OB Rag

By Kate Callen

Here in San Diego, recent news stories about developer Christian Spicer have revealed that he is facing multiple lawsuits, loan defaults, forced property auctions, and code enforcement sweeps.

But readers of the New York Times aren’t aware of his collapse. From what they’ve been told, Spicer has been and always will be a pioneer in urban housing development.

Times housing reporter Conor Dougherty first wrote approvingly of Spicer in an October 2021 article headlined “Where the Suburbs End.” The story said that Spicer’s approach to stacking up accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on single-family lots was “a vision for California’s future.”

Dougherty described Spicer as “a mellow presence” who is “trying to make money by building new housing instead of by making existing housing more expensive.” In an October 2022 podcast about Spicer, Dougherty noted, “ADUs are just the first crack in ending the domination of single-family homes in California.”

Public Gets Kicked in the Gut- Part 3

By Donna Frye

Here is Part 1- and here is Part 2–

On Tuesday, September 30, 2026, Governor Newsom signed SB 344, a gut-and-amend bill that eliminated the public’s ability to file a civil lawsuit and challenge in court any unmitigated environmental impacts that may be caused by the Midway Rising project. Specifically, SB 344 “Declares the City of San Diego’s Midway Rising Specific Plan Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (SPSEIR), which is pending certification by the City, fully complies with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).”

That means the San Diego City Council will be the final deciders of whether the environmental analysis for the project is adequate and what mitigation measures will be required.

To say that this gut-and-amend legislation reached the governor’s desk in record time is a gross understatement.  Here’s a condensed history of the approximate six week “public process” for SB 344.

On February 12, 2025, SB 344 was introduced as legislation related to the disposition of human remains and the scattering of the ashes at sea. For some reason, on July 17, 2025, SB 344 was placed in the inactive file where it remained for over a year.

 By Abby Petre

Last Friday, the Ocean Beach Woman’s Club organized and hosted the 6th Annual Battle for the Paddle charity ping-pong tournament. The event, hosted annually by the Club since 2018 and pausing only for COVID, drew a sizable crowd of spectators and numerous players braving the heat to bring their best game.

The spectator stands and areas surrounding the tables were full and lively. For the organizers, Susan Winkie and OBWC President Arlene Fink, it was all-hands-on-deck as the games got going. The entryways and windows were a constant stream of participants and transfixed watchers of all ages. Excitement was palpable as Susan called names and staff tracked down players for each round.

The event offered food and drinks as well as a raffle with a long list of prizes. Among the many generous local sponsors was the Platinum Sponsor, Skrewball Whiskey; and the Food & Drinks sponsor, Dirty Birds OB.

And here’s the second one on Thursday, October 1, at the Point Loma Library. This one is hosted by the Peninsula Community Planning Board.

Advocacy Group Alleges License Plate Readers Are Invasion of Privacy

A new lawsuit has been filed by a local civil rights advocacy group to end the San Diego Police Department’s use of automated license plate readers as an invasion of privacy. The group, Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, is represented by the region’s ACLU and their suit was filed Tuesday, Sept. 30, in San Diego Superior Court.

Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, which advocates for refugees and displaced people, also wants the city to stop using public money on a program it says violates constitutional rights. They allege that the cameras and the database they create amount to an invasion of privacy rights under the state constitution.

The California Constitution “provides strong and affirmative privacy protections,” said Frederick Carroll, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties, at a press conference Wednesday at a news conference in downtown San Diego.

Carroll added:

“If privacy as guaranteed in the California Constitution is to mean anything at all, it means that Californians should not be subject to mass surveillance, mass data accumulation of their travels, a mosaic compilation of their everyday activities.”

By Alex J. Chavez / Only In San Diego / Sept. 28, 2026

Todd Gloria has spent most of his adult life in public service. Few people entered the San Diego mayor’s office with more experience, more political relationships or a friendlier City Council.

Nearly six years later, that makes the question increasingly awkward:

What, exactly, has Todd Gloria delivered?

That is not an unfair standard. It is his.

As president of the United States Conference of Mayors, Gloria now travels the country under the banner “Mayors Deliver,” promoting local leadership on housing, affordability and public safety.

It is a catchy slogan. It also begs San Diego to look at the record at home.

Gloria came into office selling competence. He had been a councilmember, interim mayor and state legislator. He knew City Hall. He knew its personalities, processes and dysfunctions. If anyone was supposed to know how to make the machinery work, it was Todd Gloria.

Yet reporting this year found frustration even among former allies over both his policy record and the administration’s ability to execute.

Ongoing:
Every Saturday at 10:30 am. San Diego Climate Mobilization Coalition Meetings.  October 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st. Keep up to date on climate issues and Climate Action events. To register email Jon Findley at jon@climatemobsd.org.  More info: https://www.facebook.com/SDClimateMobilization/

Every Saturday 10 am – 12 pm Peace Vigil for Palestine: Advocate for Peace and Justice in Gaza and Everywhere Join CODEPINK SD, San Diego Veterans for Peace, and Palestine Pals every Saturday at 10:00 am at Ocean Beach Gateway Plaza, on the corner of Sunset Cliffs Blvd. and W. Point Loma Blvd.  Wear pink and bring a peace-related poster if you have one!  More info: https://www.codepink.org/sdvigil and https://www.instagram.com/codepinksd/

For updates on Friendship Park, a place where families and friends unite, transcending borders. Let’s make Friendship Park a park, not a prison, and stop the construction of 30-foot walls through the park. More info:  https://www.facebook.com/FofPark

For Border Angels monthly caravans of Love and Water Drops and other events:  https://www.facebook.com/BorderAngels

San Diego FixIt Clinics Event by San Diego Fixit Clinic Bring your broken, non-functioning things:

Turquoise Tower Update: Peters, CalCities & Community Outreach

From Neighbors for a Better California / September 30, 2026

Community Update Meeting: We will not meet on the first Tuesday in October or November. We expect to reconvene in mid-November, when we hope to have more information to share. We’ll send the new meeting date and details as soon as they are confirmed. Thank you for staying engaged.

