Author Image: Jan Goldsmith

Jan Goldsmith

Jan Goldsmith is an attorney and mediator. He began his career practicing law as an associate and rising to firm partner. He held elected offices as Poway mayor, California state legislator and San Diego city attorney. He served 10 years as Superior Court judge and taught night classes at three law schools. His awards include “Lifetime Achievement” from the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, “Person of the Year” from The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board and “True Friend of Children” from Los Angeles County. He is a regular contributor to the Union-Tribune’s “Someone San Diego Should Know” weekly column and has won an Excellence in Journalism Award from the San Diego Press Club for his articles.

All Stories

Julie Swain (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Dr. Julie Swain

Dr. Julie Swain of La Jolla is well-known among San Diego first responders for donning firefighters’ protective gear and entering fire zones to search for horses. She also is a...
Dennis Lauck and Poppy, an 18-month-old golden retriever trained by Lauck and recently certified as a search dog.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Dennis Lauck

In 2022, Dennis Lauck was enjoying dinner with his wife, Bev, when he received an urgent call. A little girl was missing. There had been hours-long searches to no avail....
Lucille Wendling, 104, in the backyard of her home, puts stock in positive thinking. (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Lucille Wendling

College Area resident Lucille Wendling, 104, is of the Greatest Generation, those who survived the Depression and World War II. She was an elementary school teacher for 39 years known...
Joe Gandelman his buddy John Raven2. (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Joe Gandelman

Rancho Peñasquitos resident Joe Gandelman has six partners — John Raven2; John Raven3; Norbert; Rex Raven; Chad and Dolly. They may be a little stiff, but all have comical personalities...
Mark Palm with villagers in New Guinea by the river with one of their rescue planes. (Mark Palm)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Mark Palm

It was 1997 and Mark Palm, then 22, was on a first date with Kirsten. “I told her about my plan to live in New Guinea and help people,” he...
Julie and Ray Hayden at one of East County Transitional Living Center’s locations. (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Julie and Ray Hayden

“If we could duplicate what we’re doing here, I believe it would help solve homelessness,” said Julie Hayden, CEO of East County Transitional Living Center. “We have the model that...
Greg Reid speaking at the Pentagon. (Ken Rochon).

Someone San Diego Should Know: Greg Reid

Amazon lists 26 books co-authored by Point Loma resident Greg Reid, including four best-sellers. He has produced or co-produced seven films, including Purple Case, which won 15 film festival awards,...
Jeffrey Sitcov formed a nonprofit in 2001 called Photocharity (later renamed Doors of Change). (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Jeffrey Sitcov

Ever since he was 16 when a physical therapist helped him with a skating injury, Jeffrey Sitcov wanted to be a physical therapist. He achieved that goal and was good...
Justine Bethel said she was “a high functioning child out of necessity.” (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Justine Bethel

Justine Bethel was 12 when she loaded her backpack in the middle of the night and fled home forever, eventually living in parks and on beaches. “I didn’t know how...
UC San Diego professor emeritus Duncan Agnew (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Duncan Agnew

Wherever he goes, UC San Diego professor emeritus Duncan Agnew, a geophysicist who has studied earthquakes for 43 years, is asked whether he can predict when an earthquake will occur....
John Caterino and making his rounds. (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: John Caterino

John Caterino has been an invited Santa Claus guest hundreds of times at locations ranging from Balboa Park to neighborhood gatherings. His natural long white beard and hair, his warm...
UCSD professor Shelley Wright and unique telescope system invented in her lab that searches space for extraterrestrial communications. (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Shelley Wright

Shelley Wright, a professor at UC San Diego, is a modern-day explorer. Instead of travelling oceans searching for new lands, she searches deep space for evidence of life. Instead of...
Sally Cohenour-Kerl upon winning Antarctica Marathon for age/gender classification on March 15, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Sally Cohenour-Kerl)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Sally Cohenour-Kerl

Every school day before classes, Sally Cohenour-Kerl, a middle school physical education teacher at North Terrace School in Oceanside, is on the track where students participate in the Trekking Tiger...
Graham Bloem with Forest, a service dog trainee rescued from an El Centro shelter, where he was set to be put down. (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Graham Bloem

