Month: April 2023

On April 11, the Navy disclosed that it had chosen four development teams for the next round of real estate competition to redevelop the 70 plus acres of the NAVWAR site in the Midway District. Yet, the Navy would not identify the teams on their shortlist. It is the largest real estate competition in the federal agency’s history.

This secrecy may not sit well with local residents who were clearly rankled by the initial concept drawings offered to the community by the Navy that showed a wall of skyscrapers towering over I-5. The Navy said it received more than 1,000 letters in response to the models presented. Ironically, the Navy says those letters and the “public’s strong reaction as part of the rationale for undertaking the solicitation process prior to finalizing the environment work,” as reported by the Union-Tribune.

Two local groups have sued the City of San Diego in an effort to overturn a controversial 5-4 City Council vote back in February that allowed taller apartment buildings and more ADUs or “granny flats” when a property is near mass transit.

Neighbors for a Better San Diego and Livable San Diego contend in their suit filed April 7 that the city policy will encourage dense projects too far away from transit for most residents to be willing to use it.

By Gary Wonacott

I have attended hundreds if not thousands of meetings in my life while working, and more recently since 2015 in the community.

Only since 2018, when the short term rental industry began dominating the Mission Beach Town Council board and leadership have I seen such intimidating, controlling behavior with no oversight.  The only comment I can make with any certainty is that the pro-STR people controlling the MBTC do not reflect the majority of the residents.

Two nights ago, on April 12, a resident and member of the town council was escorted out of the general meeting by police officers for stating an opinion.

Here’s most of the April 2023 newsletter from Luminosity. Go to the original here for links and videos.

By Jake Johnson /Salon and Common Dreams / April 7, 2023

Progressives in the U.S. Congress reacted with outrage Thursday after the Republican-dominated Tennessee House voted to expel two lawmakers who joined protesters in demanding gun control legislation during a demonstration inside the state Capitol last week.

“This is fascism,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. “Expelling your political opponents for demanding action on gun violence when children are dying is disgusting.”

By Lester Black / SFGATE / April 7, 2023

California’s legal pot market has lost hundreds of pot farms a month as farmers opt to quit the legal market. And signs indicate the industry is only continuing to shrink.

The state has lost 1,766 cultivation licenses since the beginning of last year, according to data reported by the California Department of Cannabis Control and the Cannabis Business Times. Low wholesale prices and high taxes have made it almost impossible for operators to run a profitable small business, pot industry insiders say.

By Geoff Page

Writing this account of the Ocean Beach Planning Board’s March 2023 elections as certified by the Board Wednesday, April 5th, feels like writing an obituary, for several reasons. The news just is not good for the original San Diego community planning board.

What is happening may well be the result of the Community Planning Group “reforms” the city adopted last September to put an end to community input on land use.

By Ken Stone / Times of San Diego / April 6, 2023

A Point Loma Nazarene University dean was fired three weeks ago, allegedly for siding with a colleague who lost her job at the church-affiliated school for backing LGBTQ rights.

The dean, Mark Maddix, has hired San Diego attorney Josh Gruenberg to deal with the school. According to Lauren Cazares, founder of Loma LGBTQIA, PLNU Provost Kerry Fulcher fired Maddix, dean of the School of Theology and Christian Ministry.

Every issue of the weekly online Peninsula News has a tribute to the “Mean Green Team,” a group of volunteers who clean, prune, trim, pull, cut and chop their way across Point Loma in dealing with overgrown parcels of public land. Here’s their latest:

The LUMINOSITY committee’s effort to replace the annual Fourth of July Fireworks with a drone show and Festival of Light is moving forward.

With the Drone Show now secured, the committee has announced an Artist Open Call for Proposals. Artists are requested to submit proposals for installations that will be featured at various locations within Ocean Beach during the Independence Day celebration. Details can be found on the LUMINOSITY website. The deadline for submissions has recently been extended indefinitely.

On April 4th, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Thousands of miles away, his death changed San Diego media forever.

Many San Diegans don’t know the connections between citizen journalism in San Diego and King’s death. But they exist – ….

Five days after King’s death hundreds of students and some faculty at UC San Diego met in a protest meeting decided to form various committees or collectives and one group of students and grad students wanted to move off campus and publish a newspaper.

Originally posted April 13, 2021.

By Geoff Page

After three years of trying to obtain a copy, the city finally coughed up the engineering report on the Ocean Beach Pier.  As expected, the pier is in real trouble. The OCEAN BEACH FISHING PIER Draft Evaluation Report, dated September 3, 2019, was not shared with the public by former Mayor Kevin Faulconer.

The current District 2 councilmember Jen Campbell has not shared it either. This report explains why the city is closing the pier every time the surf is even head high.