El Cajon Councilman Bessmon “Ben” Kalasho received criticism from Republican and Democratic speakers alike at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, then attempted to join the Federalist Party later in the week.

Kalasho has been registered as a Democrat since 2012. Registrar of Voters Michael Vu said that a new registration form received by election officials on Wednesday showed that Kalasho attempted to re-register as a Federalist. Because that party is not qualified in California, Kalasho will now be listed on voter rolls with no party preference, Vu said.

The Federalists, closely associated with founding fathers Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, believed in a central bank, liberal interpretation of the Constitution, maintenance of a tariff system and neutrality in foreign affairs. The party largely disbanded in the early 1800s.

Kalasho, 35, has become entangled in several legal disputes since he was elected to the council in 2016. He was absent from Tuesday’s council meeting, where one resident was planning to serve him with a lawsuit by attorney Cory Briggs alleging Kalasho is violating rights by blocking residents on Facebook.


Kalasho has also been accused of fraud and sexual harassment in a lawsuit by contestants in a beauty pageant that he runs. He is suing his former attorney in that case.

Asked for comment via text message on Wednesday, Kalasho replied, “Only one person who spoke yesterday lives in El Cajon (and not in my district), but you probably won’t report that.”

He accused The San Diego Union-Tribune of pushing a radical socialist agenda and added, “I look forward to using the UT story as a pee pee pad for my new pet rabbit.”

Those speaking out against Kalasho at Tuesday’s meeting included Jim Kelly of El Cajon and Gary Woods of El Cajon, two Grossmont Union High School District Board members who are prominent Republicans, three members of of San Diego’s East County Progressive Democratic Club and James Elia, a Democrat running for the 71st Assembly District.


Kelly cited Kalasho’s “boorish behavior, his immaturity, his total selfishness and narcissism.”

Elia, a resident of El Cajon, said he attended the City Council meeting to present Kalasho with a lawsuit filed by community activist Mark Lane. Lane, a Democrat, was also at the meeting and spoke out against Kalasho and offered to support his opponent, Gary Kendrick, a Republican.

Lane sued Kalasho in federal court late last month for allegedly blocking Lane from posting comments on Kalasho’s official Facebook page in violation of Lane’s right to free speech.

Elia and several others said they were troubled by the many issues facing Kalasho.


“I didn’t come here today to blast Mr. Kalasho,” Elia said. “I didn’t come here today to call him out. I came here today to plead with him to get some help.”

Elia cited a recent East County Magazine story about past legal troubles for Kalasho, who is is serving a three-year summary probation term as a result of two guilty pleas he entered in San Diego Superior Court in October 2015.

According to court records, the councilman admitted misdemeanor charges of failing to pay worker’s compensation insurance on behalf of employees and failing to observe what’s called a stop order issued by the California Department of Industrial Relations.

The same records show Kalasho was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution and unspecified court fines. He was also ordered to comply with all directions from state labor officials. His probationary term is set to expire in October.


The East County Magazine article about the worker’s compensation case was written by reporter Paul Kruze, who has filed a police complaint of attempted assault against Kalasho based on a run-in with Kalasho and his dog in the Office Depot parking lot.

El Cajon City Councilman Ben Kalasho, at a previous meeting when he was in attendance (Karen Pearlman/U-T)

Elia said he had been to Kalasho’s Facebook page earlier that day and saw he had uploaded a photo with a caption that said, “These politicians out here playing checkers while I’m playing chess.”

“This ain’t a game,” Elia said. “This isn’t about checkers, this isn’t about Republicans vs. Democrats, it’s about all these people. This is not what my party stands for, it’s not what I stand for. It’s not about ideological politics, it’s about saying the right thing. At this moment in time, I don’t think he’s fit to serve.”


Kalasho, who lives in Fletcher Hills, is running for a seat in El Cajon’s first by-district election this November. Kalasho is running against incumbent Kendrick, who also lives in Fletcher Hills, to represent the newly drawn 1st District through 2022.

San Diego Progressive Democratic Club East Chapter President Myeshia Williams of Lemon Grove as well as the club’s Secretary Lynn Powell-Macklin of Lakeside and member Kilian Colin of El Cajon also called out Kalasho’s behavior. Referencing Kalasho’s beauty pageant accusers, Williams said, “There is no way we can support such a man.”

“We are here to hold him accountable as an elected official,” Williams said. “It shows a true nature of a man when he does not show up because he knows we the people will be here to hold him accountable and confront him today. We want him to know and the rest of the council to know that this is unacceptable.”

El Cajon resident Sunshine Horton has spoken out against Kalasho in the past. She drew laughter from those in the audience after she said, “He’s one of those people when he leaves the room, he brightens it.”


“The issue of his heart, soul, spirit, it’s full of ugly trash and bad emotions,” Horton said. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s intelligent but his character is like a child that’s stubborn and wants his way no matter what. And I don’t think that’s right.”

If Kalasho loses to Kendrick, he will still keep his current seat on the City Council through 2020. If Kendrick loses, the council will need to appoint someone to fill the seat vacated by Kalasho or hold a special election.

Reporter Jeff McDonald contributed to this report.


karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.com