By Judy McCarty

Our May 9 luncheon meeting of the Navajo Canyon Republican Women, Federated will feature Carl DeMaio, the government-reform host of his own daily radio show on NewsRadio 600 KOGO.

He will present his strategy to repeal the new car tax and gas tax recently enacted by Democrats in the California Legislature.

According to DeMaio, the typical California family could end up paying $350 to $700 more per year under these new tax hikes! There goes workers’ new minimum wage increase.

This will certainly hold the interest of our NCRWF members and guests who resist having government take money from citizens’ pockets to put in the government coffers – especially without any accountability of how it will be spent.

We invite all to attend and learn how to get involved in overturning these tax hikes! The meeting will take place at The Brigantine restaurant in La Mesa. Check-in time for the 11 a.m. meeting is 10:30 a.m. A full-course lunch will be served at noon with DeMaio’s talk following at 12:30 p.m. Cost is $25 and reservations are required. RSVP to NCRWF99@gmail.com (put “luncheon rsvp” in the subject line) or call Marjie at 619-990-2791.

Our April evening meeting was a lot of fun as expected with the Road Show, Live Auction (two free weekends in Las Vegas were awarded), great dinner with guests, Lady Liberty, Uncle Sam and Donald Trump.

A great crowd of men and women heard our former state party chairman, Tom Del Beccaro, talk about the vital importance of a restored economy, reconciliation in America, sanctuary cities, etc. So, a fun but purpose-filled evening for conservative Republican women who want to make a difference.

The swearing in of new citizens will take place at San Diego’s Golden Hall on April 26 and May 24 and members of NCRWF will be there to register them as new voters, too.

Our June l3 meeting speaker will be Wendy Patrick, special operations at the District Attorney’s office. July and August are dark for meetings at The Brigantine, but we will start back up in September with Brett Winterble, KFMB 760 radio personality.

For more information on all our activities, visit us at navajocanyonrwf.org and also like us on Facebook.

San Diego’s District 7 lost a true friend and strong leader on April 10 with the death of our former City Councilmember, Jim Ellis. Jim served in the early ’70s before being elected to the state Assembly, and then to the state Senate.

Many of you will recall that Jim, along with Supervisor Dick Brown, and citizen Dorothy Leonard, established the concept of a regional park (which later became Mission Trails Regional Park), and that Jim also created the Friends of Rte. 52 that worked for years to get that highway started by taking their ironing boards into the nearby communities and gathering signatures.

We have all benefitted from his leadership and extend our deepest sympathy to his family and to his wife, Carol Bentley Ellis, who also served as an elected state Assembly member.

—Judy McCarty is publicity chair of the Navajo Canyon Republican Women, Federated. Reach her at jhmccarty@cox.net.