They came from different worlds but had much in common. Adam was a Marine veteran diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He lost his purpose after discharge, found it tough leaving...
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Someone San Diego Should Know: Shelly Pinomaki

On April 27, 2019, a gunman entered a Poway synagogue and shot the rabbi and three worshippers. Chaplain Shelly Pinomaki was called to the scene to help the victims’ families...
Someone San Diego Should Know – Tony Teravainen, who co-founded STEP. (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Tony Teravainen

Kaitlyn came to “ the Enlisted Project” (STEP) offices with her two young children asking for help. She was facing eviction and repossession of her car. Her husband was enlisted...
Jess Baron is executive director of Guitars in the Classroom. (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Jess Baron

Jess Baron understands the power of music. “Music saved my life,” said Baron, a North Park resident. Born in 1959 and raised in Illinois, her parents were highly educated but...
The Monraz family, from left: Dazani, Eric, Jorge, Julie, Ryan and Jorge Jr. (Courtesy the Monraz family)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Jorge Monraz

“We are a very tight family,” Jorge Monraz said. “Everyone who knows us knows the Monraz family is always together.” So, when the family faced adversity four years ago it...
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Someone San Diego Should Know: Cheryl Kilmer

It appears like any other school campus with people milling around outside the café talking and smiling. While walking toward the café, a man comes up and extends his hand....
Judge David Gill listens to Supervisor Joel Anderson make a statement during a public hearing regarding placing Alan James, a sexually violent predator, at 1138 Custer Road in Campo, at the San Diego Superior Court on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Judge David Gill

In his 50th year as San Diego judge, David Gill will be retiring this year. Appointed in 1974 by California Governor Ronald Reagan, Gill is among the state’s longest serving jurists. He...
Jamie Arangure (Jan Goldsmith)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Jamie Arangure

Jamie Arangure grew up ostensibly as a boy. “But I was feminine,” she said. “I played with dolls, make-up and wore my sister’s clothes.” Born in 1976 and raised during...
Julio DeGuzman is the San Diego and Imperial County Lions Club District Governor.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Julio DeGuzman

Julio DeGuzman is well-known in San Diego for his community service in a variety of organizations, including his current position as San Diego and Imperial County Lions Club District Governor...
Annette Hubbel depicts historical figures.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Annette Hubbell

Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave who participated in a network of safe houses known as the Underground Railroad, stood on the stage alone talking about her life. “On my underground...
Jeanne McAlister

Someone San Diego Should Know: Jeanne McAlister

Jeanne McAlister was on a dark and self-destructive path. But something happened on Nov. 23, 1956, sending her off in a different direction that eventually helped many thousands of San...
Xochitl Alvarez

Someone San Diego Should Know: Xochitl Alvarez

It was college graduation day in 2015. Xochitl Alvarez sat in the audience with tears in her eyes.“Jennifer was among our first graduates,” Alvarez said. “She came to our school...
Carol Herrera

Someone San Diego Should Know: Carol Herrera

“When I’m in the community, a child will often come up and ask me, ‘Are you the BUG lady?’,” said Vista resident Carol Herrera.BUG stands for Bringing Up Grades. Herrera...
Beth Sczempka

Someone San Diego Should Know: Beth Sczempka

Thirteen years ago, Beth Sczempka, her husband Joe and their three teenaged children traveled to Tijuana to help build a house for a needy family. They ended up building more...
Nicodemus Lim

Someone San Diego Should Know: Nicodemus Lim

Known as the Lost Boys of Sudan, there were thousands of them who fled genocide in the 1980s.Among them was Nicodemus Lim.He was born and raised in a small village...
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It’s time to face America’s fiscal crisis

Goldsmith is an attorney and former law partner, adjunct law professor, superior court judge, San Diego city attorney, California state legislator and mayor of Poway. He is a contributing columnist for...
Debbi Green

Someone San Diego Should Know: Debbi Green

In September, 2001 Debbi Green was a third-grade teacher at Kellogg Elementary School in Chula Vista when a second-grade teacher said she was sending Green a student who needed a...
Art Tabanao

Someone San Diego Should Know: Art Tabanao

In 1998, Art Tabanao, then 55, saw a television ment soliciting volunteers to serve as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). “The ment said foster kids are in need of...
Sean Roy

