Good News Roundup for Friday, April 19, 2024

by on April 19, 2024 · 0 comments

in San Diego

By chloris creator /Daily Kos / Friday, April 19, 2024

There’s lots of good news out there! Polling looks better for President Biden! tRump is sleeping in the courtroom! And he is IN a courtroom.

And there are bad things that did not happen! Gee, last weekend it looked as if things were getting much, much worse in the Middle East! (Note: there were some bombs last night. That’s not good — but the Biden admin is working to deescalate.) The Senate dispensed with the stupid Mayorkas impeachment.
But sometimes it’s hard to feel it, to recognize it. Partly because we all have some PTSD, and partly because too much of the media is droning on and on about the former guy.

Maybe we just need soundtracks to lift us up.

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‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!

by on April 19, 2024 · 0 comments

in Homelessness, San Diego

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Why San Diego Should Not Be Awarded Anything for Its ‘Bonus ADU’ Program — Not One ADU Unit Has Been Built as Low-Income Housing

by on April 18, 2024 · 5 comments

in Ocean Beach, San Diego

By Paul Krueger

Mayor Todd Gloria is bragging about our city’s selection as a finalist for the “Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability.”

“This award honors feasible and scalable solutions to housing affordability,” the Mayor boasted on Twitter/X.

The non-profit that sponsors the awards was equally effusive. “The City has taken ADUs to the next level by allowing homeowners to build additional ADUs on their property, an unprecedented move that allows the City to rapidly increase (its) supply and density of affordable housing,” said Hannah Gable, Director of Strategy and Operations for Ivory Innovations.

But even a cursory Google search would have given Ms. Gable pause about slavishly embracing the City’s willful distortion of the actual results of its “Bonus ADU” program.

Fact is, the Bonus ADU program has utterly failed to provide even one unit of the intended — and desperately needed — very-low or low-income housing.

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2 New Projects Proposed for West Point Loma Boulevard in Ocean Beach

by on April 18, 2024 · 14 comments

in Ocean Beach

The City of San Diego has just sent out public notices for two new projects proposed for West Point Loma Boulevard, one at 5184 and the other at 4954.

5184 West Pt Loma

This is an application for a Coastal Development Permit and related permit to demolish the existing single-story duplex and build a 3-story building with 4 rental units. When and if it is built it will be a 3,865 square-foot multi-dwelling unit residential building with associated site improvements at 5184 & 5184 1 /2 West Point Loma. It will be a Process 4 permit application for the 0.1 -acre site.

This project should go before the OB Planning Board.

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8 ADUs in 3-Story Complex Proposed for 4500 Block of Pescadero in Point Loma

by on April 18, 2024 · 10 comments

in Ocean Beach

A 3-story multi-family building consisting of 8 ADUs is being proposed for the 4500 block of Pescadero Avenue in Point Loma.

The city of San Diego just sent the public notice out on April 15 about the application for a Coastal Development Permit for 4591 Pescadero.

Applicant Chandra Slaven wants to build a 3,836 square-feet three-story detached multifamily building consisting of (8) accessory dwelling units —

  • (3) accessory dwelling units on the first floor,
  • (3) accessory dwelling units on the second floor, and
  • (2) accessory dwelling units on the third floor,
  • at a site with an existing single dwelling unit.

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Lot’s Going on Across the Street From the Loma Golf Course — It’s the 74 Hawley Lofts

by on April 17, 2024 · 3 comments

in Ocean Beach

As usual, Peninsula News has the answers:

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 The Beat of the Drums Goes On

April 17, 2024 by Ernie McCray

(Written for a Black Student Union Coalition Conference)

by Ernie McCray

Sometimes I hear
the beat of the drums.
African drums.
In moments of quiet solitude
when my mind
is in tune
with my people’s
never-ending struggle
for liberty and justice
in America,
a country we built,
from daybreak
to sunset,
with our backs
bent over under the weight of cotton sacks.

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Reader Rant on the New Warehouse Plan for San Diego’s Unhoused Citizens

April 17, 2024 by Frank Gormlie

By Lisa Mortensen / April 7, 2024

Dear Councilmembers:

In a few weeks’ time, you will be thrown a political football and it’s called Vine and Kettner.  Now, I know the local news media and the current city hall lobbyists will refer to us as NIMBYs but I hope you will see through the smoke and mirrors and make an educated decision on this fast-moving project before giving it a dutiful approval to satisfy Todd Gloria’s political intentions.

