city would take a more “direct role in day-to-day engagement and outreach with the La Mesa homeless population.”  The action plan is largely implemented through the HOME program, where the focus is to divert calls that would typically use city emergency and law enforcement services to this program that responds to nonemergency calls for service related to homelessness.

In the Quarter 3 2024 HOME report submitted to the January 14 La Mesa City Council meeting, the program reported a total of 6,246 instances of services to homeless individuals since 2020, 244 of those in Q3 2024. Additionally, the program has housed 177 people in this period, 4 of which were permanently housed in Q3 2024 and 2 temporarily housed in Q3 2024.

Photo:  Excerpt from La Mesa's HOME program Q3 2024 report, highlighting clients served in the program's efforts to stem homelessness in the city.  Courtesy of the City of La Mesa

La Mesa Police Chief Ray Sweeney also spoke on the issue, responding directly to councilmember Lothian’s suggestion to presumably remove homeless individuals from the city.

Photo: La Mesa Chief of Police Ray Sweeney addresses the City Council during its January 14, 2025 meeting; screenshot from City of La Mesa meeting video.

“There’s that balance, Councilmember, we have to make sure we’re not violating their rights, especially if they are not committing crimes – if they’re not doing anything any other member of the public would do in public,” he said. “The balance of different methods and the things in our toolbelt, like you can see I have here, these are all things we’re thinking about, so it’s not just a single approach of progressive engagement.”

Vice-Mayor Patrica Dillard praised the HOME program and Chief Sweeney, noting the complexities of homelessness.

“People have different reasons why they turn down help. A lot of the times we don’t learn what those reasons are, ever,” she disclosed. “I feel the Chief [Sweeney] nailed it on this issue, we’re never going to get all of the homeless off the streets, it’s just not going to happen.”

Dillard finished with a sharp retort. “I believe doing something, and also being able to produce results, is better than nothing, or just complaining,” she said.

Members of the public did not comment on the issue.

In other actions, the Council divided up internal and external committee commitments among themselves for the new year.

SOURCES 

Bremer • •, S. (2025, January 15). Dry, windy conditions in San Diego County raise concern over encampment fires. NBC 7 San Diego. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego-county-encampment-fire-concerns/3725144/

Cann, C. (n.d.). What caused the LA wildfires? Here’s what we know about the possible origins. USA TODAY. Retrieved January 17, 2025, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/01/15/what-caused-los-angeles-wildfires-california/77715865007/

City of La Mesa. (n.d.-a). 2021-2026  HOMELESS ACTION PLAN. https://www.cityoflamesa.us/DocumentCenter/View/17134/Homeless-Action-Plan

City of La Mesa. (n.d.-b). Archive Center • HOME Quarterly Reports. Retrieved January 17, 2025, from https://www.cityoflamesa.us/Archive.aspx?AMID=109&Type=&ADID

City of La Mesa. (n.d.-c). City Council—January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2025, from https://pub-lamesa.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=1c6ffa3c-b8f4-4626-bb67-aac9daee9e8d&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English&Item=9&Tab=attachments

City of La Mesa. (n.d.-d). HOME Program | La Mesa, CA - Official Website. Retrieved January 17, 2025, from https://www.cityoflamesa.us/1646/HOME-Program

City of La Mesa. (2024). City of La Mesa Homeless Outreach & Mobile Engagement (HOME) Program Quarterly Report: July – September 2024. https://pub-lamesa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=17801

Doug Smith, James Queally, & Genaro Molina. (2021, May 12). LAFD: 54% of fire responses in first 3 months of 2021 related to homelessness. FireRescue1. https://www.firerescue1.com/fire-attack/articles/lafd-54-of-fire-responses-in-first-3-months-of-2021-related-to-homelessness-8pgDS8dKNw018Uyv/

Page • •, E. S. (2024, December 2). Homeless arsonist sparked 9 fires in November, including in East County: Cal Fire. NBC 7 San Diego. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/homeless-arsonist-sparked-9-fires-in-november-including-in-east-county-cal-fire/3689620/

Grover, Joel (2024, May 9. Up in flames: Rising number of homeless fires threaten L.A. neighborhoods. NBC 4 Los Angeles.  https://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/la-homeless-encampment-fires-electrical-supply-wires/3408775/ 

East County News Service

January 17, 2025 (La Mesa) — Bougie’s Cheese Shop,  newly opened in December, invites you to a Garden Party on Saturday, January 18 and 25 from 1-4 p.m.   This patio event will feature non-alcoholic specialty drinks in honor of dry January paired with cheeses, along with curated snack boxes available for purchase.

Bougie’s Cheese Shop is located in the historic Levy house at 4679 Date Ave. in La Mesa. 

By Brooke Binkowski, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  County Supervisor Jim Desmond delivering his State of North County speech in June. (File photo courtesy of Desmond’s office)

January 16, 2025 (San Diego) - San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond announced that he will run for Congress.

By Miram Raftery

January 15, 2025 (San Diego) – President-elect Donald Trump has  pledged “mass deportations” of 11 million undocumented immigrants, most of whom do not have criminal backgrounds. But many people are unaware that he has also threatened to revoke temporary protected status (TPS) from some immigrants who are here legally.

