ARTICLES

A Choice, Not an Echo

Grossmont High Race Hottest in East County

By Allyson Smith

Nine candidates are vying for three open seats on the Grossmont Union High School District board on November 5, in the hottest race in East County. The Grossmont district includes 200,000 registered voters in Alpine, La Mesa, Spring Valley, El Cajon, Santee, Lakeside, and Jamul.

Among the nine are three conservative Republicans, led by incumbent Gary Cass, are vying against a slate of three liberal Democrats led by incumbent Ted Crooks.

Cass, pastor of West Hills Christian Fellowship in El Cajon, is running with Jim Kelly, a current San Diego County board of education trustee, and Santee special education teacher Eve Wills.

Crooks is running with Bob Avant, a university professor and former principal, and Eve Stine, an accountant and parent active in the Foothills Council PTA.

Incumbent Dan McGeorge, realtor Tony Agurs and custodian Andrew Sundstrom round out the candidate list.

In 1999, Crooks angered Grossmont parents by supporting Camp Mini-Town, a retreat-style program that teaches students that homosexuality is acceptable; Mini-Town was led at the time by former WomanCare abortion clinic director Ashley Phillips, Crooks also that year voted to include sexual orientation, whether actual or perceived, in sections of the district's employment and multicultural studies policies. A recall effort against Crooks garnered over 19,000 valid signatures, short of the 22,568 needed to oust him. In his current term, Crooks has met with adult and student "gay" activists.

On April 1 of this year, Crooks attended a meeting at the Hillcrest gay and lesbian center where he encouraged pro-homosexual activists to show up and keep "beating" their issues at every Grossmont board meeting. In June, Crooks, Stine and Avant received the endorsement of the San Diego Democratic Club, the homosexual wing of the San Diego County Democratic Party.

Cass and Kelly are known for their pro-life, pro-family and fiscally conservative stances. Newcomer Wills shares their views. The San Diego County Republican Party, as well as the conservative East County California Republican Assembly, endorse all three candidates.

Cass and Kelly are also endorsed by Congressman Duncan Hunter; State Senator Ray Haynes; Assemblymen Dennis Hollingsworth and Jay LaSuer; Mayors Mark Lewis of El Cajon and Randy Voepel of Santee; Councilmen Bob McClellan, Gary Kendrick, and Barry Jantz; and School Board Trustees Med Beauregard, Rick Winet, Mark Price, Chuck Taylor, and Rebecca Clark. County Supervisor Dianne Jacob has also endorsed Cass.

As a county board of education trustee, Kelly has often been criticized by the San Diego Union-Tribune for voting against federal grants. In an October 14 interview, he explained why: "With federal money comes federal control. Under the Clinton administration, which encompassed eight of ten years of my term on the county board, the true contents of federal grants were always misrepresented. They would say, 'This is a reading grant that supports phonics,' and instead (co-trustee) Susen Fay and I would find that it was full of whole language, so we were voting against those grants.

"Under George Bush, the grants are more academically focused on things like math and science. We're not finding the hidden agenda in them as we did under the Clinton administration, so we have taken a position in favor of Bush's 'No Child Left Behind' program because it doesn't have all the garbage mixed in with the grants."

All three candidates support home schooling, the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, and Proposition 22, which defined marriage in the state of California as the union of one man and one woman.

Kelly said, "This race is definitely a clear choice between those who stand for family values and those who have a hidden social agenda and who dishonestly masquerade as moderates when they're anything but.

East County CRA is handling donations for the combined campaigns of Cass, Kelly and Wills. According to Kelly, there is no limit to contribution amounts. To donate, make a check payable to "East County CRA," write "Grossmont" in the memo section, and mail to East County CRA, 7893 El Cajon Blvd., La Mesa, CA 91941. To provide other types of campaign assistance, call (619) 466-5233.

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