I will provide below a summary of bullet points that should be your guide to this very complicated project.  As someone who has spent close to 50 years in the real estate industry, twelve years in the development business and have represented principals in land development transactions, these due-diligence items are ones that I would present to any potential interested party to make sure their goals will be compatible with the subject property.

Here are the bullets:

  • The 35-year lease should be a non-starter.  Are you admitting that we will have the same homeless crisis way beyond our lifetimes?  What are the terms of this agreement; such as the ability to cancel.  Will the next Mayor be able to renegotiate these terms since they are assuming terms of a contract that they did not engage in or acknowledge (sign).
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Open Letter to Councilwoman Campbell on ‘Complete Communities’ from Point Loma Homeowner

April 17, 2024 by Source

Dear Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell,

By Vance Murphy

PLEASE, this must stop!

The proposed CCHS (Complete Communities Housing Solutions) is apparently proceeding without sufficient evidence of mitigating its potential detrimental impacts and ‘peer reviewed’ examples of successful implementations that serve as models for deployment.  I must therefore presume that this is an ‘experiment’ without appropriate oversight.

I feel that the Mayor, City Council and all involved parties must expose and explain this plan to the entire affected population with sufficient time to perform a validation of intent, impact and avoidance of ‘unintended consequences’.  These efforts (similar to SB-10) seem to be an ongoing over-reach by elected representatives to completely disregard (or overrule) the intent of ‘neighborhoods’.

For as long as anyone in San Diego can remember there have been Community Planning Boards with the specific responsibility to help preserve the character and ‘live-ability’ of these neighborhoods.

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More Ideas on Fixing San Diego’s Short-Term Rental Ordinance

April 17, 2024 by Source

Year-old law isn’t strong enough on Tier 2 rentals, hosts, enforcement, density and impact on long-term housing.

By Trudy Grundland / La Jolla Light Op-Ed/ April  ,2024

The first anniversary of the city of San Diego’s short-term vacation rental ordinance is May 1. The ordinance is good but has several gray areas that need fixing sooner rather than later:

• Tier 2: the cheater’s tier [home-share rentals where the owner lives onsite]. It’s impossible to regulate and enforce. In my opinion, this is what hosts will use. San Diego has 650,000 housing units. Hypothetically, they could all become Tier 2’s. There is nothing to prevent this from happening. Tier 2’s are not counted in the quotas. They can be rented full time as STVRs for nine months of the year. There’s no way to enforce.

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Gloria’s Budget Will Cripple San Diego Library Services, Advocates Say

April 17, 2024 by Source

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / April 17, 2024

The San Diego Library Foundation says proposed budget cuts to the city’s 36-branch library system would be crippling and worsen a track record of chronic underfunding.

Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget for the new fiscal year wouldn’t close any branches or reduce hours of service, but it would slash money for events, technology, employee training and donation matching. The reductions in events and technology funding would hit branches in low-income areas particularly hard,

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OB Historical Society: ‘Astounding Stories with John Freeman’ — Water’s Edge Church, Thursday April 18

April 16, 2024 by Source

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Leaders of Ocean Beach Town Council Want to Dissolve Current Organization and Do a Rebrand

April 16, 2024 by Frank Gormlie

If the current Board of Directors of what was the Ocean Beach Town Council hold to their plan, they will do a rebrand and morph into the “Ocean Beach Town Council Foundation” and allow the group and name “Ocean Beach Town Council” to dissolve and fall by the wayside.

There’s a subtle difference in the names, but more importantly for the Board, it will allow them to carry on as a valid non-profit.

In a newsletter sent out via text, the Board explained,

“The future direction of the organization is to operate from the 501c3, rebranding as the Ocean Beach Town Council Foundation and eventually dissolving the 501c4.”

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Proposed 20 Units on Point Loma Ave Will Only Have 3 ‘Affordable’, Only 9 Parking Spaces

April 16, 2024 by Frank Gormlie

Yesterday’s Rag announced the upcoming meeting of the Project Review Committee of the OB Planning Board — Wed., April 17 — and recounted how the committee only had one project to review. (Usually, the committee makes recommendations on proposed projects to the full board.)

