About Our Back Fence
From Our Back Fence Editor


Dear Readers,

Welcome to the premier issue of Our Back Fence, East County's community
magazine!

Remember when keeping up with community news meant chatting with your
neighbor over the back fence?

Or, perhaps , talking over local issues with friends in your town's general store
- a place complete with pickle jar, pot-bellied stove and rocking chairs on the
porch. (If you're too young to recall such nostalgia, don't worry. We'll have
plenty of hot topics for both the young and the young-at-heart!)

Opportunities to obtain local news in today's environment are limited.

As a native of East County, I've seen plenty of changes over the years. In many
communities, general stores and back fences have gone the way of dinosaurs,
replaced by supermarkets and suburban sprawl.

A few towns in our mountains and deserts still retain historic general stores
and other outposts of yesteryear. But even there, burgeoning growth has made
it harder for residents to keep up with important news affecting their lives and
neighborhoods.

How often have you read about a decision impacting you or your local area -
after a vote was taken at the local, state or national level?

If you've ever wondered why you weren't informed and given a chance to  
voice your opinion before a law was passed, a regulation changed or a major
development approved, then you won't want to miss reading Our Back Fence.

Our goal is to keep readers in East County informed about important matters
that directly
affect our lives and our communities. For examples, we aim to cover issures
taht affect working people, small businesses, the middle class, the poor, the
elderly, and our children. Issues such as education, health care, and our
environment.

We'll cover major land use projects, such as Sunrise PowerLink (high voltage
towers and lines that SDG&E hopes to march through Anza Borrego Desert and
onward through mountain and desert towns in East County) and Blackwater
West (a proposed private military training camp adjacent to national forest
land in Potrero).

Our Back Fence will also report on key actions by East County's school boards,
city councils, planing boards, water boards and other local entities.

In addition, we'll keep you up to date on votes and measures pending before
the San Diego Board of Supervisors, California State Legislature and Congress
that will affect the people and character of East County.

We'll also shine a light on open government laws and report whenever elected
officials fail to honor the public's right to speak out or obtain information. We'll
even give you tips on how to run for office yourself!

In addition to covering community news, politics and key social issues, Our
Back Fence will also include just-for fun features highlighting the best of East
County: restaurant reviews, festivals, back roads discoveries, plus profiles of
businesses and individuals who are going the extra mile to help people in our
community.

Since my pet peeve is reading reviews after they've occurred, our publication
will give previews of upcoming activities, such as the Julian Grape Stomp or
an inspiring speaker, so you can make plans to attend.

So......take a short while to relax, savor a piping hot cup of coffee or mug of
your favorite brew.

Take a mental break - imagine yourself on a porch chair or leaning over that
bygone back fence while you read Our Back Fence.

Then let us know what you think-and how we can improve our publication in
the future. Finally, please pass this issue on to your friends and neighbors - the
electronic version of spreading news over the back fence.

Miriam Raftery
Editor
©2007 Our Back Fence
and
Marketing Strategies of California
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Webmaster@WalterDavisEnterprises.com