OB Rag

By Michael A. Hernandez

“Open Clairemont Pool Now!” That’s the message Clairemont residents had for the City of San Diego at a recent demonstration almost 2 years after the closure of the public swimming facility.

Frustrated community members gathered Saturday, September 12 in front of the pool by the South Clairemont Recreation Center with signs in hand demanding immediate action from the city, as the Clairemont Family Day event  took place behind them at the South Clairemont Park.

The annual event featured a car show, pony rides, civic groups and much more. Among the many booths were representatives of the San Diego Parks and Recreation Department who were there to answer questions about the city’s progress on the major renovations being made to the pool.

The protest group made up of local residents, students, and athletes was spearheaded by Clairemont resident Gina Spears, who once told ABC News 10 the pool’s closure directly affected her son and his water polo team.

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

Monday, September 14: City Council, 10:00 a.m./2:00 p.m.

Agenda:

Item 200: Award a Construction Contract with Skanska USA for the El Camino Real to Via De La Valle Project

Why it matters: Awarding $57.4 million for a 9-year relocation and upgrade of a deteriorating half-mile road makes sense. But given San Diego’s sorry record of capital project management, any city endeavor of this size needs close and constant scrutiny.

Item 201: A Resolution to Demand Local Control in the Deployment of Autonomous Vehicles

Why it matters: The city plans to develop a process for tracking and monitoring AV violations and impacts on public safety.

Reader Rant

This was written in response to the headlines and text below at Axios San Diego, Sept. 13.\

Hi Claire Trageser, Axios San Diego

This headline link is totally misleading, irresponsible, and infuriating:

“ Meanwhile, a 14-year-old e-bike rider was hit by a Tesla in Pacific Beach Saturday night and died. (FOX 5 San Diego)”

Here’s the pertinent info from the Fox 5 story:

“According to the San Diego Police Department, the teenager was riding a Zooz e-bike northbound on Olney Street around 9:20 p.m. when he entered the intersection with Balboa Avenue against a red traffic signal.

In Response to Claims Against the San Diego Housing Commission of Illegal Rent Hikes, Misused Funds and Lack of Transparency

To: The San Diego Housing Commission
From: The San Diego City Council

This is exactly why we advocated for giving Lisa Jones, the CEO of the San Diego Housing Commission a pay raise by the San Diego City Council pushing her salary + benefits to around $372,500 annually plus an additional $5,000 to “right size” her compensation.

We just love this quote: “We are the eighth largest city in this country, and the things we are asking [Jones] to do come with increasing complexity,”

By Claire Trageser / Axios San Diego / September 11, 2026

[Slightly edited for clarification]

AJ Miller has transformed his Ocean Beach apartment into a birthplace for what his legions of online followers are calling life-changing pizza. The pizza is crispy and extremely exclusive. He makes just 15 a week and sells out in under 30 seconds.

His pies have also become catnip for Gen Z and millennials. They’re rare, you have to be in the know to get one and he shares his pizza-making story on Instagram, where he has 114K followers.

“I think people do like what they can’t get, so the exclusivity does play into it a bit,” Miller said of his popularity.

It’s close to New York style, Miller told Axios, but his favorite is New Haven style “apizza,”

By Nicholas Riccardi and Matt Brown / AP / September 14, 2026

Democratic state parties announced Monday that they are launching an operation for the midterm elections they’re calling the “New Battlefield Project,” intended to recruit 10,000 volunteers to guard polling places in case armed federal officers show up.

Activists are planning mass protests if the Trump administration tries to interfere with voting or ballot counting. And legal scholars are distributing white papers advising judges what they should do if the government tries to seize ballots.

The unprecedented efforts are in response to President Donald Trump’s equally unprecedented moves to interfere in this year’s midterm elections, which include attempts to impose proof-of-citizenship requirements to register to vote and directing the Postal Service to play a central role in deciding which voters should get a mail ballot.

The anxious contingency planning as voting gets underway has become a marker for how fraught democracy has become in the country that once stood as an example to the world.

