Category: San Diego

By Lindsay Whitehurst / PBS – Associated Press / Nov. 2, 2026

Trump administration appeals to Supreme Court to sideline 20,000 disputed California mail ballots

See Below — Analysis: More than 40% of names on DOJ list of alleged noncitizens not on California’s voter rolls

President Donald Trump’s administration appealed to the Supreme Court on Monday — today, Nov. 2 — in its push to sideline thousands of disputed California mail ballots the day before the pivotal midterm elections.

The emergency appeal came after a divided appeals court rejected the request to set aside ballots from some 20,000 people the federal government suspects may not be citizens. It also came just hours before another federal judge ruled against the administration’s efforts to make last-minute changes in California’s election.

The federal government says those ballots should not be counted until the voters’ status can be verified. California officials say the list is highly unreliable and likely includes many people who are U.S. citizens.

The Republican Trump administration has prioritized identifying noncitizen voters this year, despite them being rare.

A district court judge had previously denied the Justice Department’s request and warned that the demand could disenfranchise citizens in Tuesday’s midterm elections to determine control of Congress.

November 2nd Monday 12 pm – 1 pm Interfaith Vigil for Earth Justice
November 3rd Tuesday — Last Day to Vote in Mid-Terms; protect the vote — keep in tune; be aware of Trump’s efforts to rig the elections. The OB Rag will have an all-day Live Blog. 

November 4th  Wednesday 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm Monthly Social for Makers, Tinkerers and Creatives

November 4th Wednesday 8 pm – 9 pm No Kings Post-Election Call: What Happened In the event of election interference or sabotage,

November 5th Thursday 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm BikeSD’s Gears & Cheer 2026

November 6th Friday 6 pm – 9 pm Boot Scootin’ Boogie fundraiser for SNAP Spay Neuter Action

November 6th Friday 10 am -1:15 pm  FILM SCREENING : WHAT THE RIVER KNOWscajon/

November 6th Friday 5 pm – 9 Final Market! San Diego Sustainable Night Market

By Staff

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members and the general San Diego public informed about important Council hearings and other city public meetings, particularly this week the San Diego Planning Commission.

The full City Council is adjourned this week for elections.

Thursday, November 5:

Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, 9:00 a.m.

Agenda:

Item 2: Proposed Revisions to Council Policies 900-20 Naming of City Assets and 000-40 Marketing Partnerships

Why it matters: The proposed revisions appear to strengthen transparency and oversight while maximizing potential revenue. But in a cash-poor city that continues to squander public trust, this issue will always need close scrutiny.

Local Artists Associated with San Diego Museum of Art Sponsoring Exhibition

A group of local artists associated with the San Diego Museum of Art are sponsoring an exhibit in downtown Ocean Beach starting Tuesday, November 3rd. The exhibition entitled Takeover: Small-Scale Works will consist of fifty-five paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, and mixed-media works by forty artists, none of which are larger than 16 inches in any direction.

This is all happening at SHIFT Gallery at 4847 Newport Avenue (across the street from Target) by the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild. Barbara Sexton, nationally known artist and retired Mesa College art professor, selected the art from 221 entries in a juried competition.

Takeover will run November 3 through November 17 at SHIFT Gallery. SHIFT is open seven days a week from noon to six p.m. and by appointment. The public is invited to meet participating artists at a gallery reception on Thursday, November 5, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

By Michael Angelo Hernandez

Another man loses his life under the custody of the president’s pseudo-paramilitary force, ICE. On Wednesday, October 28, San Diego County confirmed the name of the deceased inmate as Guillermo Pascual Verganza. The 43-year-old Guatemalan man died inside the Otay Mesa Detention Center on Saturday, October 24. In their official press release, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said:

“At approximately 11:31 a.m. Oct. 24, facility staff observed Jimenez in his assigned safety cell and attempted to wake him after he was unresponsive. Facility staff contacted medical personnel, declared a medical emergency, and called 911. Medical personnel began cardiopulmonary resuscitation at approximately 11:38 a.m. Paramedics from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection arrived at approximately 11:52 a.m. and continued lifesaving measures. A paramedic pronounced Jimenez deceased at approximately 12:23 p.m.”

ICE’s press release originally misidentified Verganza as “Roberto Jimenez Gutierrez” and characterized him as a “criminal illegal alien”. Immediately following the announcement of his death, ICE listed the man’s alleged criminal history, including a 2024 conviction for selling liquor to a minor, prior arrests for battery against a spouse, and child abuse among other charges. Charges which his family insists are all made up.

By Laura Acevedo / 10News / Oct 29, 2026

The city is on the verge of evicting a decades-old business in Mission Bay, saying it’s millions of dollars behind on rent and other fees. The Mission Bay Sports Center has until Monday, November 2, to pay nearly $1 million in overdue rent to the city.

On its website, Mission Bay Sports Center advertises itself as a locally owned water sports destination, offering rentals for things like jet skis, powerboats, and paddle boards.

But according to the city, this business is $4.2 million behind on rent, interest fees, and things like water charges and audit-related penalties. According to a default notice, the Mission Bay Sports Center now has until Monday to pay nearly $1 million or face eviction proceedings.