Yes, the Committee only has one project to review — but what a dousey!

What’s being proposed at the corner at 4705 Point Loma Avenue is a 3-story, 20 unit complex — but only 3 of its units will be “affordable” and it will only provide 9 parking spaces. The density that is being proposed in way out of whack with OB’s normal density limits. But the developer can bypass local community plans as long as it’s complying with Mayor Gloria’s so-called Complete Communities.

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True Crime by Design – How the Energy Industry Fools Us

April 15, 2024 by Source

By Carolyn Chase

Why are our energy bills so high?

The Energy Industrial Complex is picking your pocket. The EIC in California consists of:

  • The three for-profit monopolies: San Diego Gas & Electric, Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison
  • The CPUC – misnamed as the California Public Utility Commission – has ceased responsible oversight needed by ratepayers
  • Politicians and appointees that fail to ask critical questions and go along with unnecessary rate increases.  They accept project designs that are the most profitable instead of designs that prioritize affordability and climate progress.
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San Diego’s Society of Professional Journalists Grant Mayor Gloria the ‘Wall Award’ for Stonewalling the Press

April 15, 2024 by Source

Every year, the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists hosts an event called “Walls and Windows” in order “to honor those in our community who have worked hard to expand the public’s right to know by fighting for transparency — and hold accountable those who have stifled these efforts.”

This year, they awarded the “Sunshine Award” to Will Carless — a former San Diego journalist — who works for USD Today. The award “goes to a journalist or community member who went above and beyond to make the government more transparent and hold elected officials accountable.”

And the Society awarded the “Wall Award” to San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, and here’s why:

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Rising Seawater Will Impact Sports Arena Redevelopment

April 15, 2024 by Source

[Editordude: This 5-month old article by Shannon Handy and Dorian Hargrove at our local CBS affiliate deserves resurfacing.]

By Shannon Handy and Dorian Hargrove / CBS8 / November 16, 2023

Sea levels are rising. That spells trouble for low-lying areas throughout the region, none more so than in San Diego’s Midway District and surrounding areas.

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Staff Report: Demolition of Sports Arena Will Have ‘Significant Historical Impacts’

April 15, 2024 by Source

By Dorian Hargrove / CBS8 / April 12, 2024

The future of San Diego’s push to build a new sports arena is in flux after a new report recommended that the San Diego Sports Arena, built in 1966, be considered historic.

In an April 11 staff report to the city’s Historical Resource Board, staff found the San Diego Sports Arena qualifies for all three historical designations and that demolition of the currently named Pechanga Arena will create “significant” historical impacts.

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San Diego’s 420 Events on ‘All-Things-Cannabis’ Platform ‘EventHi’ Founded Locally

April 15, 2024 by Source

Roll up For Cannabis Equity – A monthly column

By Terrie Best

Saturday is 420. I love a good party tip and the all-things-cannabis EventHi.io platform is a great one. It’s a one-stop for cannabis events nation-wide so you can search for your cannabis community wherever you are in the US. Except not Boise, don’t expect to find any real canna-culture on display in places like Boise. Still, the site has a way to make clear the event is a non-consumption affair if cannabis-free Boise did want to get involved.

EventHi was born out of necessity. When folks tried to use that other platform, Eventbrite to sell cannabis event tickets Eventbrite had thoughts. Being a total buzz-kill, they deleted many weed-related events from the platform and they became a huge nuisance.  So a talented San Diego couple with extraordinary skills founded EventHi, a place where there are no party fouls and they will never ruin your ganja gala.

I decided to tour EventHi.io looking for local 420 events and give an overview of what I found for you.

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OB Planners’ Project Review Committee: 20 Units at 4705 Point Loma Ave., — Wed., April 17

April 15, 2024 by Staff

The Project Review Committee of the OB Planning Board meets this Wednesday night, April 17 at the OB Rec Center, at 6 pm sharp.

There is one project up for review, for 4705 Point Loma Avenue, where the owners have applied to demolish the existing structure and build 20 units in a 3-story multi-family residential building. The 20 units are either 1-bedrooms or studios. (See the full description below in the agenda.)

