Month: June 2025

By Dave Schwab / Times of San Diego / June 25, 2025

Community members in Point Loma recently offered an update on the battle against a controversial project at 1004 Rosecrans St. at a town hall.

At the June 11 meeting at Liberty Station Conference Center, Protect Point Loma — a nonprofit whose members say they wish to protect and preserve the historic neighborhood — detailed why the city’s Complete Communities plan justifying the affordable housing project doesn’t fit and won’t work.

Rosecrans 1004 developer Michael Contreras of Northstar Homes LP has proposed a three-story, mixed commercial and residential building with basement parking for up to 45 vehicles.

The 56-unit project is planned for 1004 Rosecrans St. in the heart of Point Loma, on the site of the former San Diego County Credit Union now used for car rentals.

The project is in a busy intersection, adjacent to Cabrillo Elementary School and the Jennings House restaurant across from Point Loma Assembly Hall. The site was once an Exxon gas station.

by Marti Emerald / Times of San Diego / June 26, 2025

As a former investigative journalist and now a Sweetwater school board trustee, I’ve spent decades calling out public officials who mislead voters. And let me tell you — Republican John McCann’s campaign for supervisor is engaged in some of the most desperate and dishonest tactics I’ve seen in a long time.

Here’s the truth: McCann has one substantive policy, and that’s bringing DOGE-style cuts to programs South County families rely on, like Medicaid, CalFresh, and CalWorks. That’s the same old Republican playbook that’s left South County behind for decades.

I know Paloma Aguirre. She’s honest. She’s tireless. And she shows up. While most politicians are about photo ops, Aguirre is about getting stuff done — like securing $600 million from Congress to solve the Tijuana River sewage crisis, lowering electricity bills for ratepayers, and cutting homelessness in half here in Imperial Beach where I live.

That’s why teachers, firefighters, trade unions, Planned Parenthood, the Sierra Club, the Democratic Party, and the Union-Tribune are endorsing Aguirre in the July 1 special election for the open seat on the Board of Supervisors.

“ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL ACT” WILL HURT US ALL, Parts 2 – 4

By Joni Halpern

PART 2: WHOM SHOULD WE GO AFTER?

The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) derives the biggest budget cuts from two massive public health programs — Medicaid and Medicare. It also makes changes that will reduce enrollment in health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Today, more than seven million seniors and 10 million people with disabilities rely on Medicaid. Data show that about 15 million more older adults and people with disabilities and chronic conditions are insured through Medicaid though they do not qualify for it based on age or disability. Almost 70 million people are enrolled in Medicare.3 Almost eight million people will lose Medicaid eligibility because of OBBBA’s changes to the program, 3.1 million will lose other health coverage from OBBBA’s changes affecting ACA Marketplaces, almost one million more will lose coverage from OBBBA’s incorporation of Trump’s proposed ACA rule, and about 4.2 million additional people will lose coverage due to OBBBA’s expiration of ACA premium tax credits.4

Three Big Targets For OBBBA Strategists

Medicaid is a jointly funded state and federal program that helps cover healthcare costs for people with limited income who meet other eligibility requirements. (Medi-Cal is California’s version of Medicaid.). Medicaid is the largest public health insurance program for low-income Americans and the primary payer for long-term services and supports. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that OBBBA will cut federal Medicaid spending by almost $800 billion over 10 years and Medicaid enrollment by 10.3 million.

by Hector Trujillo / Times of San Diego / June 24, 2025

Point Loma Nazarene student Dakota Briley is in a coma and fighting for his life after being hit by a car while he was on the side of a road on June 14 in Hawaii.

Dakota Briley, the 20-year-old son of surfing icon Shawn Briley, is a passionate surfer and member of the Point Loma Nazarene surf team.

He was reportedly unloading surfboards on the North Shore of Oahu near Chun’s Beach when the collision occurred. He is now in an intensive care unit in Honolulu.

“He’s still going through multiple surgeries after being brought to the hospital in critical condition,” said his sister Erin Lau. “Dakota has had several surgeries to stabilize his lower body and repair his lungs.”

Residents of Golden Hill are outraged over the response — or non-response — they’ve received from elected officials and the developer of a 180-unit mega project planned for “A” Street. This outrage has been translated into organizing a community meeting set for Monday, June 30th.

Organized by the Golden Hill Neighborhood Association, the meeting will be held at Pathfinders – 2980 Cedar street for 6 pm. The group has requested all of their elected representatives to attend in person. And the developer is scheduled to hold a presentation for 6 pm.

Residents have accused the developer and their elected officials have gone in hiding as community concerns over the mega project at street have mounted.

Finally, some good news from the City of San Diego. The City reached an agreement with SeaWorld over its unpaid lease payments last December 2024 and now will invest nearly $8 million in projects at local parks — including Robb Field. Council approval supposedly happened Tuesday, June 24.

The following is from a city press release:

Following approval by the San Diego City Council on Tuesday, June 24, the City of San Diego will invest nearly $8 million in projects at park facilities across the City, including major upgrades to Robb Field in Ocean Beach. The allocation of funds comes from a legal settlement with SeaWorld over lease payments owed to the City by the theme park dating back to 2020.

