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Border watch group could rent or buy Campo home


Minutemen may be seeking to train at a permanent site
By Leslie Berestein
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 21, 2005

What began this summer as a series of temporary civilian patrols along the border in East County could become permanent, with at least one border watch group hoping to establish a long-term address.

Real estate agents who work in the Campo area have received inquiries from people identifying themselves as part of a patrol group, or calling on behalf of one, looking to buy or rent property. And one prospective benefactress is considering buying a property where border watchers could stay and train in exchange for maintenance.

"The Minutemen would be able to use it if they did work around the place," said Kathy Severin, 58, a self-described philanthropist who says she wants to help because she is "a staunch supporter of volunteerism."

Severin, who with her husband owns several properties in Chula Vista, traveled to Campo for a July patrol event held by the California Minutemen.

The group, led by an ex-postal clerk from Oceanside, has been conducting controversial armed patrols in the area on and off since then.

Participants have been allowed to use some private properties, but usually they have to camp, often right on the border.

"We are going to work our rent off by working security of the land and stuff like that, and helping her out with stuff," said organizer Jim Chase, 58. "This one will have buildings and everything, and places to sleep, so that would be a good property."

Severin said she hasn't bought a property yet. She said she pays out of pocket to maintain private hospices and other charities, and had been looking for property in East County to set up a rehabilitation facility before she met the border watchers in July.

"I would take someone like the Minutemen and say, 'Guys, there is a tractor, I need a pad done over there,' " Severin said. "If I should get a place, they would physically take care of it for my foundation."

Linda Chase, who participates in the patrols with her husband, said the main appeal of having a private place to sleep, camp and train is to be able to shake off protesters, along with the legal observers who monitor patrol groups for civil and human rights violations.

"If they come on private land, you can arrest them," she said. "The best offense is a defense."

Chase said she and her husband looked into buying border property themselves, but found it too expensive. She said she is retired; her husband left the postal service in 2000. A Vietman veteran, he collects retirement and disability, the latter mostly due to post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.

They own a modest home in an inland part of Oceanside.

"We'd love to invest ourselves, but we have no money to do that," she said, adding that if the group is given a property to use, no one staying there would "freeload."

"Nobody would be allowed to use it unless they're actually doing border work," she said.

Kathy Severin is married to Earl L. Severin, 84, and lives in Chula Vista. She said her husband, who is battling an illness, comes from a family that developed part of La Mesa and for whom Severin Drive is named.

She became involved with the California Minutemen after a friend volunteered for their July event, and has since helped the group with supplies. She said she also helped out "one or two" down-and-out border watchers.

"They came for a cause, but I found out they had personal circumstances," Severin said. "They are now rebuilding their lives. I find all these broken people."

Other people, too, have been inquiring into property for border watchers.

One Campo real estate agent said that in recent weeks he has received calls from two people asking about property to purchase or lease for unspecified patrol groups.

"They were looking for somewhere to operate off, I believe," said Gordon Kelly, who runs the Campo office of El Cajon-based Glen D. Mitchel Realtors.

One of the callers was a real estate agent who said she was acting on behalf of one of the groups; the other was a wealthy woman, he said, though not Severin.

Neither caller followed through.

About a month ago, another real estate agent who was showing the long-vacant Bankhead Springs Hotel between Boulevard and Jacumba was approached by a man with an unusual request.

"He came by and asked if it was rentable for this border-watching group," said Pete Dart of Independence Realty in Campo. "They wanted to rent it for a month."

The owner said no, because it needed too much work, he said.

At least two other border watch groups have been operating in East County recently: one called Minuteman Corps of California and another called Friends of the Border Patrol.

Organizers from both groups said they have not been inquiring about real estate or being offered property.

Andy Ramirez, of the Friends group, said local people have offered him money, but no real estate.

"I'd love to get approached like that," Ramirez said.

Local law enforcement officials aren't crazy about the idea.

The California Minutemen, in particular, have irked sheriff's deputies with an approach that is more confrontational than that of other groups in the area, patrolling heavily armed along dangerous stretches right on the border.

Since July, deputies have responded to at least 50 calls involving the group, said Sgt. Mike Radovich.

One call this summer came from participants who said they'd been shot at from Mexico, something deputies could not confirm.

Last week, deputies were contacted about a border watcher waving a shotgun at legal observers. No one was arrested.

"Jim Chase and his Minutemen are taxing our community," Radovich said. "They are diverting services away from the community that could be better utilized."

Radovich said the department spent "thousands and thousands" on additional deputies called in to keep the peace when the group, which was followed by protesters, first came to Campo in July.

Another concern is the group's promotion of firearms use. On its Web site, participants were recently urged to buy an "Official CA Minuteman Rifle" for $599 at a Clairemont Mesa sporting goods store, and to "ask for the special on the hollow-point .223 ammo."

Neighbors don't seem to know what to make of a permanent border-watcher presence.

"I think the majority of the community is in favor of these groups," said Bev Esry, the chairwoman of the local planning commission in Campo.

Lynn Neff, who maintains a community Web site and bulletin board, said she hasn't seen any messages posted either for or against groups lately and thinks "people are just indifferent at this point."

"If they were sanctioned by the Border Patrol and trained by the Border Patrol, I would be more for it than not," Neff said. "I just think they are not trained well enough . . . I would hate to see them shooting people out there."