By Paul Krueger
At this morning’s Planning Commission meeting, Thursday, Nov. 20, I demanded that Vice-Chair Matthew Boomhower apologize to the public — and his fellow commissioners — for his attempt to silence a speaker at the Commission’s November 9th meeting.
I read aloud Boomhower’s comment that the speaker shouldn’t be allowed to continue speaking because he supposedly made what could be considered some sort of “legal threat” against a project being developed by his colleague, Commission Chair Kelly Moden.
I also read aloud from the accepted summary of what sort of speech is prohibited when members of the public address a public body, and pointed out that nothing the speaker Boomhower tried to silence could, by any interpretation, be construed as prohibited speech.
See this interaction in this video of my comments (about 3 minutes in)..
The video is here below, on the Commission’s archive, which is posted on YouTube:
Thank you Paul Krueger for calling out this appointed bully who is abusing his position of power. I cannot praise enough your commitment to transparency and free speech.
Thx much RK for keeping this issue in the public eye.
We can’t sit silently when public officials attempt to bully and silence members of the public from expressing their opinions and exercising their First Amendment rights.
I don’t expect Boomhower will apologize, but at least he can’t ignore the pushback and I think he’ll think twice before he tries anything like this again.
The comments about Boomhower start at 9:10 on this video.
Excellent, Paul! It was a real pleasure to open the computer and read – and watch – this first. You did a great job for everyone else.
Thank you Paul! What you said was spot on.
I was informed that 2 “Building” Commissioners bad mouthed Neighbors For A Better San Diego by name during the 11/20/25 Planning Commission hearing. This too is unacceptable and needs to be called out. The Commissioners can comment on policy suggestions but not individuals or groups. This discourages public participation due to fear that community members will be shamed or defamed for their public comments. We deserve better!
I was in attendance at the hearing where Commissioner Boomhower attempted to intimidate the speaker and I was SHOCKED. I thought it was common sense that when the community is engaged in forging solutions in concert with its government that those solutions are more sustainable, i.e., are less likely to be met with litigation. The speaker stated that simple fact only to have Commissioner Bloviator slap/SLAPP him down with threats. How very Trumpian! And completely unacceptable. Thanks for shining a light on this, Kate and Paul.
Dan Smiechowski: The Historic Preservation Planning section prepares and maintains the Historic Preservation Element in long-range planning documents, including the City’s General Plan and over 50 Community Plans. It is an attempt to strike a balance between preserving San Diego’s unique architectural heritage and fostering responsible new construction for future generations.
As a former member of the Clairmont Planning Group, I understand the beauty and diversity of the buildings that give a city its soul. I support local planning groups, who are the watch dogs in the preservation of our soul.
I would rely them and organizations like Save Our Heritage Organization (SOHO) who, work alongside community activists and residents to protect our cultural assets.
I just want to say for the record that Paul Krueger is a total badass, and I am going to make damn sure I never get on the wrong side of him.
Thank you Paul for standing up for all of us. For some the biggest fear is public speaking and to have a public official berate the public when they do get up the courage to speak is deplorable. Thank you again Paul.