By Miriam Raftery
January 30, 2025 (Lemon Grove) – Eleven people have applied to fill a vacancy on the Lemon Grove City Council created when former Councilmember Alysson Snow won the mayoral election. The City Council will interview the applicants during the Feb.4 Council meeting at 6 p.m. at the Lemon Grove Community Center. View the full agenda including candidate applications: https://events.lemongrove.ca.gov/council.
The Council previously approved filling the vacancy via appointment, to avoid a costly election. The appointee chosen will serve the remainder of the term, which expires in December 2026.
Applications included detailed questions about candidates’ backgrounds and goals, though some did not identify policy objectives.
The applicants, in order of their interview times, are as follows, along with highlights from their applications:
By Miriam Raftery
View video of full Council hearing (Immigration agenda item begins at 37 minutes.)
January 29, 2025 – Emotions ran high during yesterday’s El Cajon City Council meeting, where a packed chamber heard testimony from 88 members of the public over a proposed over immigration enforcement resolution, followed by a heated Council debate that divided the all-Republican members during a hearing that ran over five hours.
The measure introduced by Mayor Wells, a revision from a version heard two weeks ago, aims to authorize El Cajon police to comply with federal immigration enforcement officials within the limits of state law and the Constitution for the purpose of removing violent criminals.
But the action comes on the same day that the White House Press Secretary indicated that the Trump administration views all undocumented immigrants as “criminals” even though crossing the border itself is a misdemeanor on the first offense, not a felony or violent crime.
Sweeps by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have begun nationwide, picking up many immigrants with no criminal record—including an El Cajon man with no criminal record who was awaiting his asylum hearing when arrested this week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at his home in front of his five-year-old daughter, Councilman Michelle Metschel revealed in an impassioned speech.
By Miriam Raftery
View video of full Council hearing (Immigration agenda item begins at 37 minutes.)
January 29, 2025 – Emotions ran high during yesterday’s El Cajon City Council meeting, where a packed chamber heard testimony from 88 members of the public over a proposed over immigration enforcement resolution, followed by a heated Council debate that divided the all-Republican members during a hearing that ran over five hours.
The measure introduced by Mayor Wells, a revision from a version heard two weeks ago, aims to authorize El Cajon police to comply with federal immigration enforcement officials within the limits of state law and the Constitution for the purpose of removing violent criminals.
But the action comes on the same day that the White House Press Secretary indicated that the Trump administration views all undocumented immigrants as “criminals” even though crossing the border itself is a misdemeanor on the first offense, not a felony or violent crime.
Sweeps by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have begun nationwide, picking up many immigrants with no criminal record—including an El Cajon man with no criminal record who was awaiting his asylum hearing when arrested this week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at his home in front of his five-year-old daughter, Councilman Michelle Metschel revealed in an impassioned speech.
East County News Service
January 29, 2025 (Lemon Grove) – The City of Lemon Grove is now accepting applications for residents and business owners interested in serving on the Measure T Oversight Committee. Applications will be accepted beginning January 27, 2025, through February 20, 2025, at 5:00 p.m.
By Miriam Raftery
Photo: Opponents of resolution rallied Monday in El Cajon; CBS 8 video screenshot
Read the revised resolution on pages 57-59 from City Council agenda attachments
January 28, 2025 (El Cajon) – A crowd of about 75people opposed to mass deportations held a rally outside El Cajon’s City Hall yesterday to speak out against Mayor Bill Wells’ proposed resolution for the city to fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The City Council will hold a hearing today at 3 p.m. on the controversial measure.
Changes have been made since the last meeting, adding praise for the city’s “vibrant and diverse immigrant communities” but also declaring the city’s intent to “comply with federal immigration law to the legal extent permissible under SB 54 and other applicable laws to remove violent criminals from our community.” SB 54 is a state law which prohibits cities from turning anyone over to federal immigration authorities unless they have been convicted in court of committed certain serious felony crimes, such as murder or rape.
But President Donald Trump has declared a border emergency and ordered immigration officials to conduct broad sweeps in immigrant communities. In recent days, people including citizens have been stopped, asked for documents to prove citizenship, and many have been detained. Trump has stated his goal is to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.—going far beyond the small percentage convicted of felonies.