San Diego (special) -- Gary Rotto, former regional director of the American Jewish Committee, recently met with me to discuss his candidacy in the April 17 special election for San Diego's 6th councilmanic seat. For the main part, we discussed his experiences walking door-to-door and his perspective on city issues of interest to the Jewish community. 

The following transcript was excerpted from the interview: Q: When you go out campaigning, you talk about yourself being the former director of the American Jewish Committee. Are you getting any particular reaction, either philo- or anti-Semitic? A: I don't necessarily bring that up, but people bring that up because it has been in the newspaper. It is how I am identified. ... I did come across one gentleman who had moved from Phoenix and knew

Gary Rotto

AJC from Phoenix, and worked closely with my colleague there. He said "Oh, well if you are anything like Rabbi Kravitz then I am definitely voting for you." I have to e-mail Bob about that. 

Q. Mayor Dick Murphy is in the process now of forming all these ethnic advisory committees. ... He has announced them for Latinos, African-Americans, and Asians. I don't know if he is planning a Jewish one. Is that necessary? Are there problems that you see that our community has with the city?

A. I don't know if there are problems that we have with the city. Certainly there will be issues. There are issues that come up in any tenure that the community would like to speak out or be heard on. It could be as defined geographically as the approval of the new Hillel center in La Jolla or the extension of the conditional use permit for Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School... which is on the cusp of Serra Mesa and Kearny Mesa and is in the district. I understand that the conditional use permit is up, and that city staff has said that (the corner of Aero Drive and Afton Road) is a commercial-industrial site, and that they don't think that is the proper place to have a school. Well, I don't see any commercial-industrial major uses today that would interfere with it, or that are coming in any time soon. It just makes sense to me that there should be some kind of an extension. So you have issues like that which will come up. But going back to the advisory groups, at first I thought not. When I was on staff (of former Councilwoman Valerie Stallings) at one point, there could have been a minyan of us who were staffers ... for city Council members, but I learned that as of the beginning of March, not only wasn't there a Jewish council member, but not a single staff person. 

Q. That has changed.

A. Larry Cohen probably.

Q. Right, he has been hired to be (City Councilman's) Ralph Inzunza's chief-of-staff. ...Besides zoning for our specific institutions, are there Jewish issues that are facing the city in your opinion?

A. Not necessarily specific to the Jewish community but I think the Jewish community has always had a great interest in separation of church and state. Enhancing religious liberty but by the same token making sure that there isn't any interference. And with the push coming from the President (Bush)'s office on faith-based charities, that means there will be funds coming to the city through the community development block grant program, used for social services. There will be a push more than likely from organizations that haven't been involved before and are religiously based to be part of that system. There needs to be care taken in setting up criteria so that you don't have that type of interference between church and state. I don't know that there is any one there who has worked on that issue, or who has that on their radar screen.

Q. So you see that as a particular concern that you would be interested in?

A. Absolutely.

Q. What about the perennial symbolic problem of invocations at City Council meetings? It has come up at NJDC (National Jewish Democratic Council) meetings about whether we should have invocations at all, and if we do have them, how do we make it so it is not a forum for Christian proselytizing.

A. It concerns me. Invocations should be much more interreligious or ecumenical, both from the standpoint of someone who is a member of a minority religion as well as from the standpoint of the Sixth District. This is a very diverse district. You have a small Jewish community; an Eastern Orthodox community, Baha'i; you have other Eastern religions, followers of Buddhism and Confucianism; you have followers of Islam -- so even just being the representative of District Six, one should be aware of that diversity and be concerned about reflecting that. ... Just brainstorming, there should be some type of advisory committee, maybe the Interreligious Council, or some sort of interreligious body, that can provide the expertise. .... As long as there is an invocation at City Hall, I don't think you can say this is the only type of prayer there will be, but you can certainly heighten people's awareness and educate people and I think that would be much preferred. Diversity and education.

Q: On everyone's mind, of course, with the shootings at both high schools (Santana and Granite Hills) is the safety of our kids. Is there any role that the city government should play on that issue?

A. Schools are under separate legislative bodies, so to speak -- the individual school boards. But certainly there are partnerships which are in place and could be enhanced between the city, through the police department, and the school boards.

Q. We have now some policemen on a temporary basis policemen at each high school. Is there some way to make these kinds of arrangements more permanent?

A. Absolutely, if the need is there. It has to be a joint decision between the council and the school boards, whether it is San Diego Unified, or the other school districts that overlap with the city. ... It just makes sense that there be some sort of partnership that is worked out so that we can provide a safe place for students.

Q. The young leadership people of the American Jewish Committee are pushing the idea of naming something out at NTC (the old Naval Training Center) for Louis Rose (San Diego's first Jewish settler who developed the Roseville area of Pt. Loma) . It's not your district, but do you favor that idea.

A. Absolutely yes. I would look forward to looking with District Two -- Council member (Byron) Wear in particular and his staff to effect that situation.

Q. There is a proposal floating around for the creation of an Israeli sister city.

A. Yes, absolutely. I know there may be some concern about how putting another city into the mix may affect relationships that other organizations (such as the United Jewish Federation) may have here in town, but I think it can be done, can be done well, without negatively affecting -- It should be positively affecting relationships with places like Ibim (a student village in the Sha'ar Hanegev area supported by San Diego's United Jewish Federation). If there is a greater awareness in the Jewish community and the general community about Israel, that would enhance both partnerships. The sister city program is something for the municipality of San Diego. Ideally other organizations will join in and enhance but it really is a partnership and demonstrates San Diego's commitment to Israel. ... I think that has great positives, and I think we need to look at how we utilize sister city programs.

Q. You saw the plea bargain that (white supremist) Alex Curtis worked out... He desecrated two synagogues,threatened the lives of Morris Casuto, Bob Filner and other leaders. Some people wonder whether we are taking this thing seriously enough or not.

A. It is an interesting question. It impacts me because some of the candidates are saying "here is my home phone number." Several organizations including the Union-Tribune have asked for my home address. I am not willing to have my home phone number or home address published because I was the first one to write about Alex Curtis publicly, and because of the time right after the incidents in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Chicago a year and a half ago, several of my (AJC) colleagues in the northeast and the southeast received very threatening letters and phone calls. I am not willing to put my family at risk. I have a daughter who is 3 1/2. I am at a bit of a disadvantage. People have not asked me, but I know some are wondering, "gee, everyone else is so accessible, why isn't he?"

Q: What other matters would you like to bring to the attention of our HERITAGE readers?

A. I hope people don't elect me necessarily because I am Jewish, but because of the values, because of the experience I have gained, and because of my commitment to this city and to the teaching of tolerance and diversity as this city continues to grow, and continues to change. I think there is a specific vantage point that we bring as Jews, as successful immigrants, that may not be present on the City Council right now.