Someone San Diego Should Know: Sean Roy

The 12 boys and five adults hiked six to nine miles a day in New Mexico mountains for 12 days through rain and shine, each carrying a 45-pound pack. They...
Toni Kraft

Someone San Diego Should Know: Toni Kraft

Toni Kraft is former owner of an award-winning San Diego restaurant who had a practice of training and hiring people with special needs. Today, she is taking that practice to...
John Mullin

Someone San Diego Should Know: John Mullin

In 1987, John Mullin was chief at a large medical clinic when a doctor who worked closely with him suggested Mullin be tested for dyslexia. She had become suspicious...
Laura (left) and Jennifer Brooks.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Laura Brooks

In 2001, Laura Brooks’ older sister, Jennifer, ed away at age 18. Laura, then 10, and her family were devastated. But Laura’s grief 20 years ago helped fuel a determination...
John Burr

Someone San Diego Should Know: John Burr

In 1978, John Burr called Jeff Coors of Coors Brewery and described an exciting new idea. “John, we think it’s a fad,” Coors responded. “But please come and show us...
Irma Contreras

Someone San Diego Should Know: Irma Contreras

Irma Contreras’ life was a struggle from the day she left her family in 1990 and followed a dark and destructive path. But something dramatic happened in December 2002 that...
Saul Snyder

Someone San Diego Should Know: Saul Snyder

Saul Snyder was first introduced to tennis in 1942 at age 10 when he borrowed his older sister’s wooden racket to hit tennis balls against a wall.Today, Snyder, age 90,...
Louisa Porter

Someone San Diego Should Know: Louisa Porter

When the U.S. left Afghanistan in August 2021 and the Taliban assumed control, many at-risk Afghans were left behind. Some went into hiding or fled the country while seeking asylum...
Louisa Porter

Someone San Diego Should Know: Louisa Porter

When the U.S. left Afghanistan in August 2021 and the Taliban assumed control, many at-risk Afghans were left behind. Some went into hiding or fled the country while seeking asylum...
Dr. Russell Low

Someone San Diego Should Know: Dr. Russell Low

“A lot of what I am today came from that 9-year old girl who refused to be a slave,” Dr. Russell Low said. “I call that ripples.”In 1880 Low’s great-grandmother,...
Susan Griffin

Someone San Diego Should Know: Susan Griffin

Susan Griffin is well-known in San Diego for addressing the needs of children caught in the middle of dysfunctional families. She founded Hannah’s House in 1988 and ran the program...
Amanda Rego

Someone San Diego Should Know: Amanda Rego

One morning, fourth-grader Amanda Rego stood in front of her school wearing a red “safety patrol” shirt helping students cross the street. She was proud to be entrusted with this...
Arkan Somo

Someone San Diego Should Know: Arkan Somo

It was 1981 and Arkan Somo, then 20, was driving in Baghdad, Iraq, where he was born and raised. He ed several cars and thought nothing of it. Unbeknown to...
Dr. Zarah Hedge

Someone San Diego Should Know: Dr. Zarah Hedge

The animal was brought to the San Diego Humane Society’s medical team with a broken leg, normally a routine surgery.However, this was not routine — the animal was a chicken.It...
Austin Varco is a spokesman for autism acceptance.<br/>

Someone San Diego Should Know: Austin Varco

Austin Varco, 24, loves driving race cars. That is not surprising. After all, his mom and dad raced cars.“Most of my core memories as a child were at racetracks,” said...
Ashley Gerdo

Someone San Diego Should Know: Ashley Gerdo

Ashley Gerdo was born in 1986 to teenage parents who were constantly on drugs, dysfunctional and impoverished.Growing up, she lived at various times in different locations separately with her mother,...
Colin Whitney

Someone San Diego Should Know: Colin Whitney

Colin Whitney was stunned. A genealogy enthusiast, Whitney could only dream about such a find. “Maybe this is where my grandmother got her toughness,” he thought.Whitney discovered Jemima Nicholas of...
David Wambaugh

Someone San Diego Should Know: David Wambaugh

While other children were playing games and solving puzzles, David Wambaugh at age 5 began drinking alcohol. Within a few years he was drinking almost daily. By 11, he was...
Mike Arms is president of the Helen Woodward Animal Center.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Mike Arms

In 1977, Mike Arms was director of Manhattan’s Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Arms was bothered by the organization’s “kill” policy leading to thousands of animals being euthanized...
Ruby Barnard: "The heart of an angel and voice of a generation."