San Diego’s  East County is home to many people who came here with TPS status, including Iraqis and Afghans who worked for the U.S. government, such as translators for our military, as well as Somalis and Sudanese displaced by civil unrest, and Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion.

Currently, 17 nations have TPS designations which protect immigrants such  as Afghans who helped the U.S. military,  Ukrainians, Syrians and Sudanese with war-torn homelands, and Haitians displaced by earthquakes and gang violence after the assassination of the nation’s president. The list also includes immigrants from Burma, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Lebanon, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Venezuela, and Yemen.

Asked if he would revoke temporary protected status for TPS holders such as Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, Trump told News Nation,” Absolutely, I’d revoke it.”  

Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has characterized TPS holders as “illegal aliens” adding, “We’re going to stop doing mass grants of Temporary Protected Status,” the New York Times reports.

Trump and Vance falsely claimed Haitians in Springfield were eating cats and dogs. They have refused to recant those claims, even though Springfield’s Police Chief said there have been no complaints of Haitians eating pets.

Revoking or failing to extend Temporary Protected Status could lead to deportation of many immigrants back to countries that are dangerous due to war or natural disasters. 

During Trump’s first administration, he tried to scrap the TPS program for immigrants in the U.S. from a half dozen nations with predominantly black, Hispanic, or Asian residents.  The American Civil Liberties Union sued and got a temporary injunction; that case was pending before the U.S. Supreme Court when Joe Biden took office and opted to keep the TPS program, so the case was never heard.  With a new conservative majority, including three justices appointed by Trump, however, a similar suit might well be decided in favor of axing TPS status for some or all recipients.

Trump also alienated many in the Iraqi Chaldean Christian Community in 2017, when his Department of Homeland Security identified some 1600 Iraqi nationals for removal, of whom 800 had committed no crimes. Others were decades-old, the Guardian newspaper in London reported.

Of those with criminal records, some had committed only minor offenses, such as a youth convicted of marijuana possession whose record was expunged when he became an adult, yet he was still among 300 Iraqis detained and threatened with deportation despite being a Catholic with cross tattoos, which could put him at risk of torture or death in a Muslim-ruled nation at a time when ISIS terrorists were murdering religious minorities.

One Iraqi man who did have a serious criminal history, also suffering from schizophrenia, died after he was deported to Iraq, after reportedly being beaten and denied insulin to treat his diabetes. Like many Iraqis in the U.S., he spoke no Arabic and had spent most of his life in America. The deportations of Iraqis were ongoing despite a “do not travel” advisory for Americans seeking to visit Iraq due to the dangers there including terrorism and armed conflict. 

Mass deportations of TPS recipients here legally, as well as undocumented immigrants, could rip families apart since children born here could remain, while one or both parents could be deported. 

Trump has also threatened to deport people sympathetic to Hamas, ostensibly to make college campuses safe. Could this mean deporting Palestinian immigrants and other students protesting the Gaza war?

He has previously shown animosity towards Muslims, notably with his ban on Muslim immigrants during COVID, which courts struck down as unconstitutional.

The question of who might be deported under the next Trump presidency is particularly relevant in communities such as El Cajon, where political leaders are wrestling with whether or not to publicly affirm an intent to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. At yesterday's meeting, after numerous Latino leaders voiced concerns, the Council asked staff to revise the ordinnance; it is expected to be consder at the next El Cajon Council meeting on January 28.

While some believe such a resolution would only support deportation of people who committed crimes, what if the Trump administration defines “crime” to include merely crossing the border illegally decades ago and seeks to deport all undocumented people, even “dreamers” brought here as children?  What if efforts go even further, with federal authorities asking local police to round up people whose TPS status is revoked, such as translators who helped our military and would face death if returned home?  Or people who fled violence and genocide in some African nations? 

Another issue for taxpayers is the cost of mass deportations. The American Immigration Council has estimated that to deport all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. would cost nearly a trillion dollars.

USA Today reports that Trump could use emergency and executive powers to bypass existing protections for immigrants.  He could activate powers from decades-old provisions once used to detain Japanese, German and Italians in the U.S. during World War II.  He could deploy the military and National Guard members to round up immigrants, push local police forces to cooperate in those efforts, and shift financial resources from other agencies to  fund mass deportations.

A key obstacle to Trump’s mass deportation goals is that most nations have said they will refuse to accept immigrants.  If no other nation will take them, that could mean immigrants rounded up could languish for years in detention camps. Based on conditions in detention camps during Trump’s first term of office, some immigrants’ lives could be at risk from diseases, stress, or other health-related concerns.

Currently, Congress provides funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain 41,500 people daily. But the American Immigration Council estimates that deporting even 1 million people a year, as Vance has proposed, would require increasing that 24-fold—a highly costly proposition.  If Congress balks at such steep funding, what would then happen to detained immigrants?

