Other items in this column include:
* Capacity crowd seen for Tzipi Livni
* Two Jewish fraternities among 14 suspended at SDSU
* Political bytes
* Coming our way
SAN DIEGO — Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in his bid to succeed termed-out Kevin Faulconer as San Diego’s mayor. He also has been fined by the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
The U.S. senator’s endorsement of Gloria over Barbara Bry, who like Feinstein is a woman and a Jew, was announced with excitement by the Gloria campaign, which pointed out that Gloria also has been endorsed by former Gov. Jerry Brown, current Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Attorney Gen. Xavier Becerea and “hundreds of other public officials in California.”
The endorsement contrasted with news that Gloria had agreed to be fined $200 by the FPPC for illegally accepting donations to an Assembly reelection campaign committee without announcing his candidacy for the state office.
Back in August, La Prensa San Diego questioned the propriety of Gloria collecting money for an Assembly campaign account even after he had made it clear that his real intention was to run for mayor.
While the Gloria campaign passed this offense off as a technical violation, Bry was far more critical.
Her campaign told Ken Stone of Times of San Diego : “Todd Gloria has acknowledged that he violated the Political Reform Act, but the FPPC findings don’t address the fact that he is using this ruse to funnel $300,000 of special interest corporate and PAC contributions – which are illegal under the city’s campaign laws – into his mayoral campaign.”
Mat Wahlstrom, a Hillcrest resident who filed a citizen’s lawsuit against Gloria after learning of his raising money for two offices simultaneously, told reporter Stone that he was not surprised by the light FPPC fine. He contended that the Fair Political Practices Commission was designed to protect incumbent officeholders.
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Capacity crowd seen for Tzipi Livni
The UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation has reported that all tickets have been reserved for the 3 p.m. campus appearance on Monday, Nov. 11, by former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
The Institute has been sending out messages to ticket-holders to please send notification if for any reason they are not planning to attend, so that the ticket may be released to someone on the waiting list.
Livni had led the opposition to Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu but with the fortunes of her party dwindling, she resigned from the Knesset in February of this year. Livni has favored a Two-State solution in the Middle East, with one for Israelis and another one for Palestinians living side by side.
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Two Jewish fraternities among 14 suspended at SDSU
San Diego State University President Adela de la Torre has announced the suspension of 14 fraternities, including the traditionally Jewish Alpha Epsilon Pi and Zeta Beta Tau fraternities pending the outcome of an investigation into the hospitalization of Dylan Hernandez in a coma. He reportedly fell six feet out of bed after attending an Interfraternity Council (IFC) event on Wednesday night, Nov. 6, KGTV-Channel 10 has reported.
Hernandez was discovered Thursday morning, Nov. 7, by an unidentified female friend, who said he had yellow skin, purple lips, and was foaming at the mouth at the time she called 911 to come to Tenocha Hall at 6126 Montezuma Road.
The suspension of the fraternities announced Friday, Nov. 8, was estimated to affect about 1,400 SDSU students. KGTV reported on Saturday, Nov. 9, that Hernandez was in a coma..
““Given the severity of this incident, and as the safety and wellbeing of students is a primary concern of the university, SDSU President Adela de la Torre has suspended the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and all chapter organizations under the council,” said a statement from SDSU on Friday.
“While under suspension, the IFC and its organizations will not be recognized and all activities will be suspended. The university will keep the organizations under suspension while it considers next steps,” the statement continued.
The suspension only affects fraternities enrolled in the IFC, not those affiliated with different pan-fraternal organizations.
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Political bytes
*Joaquin Vazquez, seeking to succeed retiring Congresswoman Susan Davis in the 53rd CD, hosted a town hall rally in which a featured speaker was Green New Deal advocate Andres Bernal, who served as a senior policy adviser for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s successful 2018 congressional campaign in New York.
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Coming our way
*On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, there will be a “Run for the Hungry” 5K at 8:15 a.m. to support the San Diego Food Bank. Starting from Horton Plaza downtown, Tifereth Israel Synagogue will be among a variety of organizations fielding a team of runners. The run is a good way to work up an appetite for the traditional turkey dinner later in the day.
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Donald Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com