LGBTQ San Diego County News November 2023 Volume 4 Issue 27

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Festival of Trees!

Details, page 3

NOVEMBER, 2023 VOLUME 4 ISSUE 27

LGBTQSD.NEWS

>>> NEWS P5

Christynne for the win >>> COMMUNITY P9

Red hot Supervisor Race By Morgan M. Hurley

The boys in the baths >>> DINING P13

District 4 of San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors has been without a supervisor since late March of this year. District 4 is the smallest and yet the most densely populated supervisorial district within the county, and it includes Hillcrest. The very public fall from grace of Supervisor Nathan Fletcher at that time was a huge disappointment to our community. He and his wife,

former assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, were huge allies to our community, often appearing at various local LGBTQ events and always supporting our many organizations. As chair of the board of supervisors, Fletcher very adeptly led our region through the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the Mpox outbreak. He had just announced his bid for the state senate at the first of the year, and since he’d already served in the state assembly, his career

trajectory seemed limitless. That is, until he fell victim to his own libido and it ended that career. Fletcher’s poor judgment not only got him in trouble with his wife, family, colleagues, and constituents, it forced a special election – estimated to cost $2 million – to fill his seat for the balance of his current term, which was to end in 2027. On Aug. 15, the special election pitted four candidates against each other: City Council President Pro Tem Monica

Participate & donate >>> CRIME P15

Firefighters at the scene (screenshot from video courtesy Gossip Grill)

e)

Gossip Grill arsonist caught

Suspect is a local homeless man reported to be a former bartender by Neal Putnam

Shipmates’ deadly tryst

CONTACT US

858-886-9458 sales@lgbtqsd.news

A judge set bail at $150,000 on Oct. 24 for a man suspected of arson at Gossip Grill that caused $7,000 in damages to the LGBTQ establishment on University Avenue. A former employee of Urban MO’s was arrested Oct. 20, not far from the scene. The arson is not believed to be a hate crime, said Gossip Grill owner Moe Girton. Girton told KPBS she believed the fire was set as “an action from a person living on the streets and experiencing a mental health crisis.” The fire department estimated the $7,000 in damages were mostly to the awnings, a large

rainbow flag and electrical equipment on the two front patios. “There was no structural damage to the actual building,” Girton told KPBS. “We have it all on video. We have [video on] one patio of him using an accelerant and then lighting it on fire, and another camera has him walking away giggling and smiling.” The fire was set around 12:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 20, after the bar had already closed for the previous Thursday evening. Gossip Grill reopened later that Friday as usual.

See GOSSIP page 14

Pro Tem Monica MontgomerySteppe (D), Janessa Goldbeck (D), Amy Reichert (R), and Paul McQuigg (R). Since no one got 50% of the vote during that election, the two top vote getters – who happened to be a democrat and a republican – now move to a run-off this Nov. 7. The current make-up of the Board of Supervisors is two women, Nora Vargas (D-1) and Terra Lawson-Remer (D-3), and two men, Joel Anderson (D-2) and Jim Desmond (D-5). Vargas is the only person of color (POC). Two candidates will be on the ballot Nov. 7 for the vacant district 4 seat, Monica MontgomerySteppe and Amy Reichert. So regardless of who wins, the board will consist of three women and two men after the election. Both women identify themselves as allies of the LGBTQ community. As a public service to our readers, LGBTQ San Diego County News reached out to both Montgomery-Steppe and Reichert with the same set of eight questions, all which our editorial board came up with. We are publishing their answers in this issue in their entirety, with only minor edits for clarity and grammar. You can read the questions and the candidates’ responses, starting on page 4. —Morgan M. Hurley can be reached at editor@lgbtqsd.news.

CITY SEEKS FEEDBACK ON ‘PLAN HILLCREST’ DEVELOPMENT The City of San Diego’s Planning Department recently released a draft plan that, if approved, would shape the future growth of the Hillcrest neighborhood. The Hillcrest Focused Plan, also known as Plan Hillcrest, “envisions a complete neighborhood that celebrates its unique identity and honors the legacy of a place that welcomes everyone,” says a City website created to share information about the plan. Plan Hillcrest is an amendment to the greater Uptown Community Plan, which guides development for the neighborhoods in the Uptown planning area, which include Hillcrest, Mission Hills, Bankers Hill/Park West, University Heights, Middletown, and the Medical Complex -- some of the city’s oldest and most distinctive neighborhoods. The amendment provides focused planning guidance for Hillcrest, specifically. The plan would allow for a great deal of growth in the neighborhood, including the addition of buildings that could be built as high as 30 stories, much of

See BRIEFS page 12


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