“We have never prepared for an election sabotage event like we have now,” said Ezra Levin of the left-leaning group Indivisible.

by Ernie McCray

I’m shaking my head,

wishing I could go upside the heads

of a handful of

self-righteous wealthy Silicon Valley tech moguls

I just finished reading about

in a most revealing book, The Nerd Reich,

devious fascist narcissistic eggheads

who, in spite of

their enormous wealth

44th ANNUAL ADAMS AVENUE STREET FAIR
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 – 20, 2026

The 44th Annual Adams Avenue Street Fair features 75 musical acts on six stages and is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. Southern California’s largest free two-day music festival is held on 10 city-blocks in the community of Normal Heights.

Project will prepare volunteers across US to monitor polls, encourage early voting and respond to disinformation

From the Guardian / September 14, 2026

The Democrats intend to train tens of thousands of volunteers to monitor the polls and counter possible voter intimidation under a new plan to protect November’s US midterm elections from anticipated interference from Donald Trump and his allies.

The nationwide initiative, dubbed the New Battlefield Project, will help state Democratic committees build up a vast coalition of volunteers to monitor the polls, push voters to cast their ballots early and create a network to respond to disinformation.

The Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC), an arm of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), plans to train volunteers across 57 states and territories. It hopes to train volunteers for 25% of the nation’s 95,000 election day polling places, focusing on districts with competitive races.

These volunteers will wear blue vests to provide a visible presence intended to counter any voter intimidation, including by federal agents. Thirty state parties have a trained election protection director, with the goal of all states having one in place.

A body was found in the water off Ocean Beach shortly after midnight on Monday, September 14, authorities said.

San Diego police were called shortly after 12:30 a.m. after someone spotted a body in the water off Brighton Avenue, south of Lifeguard Tower 5.No information about the person found was released.

Authorities have not released the identity of the person found, and the case has been referred to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office, which will determine both the cause of death and the person’s identity.

By Alexandra Hutzler / Democracy Docket / September 14, 2026

In a major win for voters, the Supreme Court Monday rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to reinstate its mail voting restrictions ahead of November’s pivotal midterm elections.

The justices declined to lift a block on the measure that a lower court judge has said is likely unconstitutional.

“The Government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge to the District Court’s preliminary injunction,” the court said in a brief, unsigned order. “And the equitable factors applicable for obtaining emergency relief from this Court do not favor a stay.”

The ruling* was 6-1-2, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh writing a concurring opinion and Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissenting.

An Ocean Beach native by the name of Bryson is hospitalized after surviving a 45-foot fall from the top of a palm tree while trimming it at work Tuesday, Sept.8. He suffered more than 25 broken bones, including severe fractures to his femur, elbow, ankle, pelvis, wrist, nose and forehead, all on the right side of his body.

Bryson has already undergone three emergency surgeries, with another scheduled, and faces months of hospitalization and rehabilitation. His family launched a GoFundMe to help cover his medical care, physical therapy and living expenses while he is unable to work. As of this writing, over $15,000 has been raised. As an aside, he should be eligible for Workers Compensation as well.

Here is some of the text from the GoFundMe page:

On Tuesday, our brother Bryson fell roughly 45 feet (around four stories) from the top of a palm tree during work tree trimming.

The fact of him being alive is a miracle.

By Steve Rodriguez

Students of history, politics and military affairs are familiar with the classic definitions of war formulated by Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz. Back in the 1800’s, Clausewitz defined war as both “a continuation of politics by other means” and “an act of violence aimed at compelling an opponent to fulfill one’s will.”

However, as done with other traditional concepts, President Donald Trump is attempting, while demonstrating great frustration with his inability to defeat Iran, to unravel the conventional understanding of war. Some Trump critics are brushing off these attempts at redefining and/or rebranding as nothing but the silly tantrums of a man-child. However, I contend the president’s efforts have some serious implications for certain American institutions.

While trying hard to divert attention from the unforeseen length of the Iranian War – one which was supposed to end after a week of bombing – Trump has previously labeled the war as a “little excursion”, and most recently “not a big thing” and “small potatoes.” In playing this game of semantics, we should expect nothing less from someone who referred to the January 6, 2021 insurrection as a “day of love.”  Yet, we must remain aware these attempts to change the definition of war have unintended consequences.