Scott Peters on Turquoise Tower: From Pacific Beach to YIMBY Democrats

At the August 26 Pacific Beach Town Hall hosted by the Pacific Beach Town Council and Pacific Beach Planning Group, Congressman Scott Peters made clear that he supports building more housing, but does not believe Turquoise Tower, or Project Vela, represents the kind of housing policy San Diego should be pursuing.

Peters said San Diego has to do two things at once: build enough housing for workers, students, families and people experiencing homelessness, while making sure new development is “a credit to our neighborhood, not a detriment.” On Turquoise Tower, he was unequivocal: “This project doesn’t meet our standards.” He criticized the project’s use of visitor accommodations alongside housing incentives and called the proposal “a charade.”

By Paul Krueger

I take serious issue with the Union-Tribune’s latest story on Midway Rising, (see image above) and the paper’s  failure to include a response from any of the numerous, very credible opponents of two new “special interest” state laws that allow the city and Midway Rising’s developers to ignore established environmental review.

It’s also beyond my comprehension that the UT’s reporting lacks any response from the equally well-informed critics of the Midway Rising project, as currently proposed.

Sen. Weber-Pierson’s introduction of her special interest legislation (Senate Bills 344 and 958) was immediately met with a well-documented backlash from San Diegans who objected to what they saw as a blatant attempt to thwart legitimate legal challenges to Midway’s Rising negative and irreversible environmental impacts.

Both of the reporters who wrote this story cover housing issues as part of their important and influential work at the Union-Tribune. I must assume they’ve followed the very public debate about the merits and drawbacks of special state legislation that allows developers of a specific project to skirt established environmental reviews.

In San Diego, the sources for an informed, intelligent, and credible criticism of SB 344 and 958 are obvious, starting with attorney Everett DeLano, who successfully challenged the city’s failure to complete an adequate environmental impact study

David Garrick wrote a great summary of who’s supporting the different candidates in San Diego’s city council races on Sept. 26. Here, I’ve tried to summarize his findings in a more brief format (with the assumption that readers generally know who the candidates are — which means I don’t need to explain them).

Garrick’s accounting is based on contributions to candidates reflected in new campaign finance disclosures filed this week. “The new disclosures cover not just fundraising and spending by independent committees but also individual contributions directly to candidates’ campaigns.”

First, to remind readers of the rules. When supporters contribute directly to candidates instead of to political action committees, they can’t contribute more than the city’s $800 maximum. Independent expenditure committees — which must raise and spend money independently from the candidate they support — also make it possible for corporations, labor unions and merchant groups to participate at all. City campaign rules bar those types of organizations from contributing directly to candidates, but they can contribute to committees that either support or oppose individual candidates.

District 2

In the District 2 battle between Democrat Nicole Crosby and Republican-turned-independent Richard Bailey

• Crosby leads in independent committee money $203,000 to Bailey’s $165,000 since July 1. During the primary, committees supporting Bailey drew by far the most cash.
• Bailey raised by far the most money of any candidate in the city during the period — $51,000.

by Dave Schwab / Times of San Diego / Sept. 29, 2026

It’s sunrise for a brand-new Ocean Beach business: Sunset Marketplace.

Sunset’s owner-operator Monique “Mo” Sapia, a San Diego native who operated businesses in Riverside County, is no longer retired. She’s moved to Ocean Beach and opened a new vintage resale and oddities business at 4979 Newport Ave.

The space previously housed Sunshine Daydreams, a hippie, tie-dye, and boho clothing boutique which operated there for many years.

The changeover is a perfect fit for both Sapia and the beach community, which she is already winning over. “We made our floors a tagging project,” noted Sapia while kneeling on her concrete floor flagrantly scrawled with numerous public well wishes. “We would love it if the community would come down and see our community art project.”

Of her avant-garde art project, Sapia noted, “everybody from little 6-year-olds to 80-year-olds from all parts of the world” left their marks on her floors. She pointed to her favorite message proclaiming, “Some heroes wear capes, mine wear vintage clothes.”

Sapia chose Ocean Beach because it was, as she describes it, “the most iconic beach, groovy hippie town in the United States. Where else do we have this type of eclectic ‘60s mindset still?

Latest UC Berkeley survey: Democratic candidate has 58% support among likely voters, while Republican Steve Hilton receives 33%.

Por SanDiegoRed / September 26, 2026 

Xavier Becerra, the Democratic candidate for California governor with roots in Tijuana, is holding a wider lead over Steve Hilton in the race, according to the latest survey from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.

The poll puts Becerra at 58% among likely voters, compared with 33% for Hilton. That gives the Democratic candidate a 25-point margin and marks a seven-point increase from the difference recorded in Berkeley’s August survey.

The new numbers also come as another California poll released in September showed a similar gap between the two candidates.