Someone San Diego Should Know: Ruby Barnard

She was fondly known as “Lady Ruby” and “Grandma Ruby.” A professional jazz singer, Ruby Barnard’s voice is a blend of Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. She has performed with...
Edna Nerona

Someone San Diego Should Know: Edna Nerona

“My name is Edna Nerona and I am a Filipina. That means at any party I am expected to bring the lumpia,” the professional comedian said. “Growing up, my dad...
Rose Schindler

Someone San Diego Should Know: Rose Schindler

Rose Schindler stood in front of the middle school class. It was 1972 and the first time she ever spoke to anyone outside of family about the Holocaust. Her knees...
Mike Roberts

Someone San Diego Should Know: Mike Roberts

Mike Roberts is doing something to help diversify the software engineering profession. It does not entail government orders, quotas or preferences. It simply entails opening the door of opportunity.When Roberts...
Manal Swairjo<br/>

Someone San Diego Should Know: Manal Swairjo

Manal Swairjo spent her first 23 years of life as a Palestinian refugee in Kuwait. She lived in a Palestinian refugee neighborhood with her parents and five siblings. The children...
Beau Hill counsels those who are experiencing homelessness.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Beau Hill

Beau Hill, a peer specialist for Vista Hill, tried to counsel a homeless woman at Alpha Project’s Rosecrans Shelter, but she resisted. The woman had given up on life...
Brian Smith (left) and Marc Surprise.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Brian Smith

Brian Smith has had rental ownership in his blood since an early age, a prowess that helped him later in life turn a “rat-hole” into something special.Born in 1958, Smith...
Clara Arvai shares stories of her homeland with visitors to the House of Hungary in Balboa Park.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Clara Arvai

Clara Arvai volunteers at the House of Hungary in Balboa Park, greeting people, offering Hungarian treats and discussing its history. She tells how the 1956 Hungarian Revolution began with courageous...
The Deatons: Joan and Lindsey (right).

Someone San Diego Should Know: Lindsey Deaton

Chula Vista residents Lindsey and Joan Deaton have been married 43 years and have two grown daughters. During most of their marriage Lindsey was known as Bruce, Joan’s husband and...
Athenea Luciano.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Athenea Luciano

When a sixth-grade teacher asked students what they dreamed of becoming, most answered fireman and other jobs popular with children. Athenea Luciano answered her dream was to work in the...
Oscarin Ortega

Someone San Diego Should Know: Oscarin Ortega

“Never give up on yourself,” Oscarin Ortega tells participants in his program, Lived Experiences. “There is always a way out, a solution.”His audience is largely composed of disadvantaged young people...
Cecil Steppe was the county's director of social services. He has remained active in the community since his retirement in 1999.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Cecil Steppe

Cecil Steppe has held key leadership positions, received many awards and helped shape San Diego. His success, however, did not come easy. It was achieved through a “can-do” attitude he...
Shyla and Vinod Lobo in her home in Poway, where she writes her songs.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Shyla Lobo

Shyla Lobo and her husband, Denis, along with their two children immigrated to the U.S. from India in 1973. They arrived with four suitcases, $400 and a dream. Shyla was...
Russ Filbeck, President Carter and a cherry rocking chair.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Russ Filbeck

Woodworking brought Russ Filbeck widespread recognition for his exceptional skills and a former president’s friendship. It also provided a salvation from an abusive childhood. Born in 1944, he was brought...
Dana Perino

Someone San Diego Should Know: Dana Perino

Dana Perino visited Washington, D.C., with her family during the summer following first grade. She was so impressed with the White House tour that she said afterward someday she would...
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Freedom of speech is too precious to relinquish

Goldsmith is an attorney and former law partner, adjunct law professor, superior court judge, San Diego city attorney, California state legislator and mayor of Poway.Despite our current deep divisions, one thing...
Justin Bowens (left) and Robert "Robbie" Tuggles.

Someone San Diego Should Know: Justin Bowens

While his friends were hanging out and getting into trouble, Justin Bowens grew up spending many hours alone shooting basketballs. “That’s when I did my dreaming,” Bowens said. “I would...