Meanwhile, immigrant communities across the U.S. are permeated with fear over the potential to be stopped at any time over the next four years, ripped from their homes, jobs and families, and potentially deported to a homeland they fled due to dangers that still remain.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/us/trump-immigrants-temporary-protected-status.html

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/temporary-protected-status-overview

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/17/iraqi-christians-face-deportation-conned-trump

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/06/trump-deportation-immigration/76088969007/

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-7-part-f-chapter-10

https://www.uscis.gov/save/whats-new/afghan-special-immigrant-parolee-and-lawful-permanent-resident-status

https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-afghanistan

https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status

https://immigrationforum.org/article/bill-summary-deferred-removal-for-iraqi-nationals-including-minorities-act-of-2019/

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/07/iraqi-man-dies-deportation-trump-administration-1643512

By Mike Allen

Photo:  Winners of 10K race: 1) Celina Lepe-Corvera 2) Mina Shull 3) Johanna Flipsen.  All photos by Mike Allen

January 13, 2025 (Santee) -- Under sun drenched skies, some of the best race walkers in the world shattered several records as they traversed the Santee Trolley Square course on Jan. 12.

The USA Track & Field National event featured competition in 35 kilometers, 20K, 10K, 5K, and 3K for both men and women.

The overall 35K winner, Perseus Karlstrom of Torshalla, Sweden crossed the finish line in 2:27:19, nearly 17 minutes faster than the previous course record. Karlstrom, 34, is the winner of multiple medals in both the World Track & Field Championships and other major races. A three-time Olympic athlete, he is gearing up for the 2026 Los Angeles Olympic Games. He took $8,000 for his first-place finish.

He was followed by Mexico’s Ever Jair Palma Oliveres, 32, and Nick Christie, 33 from El Cajon, who finished at 2:45:31. Christie holds the U.S. record for the event and took $4,000 for his third-place finish.

Photo, right:  women’s Winner of 35K race: Valeria Ortuna Martinez of Mexico City, MEXICO. Her time of 2:51:33 was nearly 6 minutes faster than previous record.  

The women’s 35K winner was Valeria Ortuna Martinez, 26, of Mexico City, who finished in 2:51:33, breaking the course record by nearly six minutes.  She was followed by Nadia Gonzalez, 27, of Toluca, Mexico, and Olivia Lundman, 22, of Vancouver, Canada.

The USA Championship women’s winner was Katie Burnett,36, of Bellevue, WA.

Santee City Manager Marlene Best said the city was honored to host both the US Championships and International Race Walk Invitationals 15 of the past 17 years. “We love being the race walk capital of the United States!”

Photo, left:  the winner of the men's 35K championship Perseus Karlstrom of Sweden shattered the previous record for this event by nearly 17 mins at 2:27:19. Seen here after collapsing at the finish line. Karlstom is a professional athlete who has competed at three Olympic Games, three World Championships, and is gearing up for the 2026 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Photo, right:  El Cajon’s Nick Christie, the best American race walker, finished third in the 35K race. First was Perseus Karlstom of Sweden and second was Ever Jair Palma Olivares of Mexico.

Suicidal suspect had doused self in gasoline before intentionally ramming officer,  ECPD reports

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left: Two officers train guns on driver after Sergeant Maxwell was struck.

January 11, 2025 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police Department has released surveillance and body cam video from the officer-involved shooting outside ECPD headquarters on December 11 during preparations for a retirement ceremony. (Warning: graphic content.)

The video shows a Toyota Tundra SUV driven by Benjamin Grube, 24, a nonbinary person earlier identified as Andrea Grube, park and later drive onto a sidewalk and ram Sergeant Kevin Maxwell as he tried to run from the oncoming vehicle. He was thrown into the air before the vehicle struck a bush. The injured sergeant managed to grab his service revolver while still on his knees, ordering Grube to exit the vehicle.

A lieutenant nearby called for backup. Officer Evan Drescher arrived on the scene, shouting “Don’t move!”   But Grube instead pulled forward, trying to run over Maxwell a second time even as both officers had guns trained on her.

Photo, right: Vehicle driven by Benjamin Grube strikes Sergeant Kevin Maxwell, who was thrown into the air before rising to his knees, gun drawn, ordering suspect to exit the vehicle.

Both Maxwell and Drescher fired their weapons, Maxwell through the windshield and Drescher through the driver’s side window. Maxwell jumps out of the path of the oncoming vehicle. Several shots can be heard on the audio from body cam footage (the earlier surveillance footage has no audio).

Officers pulled Grube from the vehicle and rendered medical aid, as did paramedics. Grube was transported  to a hospital, where the suspect was pronounced dead.

“Grube was found to be soaked in gasoline and three gas cans were found in the truck,” captions on the video state. “During the follow-up investigation, Grube was found to have suicidal ideations and was anti-law enforcement.”

Sergeant Maxwell was transported to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries including a concussion, and was later released. No other officers or civilians were injured.

San Diego Police is conducting an investigation, as is customary for officer-involved shootings involving other local police agencies. The District Attorney’s office will review results of that investigation. El Cajon Police is also conducting an administrative review into the officers’ use of force involving discharge of their service guns.