OB Rag

By Lu Rehling

What does the “Community” in “Community Planning Group” (CPG) mean when corporate interests govern? And why is the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group (“the Group”) so invested in the current plan for Midway Rising, despite urgent environmental and infrastructure concerns that have been raised by the CPGs that are the Group’s geographical neighbors?

The answer is that while those other CPGs, like most in our city, have primarily residents on their boards, the Group’s board members are almost entirely owners and representatives of businesses and business-use properties. And the Group operates in ways that suggest it intends to keep things that way, at least well past the time for major Midway Rising decisions.

In fact, right now the Group is gearing up to fill the 5 vacant seats on its 15-member board with mostly reps of business and non-resident property owners, even though there already are more of those kinds of members and way fewer of residents than its city-approved operating procedures require. (In fact, there’s only one single resident board member now!)

How can the Midway District planning group get away with that? By loving a loophole: the Group’s city-approved operating procedures allow it to fill, by appointment, resident board seats for the completion of full 3-year terms with other types of members. Conveniently, the Group reports having only one potential resident candidate on deck for its consideration, along with multiple non-residents.

And since the Group has committed to filling its empty member seats quickly, it’s reasonable to guess that the non-resident majority on the board will look favorably upon their own kind and appoint accordingly.

Notably, those same operating procedures also require that the Midway planners first make “diligent efforts” to recruit resident members, but that ain’t been happening.

San Diego City Council unanimously repealed Measure C, but state affordable housing law could still allow the 48-acre Midway Rising project to bypass coastal height limits.

By Allison Ash / 7SanDiego / August 24, 2026 

The San Diego City Council unanimously voted to repeal Measure C, eliminating the voter-approved law that allowed the massive Midway Rising project to circumvent the city’s 30-foot coastal height limit.

The repeal adds another wrinkle for Midway Rising, a proposed 48-acre redevelopment of the Sports Arena area that would include a new 16,000-seat venue, restaurants, shopping and more than 4,000 homes. Nearly half of the homes would be designated for low-income residents.

Measure C was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2022, allowing developers to move forward without being bound by the coastal height limit. Courts have since ruled that the measure may violate California’s environmental impact rules.

City Council President Joe La Cava said the council had an obligation to remove the Measure C language from the city’s municipal code.

By Jacob Knutson, Jim Saksa / Democracy Docket / August 24, 2026

In a victory for the White House, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed President Donald Trump’s sweeping attack on mail voting to go forward, bolstering his long-running effort to restrict voting access ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The Court Monday granted emergency appeals filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and a dozen Republican-led states against a lower court’s order blocking the implementation of the president’s March executive order, which sought to increase federal control over mail voting.*

The decision brings the Trump administration one step closer to implementing the order ahead of November’s midterm elections. However, the Court only stayed one of the two court orders restricting the government from effectuating Trump’s decree, a permanent injunction applying to 23 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C. A separate, nationwide injunction remains in place.

The Court’s three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson writing that the Court’s decision could wreak havoc on the upcoming elections, which are less than three months away.

“This ruling violates well-established precedents concerning this Court’s equitable discretion and needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections,” she wrote.

by Ernie McCray

I sat the other night
squirming in my seat
as a woman,
Tina Cordova,
a co-founder and executive director
of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium,
spoke about our country’s neglect
in respect
to protecting
people who suffered the effects
of the “Trinity Nuclear Test”
in New Mexico,
how since that day
in July, 1945,

by Dorian Hargrove / Times of San Diego / Aug. 18, 2026

Two California housing advocacy groups are suing the city of San Diego, alleging city planners illegally excluded properties from a state program meant to spur development near transit stations.

In a legal filing obtained by Times of San Diego, Californians for Homeownership and the California Housing Defense Fund say San Diego ran afoul of the state housing law by requiring that projects are connected to bus or rail stations by dedicated sidewalks to qualify.

Signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2025, Senate Bill 79 allows developers to build more housing than allowed by local zoning restrictions for projects that are near major transit stops.

In May, city officials adopted an ordinance that interpreted the state law to exclude any property within a mile from a transit stop that does not include a sidewalk connecting the project and the station.

Matt Gelfand, counsel for Californians for Homeownership, said that was a misinterpretation. The law calls for a “safe walkway,” but the housing groups say that does not require a dedicated sidewalk.

By Angelo Haynes

The city of San Diego is a diverse community, home to many cultures that define the identity of America’s finest city; whether it be your favorite local Pho restaurant on El Cajon Blvd. or the murals of Chicano Park and the World Beat Center. San Diego is an embarrassment of cultural riches.

In Southeast San Diego, one woman has been preserving her native Chamorro culture for over 27 years — using her passion for traditional Chamorro art to connect with neighbors in the Skyline Hills neighborhood, all the way to representing Guam in cultural delegations internationally.

Rosemary Mantanona is a local dance group leader or Fafa’nå’gue (Cultural Leader in the Chamorro language) and cultural activist. In this role, she leads by example as a role model for the young men and women who have the opportunity to be in her dance group or “Guma” in Chamorro.

