Month: August 2024

By Colleen O’Connor

If you didn’t watch the Olympics, you missed awesome talent, fierce competition, spontaneous joy and a history of new world records writ large. Not just excellence that dwarfed the past, but a whole new future.

A future I predicted in an April OB Rag column, titled, “It’s the Women, Stupid,” (a play on James Carville’s’ “it’s the economy stupid”) that will determine the outcome of the 2024 election.

That future was on full display in the Paris Olympics. Or as the NBC news headlines announced in bold print: “World beaters: Women athletes ruled the Olympics.”

Especially American women.

Who knew a contest to select the city’s most egregious accessory dwelling unit (ADU) would get people so stirred up?

In the four days since we announced the OB Rag’s “Worst ADU in San Diego” competition, the response has been, well, unexpected.

No one seems neutral about this. Feedback has come from two camps. Some people are delighted that we want to put a spotlight on overwhelming projects that tower above nearby homes and siphon off available street parking.

And some think we’re just plain awful. “What an insulting and tone-deaf idea,” said one of the 74 comments posted so far. “You should be ashamed.”

Some clarification seems to be in order. First, to those who are enthusiastic about the contest — A lot of you want to submit entries, but some have asked if they can do so anonymously. That’s understandable. Extreme ADUs have pitted neighbor against neighbor in nearly every San Diego community. No one wants to escalate what have become personal conflicts.

If you want to remain anonymous, just email the address of the ADU to obragblog@gmail.com. We’ll confirm that it’s an ADU via an online search, and will not publish your name or email — then we’ll hand the entry over to our judges.

Note: On June 3, Circulate San Diego moved its offices to an upscale high rise that, unlike their previous location, has reserved parking. The following document was purportedly found among the empty Starbucks cups and Postmates debris at their prior address.

Herewith are the common terms with their insider meanings that every YIMBY must know. They are not just received wisdom, but also rote rhetorical devices to denude meaning and nuance from any debate and appear more knowledgeable than our opponents.

ABUNDANCE, ABUNDANT: A state in human history that has only ever been achieved in short bursts as a result of social cooperation and environmental grace; the promise offered by every developer.

ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT (ADU): A granny flat, with four stories and seven other units having zero setbacks or parking.

ADAPTIVE REUSE: The ecologically superior repurposing of existing structures that are less suited for their original use than as alternatives, such as converting shopping malls and offices to housing. Not as enriching for every segment of the construction industrial complex as new development, and so never to be recommended beyond boutique renovations of quaint Victorian homes for law offices.

ALL HOUSING MATTERS: An appropriation of the racist “All lives matter” retort to the Black Lives Matter movement. (Since a lot of people started realizing that, we try not to use it in public much anymore.)

BICYCLING, BIKING: The most virtuous form of transportation, far more honored in breach than in practice; only used by YIMBYs in the context of performative or physical exercise. The Ivermectin offered to solve every lack of actually affordable housing.

Goal of $3,000 Surpassed Over Weekend

I am speechless and overwhelmed at the support the Rag has received these last few days during our summer fundraising campaign. And that is a rarity.

We began the campaign last Wednesday, August 7, and set a goal of $3,000. We nearly reached that in just 3 days. And over the weekend, the outpouring of monetary donations not only got us to the goal but shot us to a total so far of $3,730! And that’s not counting pledges and checks sent the Rag to our PO Box.

By Damon Zwicker

Profound disappointment and outrage are the only words I can think of to describe the deplorable conditions in the Gaslamp Quarter, particularly around Fourth Avenue and E Street. As a visitor to San Diego as an employee of an event company tasked with installing experiential marketing events for Comic-Con San Diego, I was shocked, astonished and horrified by what I witnessed during my recent visit.

The streets are plagued by individuals evidently intoxicated, littered with glass pipes and needles. Sidewalks are covered in feces and urine, trash is strewn everywhere, and orange-vested city workers are reduced to pressure washing the streets and mopping the sidewalks in a futile attempt to maintain some semblance of cleanliness.

From SanDiegoVille / August 9, 2024

A recent viral video appears to show a woman being assaulted after allegedly asking a man to leash his dog along San Diego’s Mission Bay, raising the question: why is there so little enforcement of clearly posted dog laws?

In the picturesque Sail Bay area of Mission Bay, nestled within San Diego’s Pacific Beach and Mission Beach neighborhoods, a growing issue is causing frustration among some residents and visitors alike. Despite clearly posted signs indicating the rules, dog owners are frequently ignoring the regulations that require their animals to be on a leash during all times and only present at specified morning and late afternoon times. Instead, many are walking their dogs unleashed and at all hours, creating a nuisance and sparking concern over public safety and adherence to the law.

by Ernie McCray

I like the image I saw of
Tim Walz,
Kamala Harris’s
vice-presidential candidate,
walking comfortably
at her side
into a political rally,
to thunderous applause
which he accepted without pause,
his hands held high,
wearing a smile|
as bright as the audience’s festive energy,
like a man ready, as we used to say,
to take care of the b-i-z,
something the country truly needs.

by Danielle Dawson / Fox5 San Diego / Aug 7, 2024

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, his predecessor Kevin Faulconer and city staff regularly increased spending limits for city contracts by amounts totaling millions of dollars without obtaining the required city council approval beforehand, a recent audit found.

By John Ziebarth / San Diego U-T Guest Op-Ed / August 7, 2024

Last month, Union-Tribune reporter David Garrick authored an excellent article on housing highlighting valuable information in the city’s recent housing report and some information that is missing. As an architect who volunteered for 28 years to help develop the zoning code and has reviewed and commented on the development of the general plan and eight community plans, I would like to offer one perspective on the results in the report. We all agree that we have a housing crisis of not enough units being built and not enough middle, low and affordable units.

Public Service Announcement

The new school year begins Monday, Aug. 12 for Point Loma Cluster and its nine schools – Cabrillo, Dewey, Loma Portal, Ocean Beach, Silver Gate, and Sunset View elementary schools, along with Dana and Correia middle schools, and Point Loma High School.

The Point Loma Cluster is part of the San Diego Unified School District, the second-largest school district in California, which includes 121 elementary schools, 24 middle schools, 21 high schools, and two atypical schools.

The Point Loma Cluster serves over 6,400 students in grades K-12 and its student population is diverse. Over 40% of the cluster’s student population qualifies for the federal free and reduced lunch program. About 25% of students come from outside the cluster, while 14% are English learners.

Incredible. In less than 3 days, the OB Rag fundraising campaign has reached 80% of our goal of $3,000! As of this writing, we’ve received donations totaling $2,370. Somebody likes us, despite our vocal detractors.

Here’s 13 Reasons to Support the OB Rag:

1. Our Progressive Politics: we stand for liberty and democracy and for a woman’s right to choose. We are diametrically opposed to Trump’s banana republic and against his authoritarianism — which include plans for the end of the Constitution and the Rule of Law. We’re for racial and gender equality.
2. We Oppose the Direction that San Diego Is Going: the current city leadership is taking us down the wrong road in its imposition of un-democratically-forced rules that threaten our neighborhoods. We stand for more affordable housing, renters’ rights and an end to the corporate ownership of our housing stock. We also find it unacceptable that large campaign donors can reap the award of public land and development projects.