In total, 11 locations across the City have been identified to receive funding for a range of projects, with more than $3.6 million allocated for the long-overdue replacement of the restrooms and playground equipment at Robb Field.

By Joni Halpern

First of 4 Parts 

PART 1: IF PIGS COULD FLY

The sales pitch for H.R. 1, the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and now under consideration by
the Senate, promises, among other things, that health care will be strengthened across the nation if the bill becomes law. That would be true, if pigs could fly.

What is true is that all of us will feel OBBBA’s pain, either directly or indirectly.

Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-4 th Dist., Louisiana) want to pass the bill and have it on President Trump’s desk by July 4, 2025. Even if OBBBA does not pass by then, the reconciliation process will end Sept. 30. That’s why it is important for Americans to understand what will happen to our health care under the bill.

OBBBA is expected to kill health insurance coverage for 16 million low-income people, including older adults, caregivers, people with disabilities, children and lawfully present immigrants and families. Of those 16 million, over 90% are U.S. citizens and lawfully present immigrants. 1

OBBBA accomplishes this massive reduction in various ways, but some of the biggest cuts come from restricting Medicare eligibility, rescinding premium assistance
under the Affordable Care Act, and rolling back provisions that make Medicare affordable to low-income enrollees. It makes many other changes designed to reduce
access to these programs, but OBBBA eats away at so many aspects of health care coverage that it is impossible to explain them all in this article.

Ocean Beach Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off, presented by Buzz Cannabis, offers attendees eclectic fun in the sun for all ages.

Tens of thousands of visitors will attend the event from 10 am to 8 pm on Saturday, June 28, 2025, for a tasty festival nosh, art, beachfront entertainment, shopping, and more.

Entry to the Street Fair is always free!

The Chili Competition features tastings from amateurs and restaurants competing for various awards, including Judges’ Award, and Grand Prize: People’s Choice Award.

Come inside for the link to everything you need to know.

The following link is a critical incident video regarding an officer-involved shooting that took place on May 31, 2025, in OB at Bermuda Avenue and Ebers Street, offered to the public by the SDPD.

By Geoff Page / June 25, 2025

When I read about the coming trash fee issue back in February, I decided to do the simple math to see how much trash collection actually costs per household. I needed two crucial pieces of information. How many households received city trash pick-up in 2023? And what did that pick-up cost?

To get the information, I submitted a Public Records Request (PRR) on February 26. The California Public Records Act (PRA) created a process for citizens to access public information. An OB Rag article I wrote that ran on October 6, 2023 explained what the PRA is and how to make a PRR in San Diego.
https://obrag.org/2023/10/how-to-make-a-public-records-request/

I sent a request for budget documents that showed two things: the number of households that were serviced by the city trash pick-up program in 2023 and the total budget for city trash pick-up in 2023.

The PRA allows an agency 10 days to provide a response to a PRR. Under certain conditions, the law allows the responding agency to take an additional 14 days. That is 24 days total. As of June 23, the city has taken 117 days and counting. That is nearly 5 times the number of days allowable by law.

The City of San Diego is clearly in gross violation of the state PRA. This is not news to local professional journalists and news organizations. Many have had to actually sue the city to make it comply.

By Madeline Nguyen / Times of San Diego / June 23, 2025

San Diego City councilmembers slammed Mayor Todd Gloria Monday afternoon for improperly spending millions in city dollars, even as he vetoed funding for homeless services and other aid organizations to tighten the city’s budget.

Councilmembers Kent Lee, Sean Elo-Rivera, Henry Foster III and Joe LaCava unloaded on Gloria for cutting funding to key community services and urged the council to overturn all of his vetoes during that afternoon’s vote.

It’s the latest development in the city council and the mayor’s tug of war over San Diego’s budget for the upcoming year as the city works to solve a $258 million deficit.

“(Gloria) labeled community investment, like cultural events and nonprofit support as a ‘discretionary slush fund‘ for the council,” Councilmember Foster said. “The council has not paid for employees that were not identified in the budget.”

“That has been the practice of this administration, the practice of this mayor and it’s time for that to end.”

By David Garrick / SD Union-Tribune / June 23, 2025

Cash-strapped San Diego’s aggressive search for more revenue includes a new plan to generate $3 million a year by allowing controversial digital billboards for the first time.

In addition to generating revenue, the plan would allow the replacement of dozens of static, old-fashioned billboards with a much smaller number of digital billboards in more strategic locations, city officials say.

Critics say digital billboards — which have been rejected by La Mesa and several North County cities in recent years — could make parts of San Diego look like an amusement park or a miniature Times Square.

Digital billboards, which are typically two-sided, feature bright electronic images that change as often as every four seconds as they cycle through various ads or public service messages.

Members of the public — who helped defeat similar proposals in other cities by packing public hearings and leading petition drives — will get a chance to weigh in, because city regulations now prohibit digital billboards.

But city officials are proposing to have the necessary rule changes approved in a way that has been criticized for reducing public scrutiny.