Imåhen Taotao Tåno’, which means “Images of the People of the Land” in native Chamorro language, is the first Guma established in San Diego that focuses on Chamorro cultural preservation. Ms. Mantanona migrated to the US in 1995 and created her Guma in 1999.

by Dorian Hargrove / Times of San Diego / Aug. 18, 2026

The family of a young girl who was severely injured when a drunk driver drove onto a pedestrian pathway in Liberty Station in September and plowed into her is now suing the city of San Diego, the driver and a peer-to-peer car-sharing platform.

The collision occurred Sept. 6, 2025, just after 4:30 p.m.

Alex and Leann Tomasevic, their young son and 5-year-old daughter were standing on the pedestrian pathway near the flagpole circle at Liberty Park in Liberty Station when Savannah Monique Taylor, 22, drove onto the promenade, striking the girl.

Taylor was drunk at the time and has since been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Times of San Diego Staff / August 20, 2026

Changes are coming to the heart of Pacific Beach.

Less than a month after the sale of the former IHOP at Grand and Mission Avenues, and word that the location would likely be transformed into a mixed-use development, a new proposal has surfaced to demolish three small commercial buildings and a residence-turned-business next door to the former IHOP to build a three-story, 11,231-square-foot housing project with a total of 17 units, two of which are designated as affordable. If approved, as is proposed, the project will include a three-space carport on the bottom floor.

On Aug. 7, Golba Architecture submitted plans to turn the properties at 866 to 872 Grand on behalf of the developer.

Architect Tim Golba told Times of San Diego that the three small commercial buildings and the adjacent former residence appear to have been intended for housing and will not return to that use.

By Jake Peterson / The Reader / Aug. 20, 2026

End of the 8 is a sitcom that follows a rock band around Ocean Beach, spotlighting the neighborhood’s eclectic vibe. For those who didn’t catch the pilot episode on YouTube last year, the show climaxed with the End of the 8 band (imagine if Spinal Tap and Grateful Dead birthed a surfer love child) playing to packed house at Winstons. The shots of the crowd featured a who’s who of Obeacians, and this was no accident. Highlighting the real-life characters and scenery of Ocean Beach was one of the main objectives of show creator Daniel M. Dyer.

Since then, excitement has been building around the show. Over the past year, the pilot made wound through the indie film circuit and even made it through the first round of Cannes Film Festival. It scored six nominations and won a couple of awards: Best Web/TV Pilot at the Los Angeles Film Awards and Best Ensemble Cast at the Independent Shorts Awards.

Now the moment is approaching for Episode 2. “There’s a lot of new characters,” Dyer says. “We’re anchored in the same cast, but also expanding the scale of the whole world of OB. There’s a lot more female-focused characters, too. If people can like the characters, or at least like to laugh at them — or with them — you’ve got something. That’s what matters.”

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

Monday, August 24: City Council, 2:00 p.m.

Agenda:

Item 200: Proposed FY 2027 Statement of Budgetary Principles

Why it matters: Significant addition: “The Risk Management Department will provide an annual presentation … detailing City’s settlement and judgement payments, including settlements and claim count information for the San Diego Police Department.”

Item 201: Repeal of Measure C Amending Ordinance … to the San Diego Municipal Code and Local Coastal Program

Why it matters: This is an opportunity for the public to speak against Senator Akilah Weber Pierson’s legislative proposals to get around a CA Supreme Court decision that has upheld the 30-foot height limit on the gargantuan Midway Rising project.

By Donna Frye

Last year, four councilmembers (LaCava, Foster, Moreno and Elo-Rivera) supported charging non-residents to pay to park at our beaches and Mission Bay Park and included it in their budget priority memos. Paid parking was being seriously considered as a potential revenue source for this year’s budget.

After lots of public opposition and media coverage, the city council decided not to move forward with this very bad idea.

The issue of paid beach and bay parking remained a topic of public discussion, however, due to concerns that it could easily resurface at any time, especially during the budget hearings.

Those on the council who opposed it, such as Councilmember Campillo, brought forward a proposal for a ballot measure to ensure that parking at our beaches and Mission Bay Park remained free.

>Editordude: We asked D2 candidate Nicole Crosby to send us a position paper and we’d publish it without edit (we also asked Richard Bailey the same) — but at this date, she has not. So, here is a lengthy statement from her campaign website:

Make San Diego More Affordable

Nicole’s vision is for stronger neighborhoods that keep longtime residents in and connected to the heart of our communities by focusing on projects that are community-centered, close to schools, work, recreational spaces, and other essential amenities.

Rein in the cost of living by focusing on projects that expand opportunity for home ownership and keep rents affordable.

Work with the San Diego Housing Commission to create programs that expand housing opportunities and subsidies for seniors and working families.
Programs that help support families and seniors access childcare, healthcare, and essential services needed to thrive in their neighborhoods.

Fix San Diego’s Potholes, Sewers, Sidewalks, and Roads
Our infrastructure in District 2 is in desperate need of repair. As your next Councilmember, she will work alongside our County and State partners to ensure execution of a one year, five year, and ten year roadmap that will deliver world class streets service and infrastructure to our communities. Nicole’s safe street priorities include: