Past Grand Jurors Association, San Diego
Promotes the continuity of effort by succeeding grand juries in order to increase the effectiveness of the grand jury system; Study and make recommendations with regard to local, civic,
governmental and institutional affairs; Encourage and otherwise assist in efforts directed toward the betterment of the communities of San Diego County; Involve it in such other activities deemed by
the Association to be in the public interest; Maintain personal contact of past grand jurors through opportunities for interaction at Association meetings and activities.
Membership: Any person who has served as a member of a regular San Diego County Grand Jury and who has paid current Association dues shall be a member. Any person who
resigned or was removed for cause by Action of the Court, or who served solely as a member of any criminal grand jury shall not be eligible.
Each month we invite speakers from a vast local, civic, governmental and institutional agencies to come speak at our monthly association meetings. All current and past
grand jurors, or invited guests, are welcome to join us for monthly luncheon and guest speaker meeting, first Wednesday of each month.
Feel free to reach out to us on our location for our monthly luncheons, as perioidically they do change do to restaurant scheduling conflicts. Our meetings start at 11:00 AM, lunch
is $24 per person.
If you would like to contact us regarding our association or for information regarding our associaton meetings, please "click" on the "Contact Us" tab and send us a
message.
MONTHLY ASSOCIATION SPEAKERS
2021 Speakers included:
Paul Parker, Head of the County’s Law Enforcement Review Board
Judge Alksne, Presiding Judge of the Superior Court
Paul Downey, the President and CEO of “Serving Seniors”
Laura Nicks, San Diego Grand Jury
Valerie Summers, Deputy District Attorney
2022 Speakers included:
Michael Vu, San Diego County Assistant Chief Administrative Officer
Dr. Doris Trauner, Child neurology and neuro-scientific investigations
Dave Myers, Retired San Diego Sheriff's Department Commander
Andrew Strong, Director of the Office of Equity and Racial Justice
Kelly Martinez, Undersheriff, County of San Diego Sheriff's Department
Chris Megison, cofounder and CEO of Solutions for Change
James Mendelson, Foreman San Diego County Grand Jury 2011-2022
SANDAG
Stephen Whitburn, City of San Diego, Third District Council
Member
Dr. Lamont Jackson, SD Unified School District Superintendent
2023 Speakers included:
Michael Kulis, Director of Policy, Office of Supervisor Joel Anderson, County of San
Diego
Dustin Nelson, San Diego Sheriff's Department, RESPECT Project
Natalia Bravo, Chief of Staff to Helen Robbins-Meyer, CAO County of San Diego
Patrick Steward, CEO of the San Diego Library Foundation
Edward Lopatin, Foreman San Diego County Grand Jury 2022-2023
Bernie Colon, Assistant Chief of San Diego Police Department
Shreya Shah Sasaki, Senior Director, Jewish Family Services
Angela Shafter-Payne, VP & Chief Development Officer, San Diego International Airport
Judge Michael T. Smyth, San Diego Superior Court’s Presiding Judge
Claire LeBeau, CEO, STAR/PAL
2024 Speakers included:
Bill Gore, Retired San Diego County Sheriff
David Nisleit, Police Chief, San Diego Police Department
Hector Jimenez, Deputy District Attorney-Special Operations
Solis Pacela, PACE Program (All Inclusive Care for the Elderly)
Community updates
Johnathan Vinoskey, Foreman San Diego County Grand Jury 2023-2024
Pete Griffin, SDPD Crisis Intervention Team
Don Wells, Chief Development Officer, "Just in Time"
Scott Pirrello, Deputy District Attorney
Natalia Bravo, Chief of Staff, County of San Diego
George Crysler, SDSO Narcotics Interdiction Team
Judge Groch, Assistant Superior Court
2025 Speakers included:
Brett Kalina, Executive Officer CLERB
Ibrahim Ahmed, Policy Advisor, County of San Diego
Andrew Strong, Deputy CAO, County of San Diego
Kelly Martinez, Sheriff, San Diego Sheriff's Department
Juan Perez, Chief of Audits, San Diego County Office of Audits and Advisory Services
James Tuck, Foreman of the San Diego County Grand Jury
Joe La Cava, President, San Diego City Council and Brian Elliot, Chief of Staff and Director of Policy
Andy Horta, Senior Fraud Investigator and Matthew Helm, the San Diego Deputy Chief of Staff
Probation Division Chief Chris Flores, from San Diego Probation Department
Todd Gloria, San Diego Mayor
Mario Orso, CEO SANDAG
2026 Speakers:
January 7, 2026 - Fabiola Bagula, San Diego Unified Superintendent
February 4, 2026 - Michael Roddy and &Cathy McCoy, San Diego Superior Court
March 4, 2026 - Shane Harris, Civil Rights Advocate, Minister and Founder of People's Alliance for
Justice
April 1, 2026 - Monica Montgomery Steppe, County Supervisor
May 6, 2026 - Jonathan Tague, San Diego County Aging & Independence Services
June 3, 2026 - Christopher Lawrence, Commander, San Diego Sheriff's Department
July 1, 2026 - San Diego Grand Jury Foreman
August 5, 2026 -
September 2, 2026
Contact Information
All Board Members
President: Linda Latimer
Vice President: Ed Lopatin
Secretary: Karen Strauss
Treasurer: Michael Hall
Skip Kruszona, Deborah Caroccia, Richard Castro, Burma Dunn, Chris Hall, Lynette Blakney, David Skydell
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