Logan Jenkins, columnist for The San Diego Union-Tribune who was an editor for the Escondido Times-Advocate, has used his first column after returning from surgery to discuss district elections for the city. His observations are worth reading. Among them: “No matter how much innocence it professes, Escondido’s been spoiling for a showdown with Latino activists [...]

An Escondido group has threatened to sue the city for violating state and federal voting rights laws. The group, represented by members of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, has demanded that the Escondido City Council vote, by Dec. 14, to switch from at-large elections to smaller geographic districts. Read more in North County Times. [...]

Reluctantly, the Escondido City Council has dropped the requirement that contractors working for the city use the federal E-Verify program to ensure that all employees are legal residents. They had to do it under a new state law, but they didn’t have to like it. “My intent is to circumvent (Gov. Jerry) Brown’s attempt to [...]

Gov. Brown has signed a bill that will limit impounding the cars of unlicensed drivers caught at police DUI checkpoints. The bill goes into effect January 1, 2012, and is likely to have a major impact on Escondido Police checkpoints. Watch coverage on KNSD-TV 7/39. Read coverage in North County Times. Read coverage in The [...]

The U.S. Supreme Court has instructed a Court of Appeals in Pennsylvania to reconsider the case of Hazelton v. Lozano. In that case, the city of Hazelton, PA, had tried to implement ordinances to penalize landlords for renting to illegal immigrants, and to penalize employers who hired illegal immigrants. The Hazelton ordinance was the model [...]

In an editorial April 5, North County Times recommends that officers operating Escondido Police checkpoints be given “discretion” in deciding whether to impound cars at checkpoints or make an effort to find someone to drive the vehicle away. The newspaper observed that the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department uses discretion. Though not noted in the [...]

Continuing its campaign to fight illegal immigration, the Escondido City Council voted 4 to 1 March 23 to require contractors for the city to use the federal E-Verify program to check eligibility of employees. The resolution also urges other Escondido businesses to use the program, but does not require it. The only opposing vote was [...]

Mayor Sam Abed held firmly to his positions, some of which are controversial, but took a friendly stance in speaking before the March 12 Club meeting. He told the approximately 50 people in the audience at the East Valley Community Center “we all want a better Escondido – let’s work together on the issues we [...]