Editordude: A big backer of Richard Bailey, Richard S Richter, has published attack mailers that call Democrat Nicole Crosby the “Flock Candidate” — despite her opposition to the cameras. Richter is the top funder of the mailer’s ad committee.

by Jakob McWhinney / Voice of San Diego / October 28, 2026

Everyone seems to be against Flock these days.

[Please go to original for important links]

Look no further than the heated race in San Diego’s District 2 between Democrat Nicole Crosby and Republican-turned-independent Richard Bailey. Support of Flock cameras has become a standard line of attack in the race — what’s surprising is who is on the receiving end.

Supporters of Bailey have sent several mailers slamming Crosby for her support of Flock, dubbing her “San Diego’s Flock camera candidate.”

“San Diego has over 500 Flock cameras monitoring you every time you drive. With Nicole Crosby on the City Council, San Diego will get MORE,” one anti-Crosby mailer reads. Beside the text, an oversized Flock camera is positioned to capture the reader.

There’s just one problem: Crosby is a vocal opponent of Flock.

by Jake Kincaid / inewsource / October 28, 2026

The San Diego County Registrar of Voters told the U.S. Justice Department that it won’t comply with a demand — accompanied by a legal threat — to turn over private voter information like Social Security numbers and to not count ballots from 1,709 San Diego voters until their citizenship can be verified.

In a defiant letter Tuesday, the county said it is “legally prohibited” from doing so. And it offered a legal threat of its own: “The County reserves its rights to pursue all legal remedies against DOJ for its unlawful intimidation of election officials and California voters.”

The letter from County Counsel Damon Brown to California Southern District U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said,

“The DOJ’s request is a thinly veiled voter purge and request for confidential voter information without a proper purpose.” [Our emphasis]

The San Diego County Registrar of Voters Office received Gordon’s demand letter Friday with a 48-hour deadline and a warning that “the legal consequences for either facilitating or ignoring federal crimes are significant.”

Every county in California received a similar letter.

The Imperial County Registrar of Voters also told the DOJ it would not comply with a request to withhold the ballots and provide confidential information of 161 Imperial County voters.

Both San Diego and Imperial county’s deadlines lapsed Sunday. The responses, obtained by inewsource, went out Tuesday evening.

The county said the federal government’s request was an “invitation to violate both state and federal law based on nothing more than unsubstantiated suspicions regarding a person’s citizenship.” The county also said the requested actions “would be a breach of voters’ trust of the highest order.”

From Save Our Heritage Organisation

In June of this year, we first alerted you to this issue and asked for your help. SDG&E has released new information about its proposed Golden Pacific Powerlink transmission project, including three alternative routes, and has announced a series of community open houses. This is an important opportunity to learn more, ask questions, and make your concerns known.

The Golden Pacific Powerlink is a proposed 150-mile, 500-kilovolt transmission corridor. extending from the Imperial Valley to Orange County. With an estimated cost of $1.62 billion, it would be SDG&E’s largest capital project and the longest 500-kilovolt transmission line in its service territory.

It is important to understand that these lines would simply transmit SDG&E’s power to Orange County and the Los Angeles area. They would provide no electricity to anywhere in San Diego County, yet SDG&E customers would shoulder part of the financial burden.

By Kate Callen

The strangest 2026 City Council race is taking place in San Diego’s most underserved district, and it is scrambling political alliances in portentous ways.

Nothing about the District 4 face-off between incumbent Henry Foster III and challenger Martha Abraham could have been predicted. Before 2024, Foster was chief of staff to then-D4 Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe, and Abraham was a full-time neonatal nurse. Neither had ever run for elected office.

On March 5, 2024, Foster won a special election to replace his boss after she became a county supervisor. One year later, the Council repealed the infamous Footnote 7 that targeted two D4 communities for overdensity. Abraham, a community activist who helped draw attention to Footnote 7, was preparing to oppose Foster in the D4 primary.

At that point in election cycles, the incumbent would build a campaign war chest and call in favors from powerbrokers. The challenger would pound the pavements with stalwart volunteers and raise modest money. The outcome would be pre-ordained.

That has not happened in District 4. Abraham now has clear momentum and appears to be ahead of Foster. Why has the race become such an outlier?

How Insults, Lawsuits, and Attack Ads Seduce Some Voters

By Bill Eddy / Bill Eddy’s Substack / October 22, 2026

This column builds on my prior column, Right Brain Politics.

What a week!

Yesterday, President Trump spent two hours at a rally in Michigan repeatedly insulting the Democratic Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Trump gleefully used his middle name, saying “I call him Mohamed because that is his name—his middle name.” He also calls him a “jihadist” with no basis except that he is trying to tie these words to the fact that he is Muslim. Former President Barack Hussein Obama also spoke in Michigan, pointing out that the same approach (calling him by his middle name) failed to defeat him in two elections.

Neighbors for a Better San Diego (NFABSD) continues its leadership of community empowerment with this “Update on 2026 State Legislation.”

The California Legislature introduces thousands of bills every year, and 2026 was no exception.

Working with a statewide coalition of policy analysts, NFABSD tracked more than 100 bills relating to land use and housing development, which were boiled down to the ones that we predict will have the greatest impact on the lives of Californians.

Click here to review the list of bills and see how your state legislators voted.