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The Coast News
INLAND EDITION
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VISTA, SAN MARCOS, ESCONDIDO
VOL. 28, N0. 36
OCT. 24, 2014
David Loy, legal director for the ACLU San Diego branch, speaks to the Council on Oct. 15 in favor of the proposed immigrant shelter. Photo by Ellen Wright
Final blow given to proposed migrant shelter By Ellen Wright
Bridging worlds, nations
The “Colores de La Muerte” exhibition at the California Center for the Arts Escondido is more of a celebration thatn an art exhibit, bringing the worlds of the living and the dead together, but also the nations of Mexico and the U.S. See the full story on page A8. Photo by Ellen Wright
College celebrates official grand opening of humanities building By Aaron Burgin
SAN MARCOS — The Palomar Community College District community celebrated a homecoming of sorts last week, as it celebrated the completion of a humanities building some decades in the making. The $34 million building has actually been open since the beginning of the fall semester, but the Oct. 10 grand opening was the first time college administrators, board members, teachers, students and the community were able to formally celebrate the project’s completion. The festivities included self-guided tours of the classrooms, which includ state of the art amenities and technology. “I know it has been a long time coming, but welcome home,” college Superintendent Robert Deegan said. The sleek 90,000-square-foot, 3-story building will house the college’s English and Humanities, English as a Second Language, Reading Services, Speech Communication, World Languages and journalism programs, which were once scattered across the campus, several in portaTURN TO HUMANITIES ON 18
Palomar Community College celebrates the official grand opening of the new humanities building on Oct. 10. Photo by Aaron Burgin
ESCONDIDO—At the Oct. 15 night’s City Council meeting, Mayor Sam Abed warned the packed chambers “the nation’s eyes are upon us.” Hundreds of people filled the room to influence the Council’s decision on an appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) about the Planning Commission’s decision to deny the granting of a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) towards the conversion of a former nursing home into a 96-bed temporary shelter for unaccompanied minors crossing the border illegally. The council voted to deny the appeal of the Planning Commission’s decision to deny changes to the CUP, with all in favor but Deputy Mayor Olga Diaz. During her comments, Diaz ticked off the reasons she believed why the shelter fell within the current CUP saying that a lot of people who were against it cited unfounded reasons, including disease and over crowding of schools. “None of these are factors to be considered as part of the land use issue,” Diaz said. She went on to say that most of the children the shelter would house temporarily are from South America and “escaping travesties that none of us would ever want to live through and certainly wouldn’t wish on our children or anybody else’s.” Diaz voted to appeal the decision to deny the shelter, admitting that she may lose votes in the upcoming election.
“I may lose an election but I will not lose my humanity,” Diaz said. All of the other council members said they believed the shelter would violate the current land use permitting. Councilman John Masson said the shelter is already creating special problems as evidenced by the city council meeting, which violates the CUP conditions. Abed denied the appeal because of the land use issue and because he said the children are already cared for by the federal government. “These children are under the federal government’s custody but the administration is pushing this issue to the local government with no solution in sight,” Abed said. He went on to say the facility should be used for local children or seniors. Nearly 100 people spoke to the council during the meeting, which was heated at times. Signs dotted the divided crowds, both in favor of the shelter, “They are just kids!” and “It’s time to stop the racism,” and against, “Quarantine all who enter USA” and “America First.” David Loy, legal director of the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, urged the council to appeal the decision. According to Loy, the shelter would have added $8 million a year to the local economy in new jobs. He said risky individuals would not pass through the shelter and officials TURN TO SHELTER ON 18