If it’s difficult to read the text of Action Item #2, here it is (in a simpler format but verbatim):

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Ceasefire in Gaza Rally — Saturday, April 13th from Noon to 1 PM in Ocean Beach

April 12, 2024 by Source

This Saturday, April 13th, 2024 at Noon in Ocean Beach !!

Come join a growing number of your friends and neighbors, standing out on a busy corner in Ocean Beach, demanding a CEASEFIRE in Gaza, and demanding that the U.S. stop providing Israel with weapons that have already killed 30,000+ Gazans.

This weekly demonstration, organized by the San Diego Veterans For Peace and the progressive women’s group, Code Pink, will mark the eleventh consecutive Saturday at the same location, corner of West Point Loma Blvd and Sunset Cliffs Blvd, with the group growing in numbers each week. 

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Annual Ocean Beach Pier Surf Classic – April 13-14

April 12, 2024 by Source

From Source:

Presented by the Hodad’s Foundation & AWOL Productions. We’re dedicated to honoring the Old School ways and keeping it local! This Surf Contest is for all the local rippers and families in our beloved Ocean Beach Community.

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The Campaign to Reform the Short-Term Rental Ordinance and How One-Quarter of Licenses May Be Out of Compliance

April 12, 2024 by Frank Gormlie

Steven Mihailovich, writing in the Pt Loma-OB Monthly, gave an excellent account of a local planning board leader’s campaign to reform the city’s short-term rental ordinance — and how OB is currently being negatively affected by its defects.

In his April 10 post, Mihailovich — one of the Peninsula’s better writers these days — quoted Kevin Hastings, vice chairman of the Ocean Beach Planning Board, extensively as Hastings explained the situation at a March 27 public meeting

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City Video on Design for New Ocean Beach Pier

April 12, 2024 by Source


Here’s the video of the new Ocean Beach Pier design from the City of San Diego.

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Just How ‘Successful’ Has San Diego’s Camping Ban Been?

April 11, 2024 by Source

by Marisa Kendall/ Calmatters / April 11, 2024

Politicians pushing to make homeless encampments illegal across wide swaths of California point to one city as proof it will work.

“San Diego gets it,” Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones said during a recent press conference. “They are having great success so far with their ordinance, and we hope we can take that success across the state.” Jones’ proposal, Senate Bill 1011, is modeled after a controversial new San Diego ordinance that bans encampments near schools, shelters and transit hubs, in parks, and even, if shelter beds are available, on all public sidewalks.

But how well is San Diego’s “Unsafe Camping Ordinance” really working?

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Ban on Styrofoam in San Diego Goes Into Effect — Includes Takeout Containers, Egg Cartons, Plastic Straws and Utensils

April 11, 2024 by Source

Styrofoam is not allowed in the City of San Diego. After a grace period, a ban is officially in effect.

Businesses bringing in less than $500,000 annually were given a year to comply with the ban, which initially passed in April 2023. “The ordinance only dictates that you cannot use polystyrene foam. However, we do have preferences for the alternatives that are used, so things like rigid plastic that can be recycled,” said Jennifer Ott, a recycling specialist

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2024 Election: ‘It’s the Women, Stupid.’

April 10, 2024 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

“It’s the economy, stupid,” a phrase coined by Bill Clinton strategist, James Carville in 1992, defined that election and defeated President George W. Bush.

The 2024 election, however, will not be about the economy.  Inflation is hot again (nothing new); rents and housing are expensive.  The price of gas and food (kept out of the inflation stats) are already baked in.

Women know about these costs while trying to put “food on the table.”  Now their reproductive rights are at risk.  A bitter assault on personal, private decisions. The 2024 election will be about and for women. 

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Labor Union Organizers at University of San Diego Want Free and Fair Election

April 10, 2024 by Source

By Ken Stone / Times of San Diego / April 7, 2024

After a rally and brief march Thursday, a group of labor-union advocates at the University of San Diego entered the Hughes Administration Center and made their way to Room 222.

The office of James T. Harris III, USD’s president. They buzzed for entrance. No answer. “The door was locked,” Meghan Donnelly told fellow nontenure-track faculty and supporters after emerging from the campus HQ facing the stately Immaculata Church. She reported that an election plan had been slid under the door, so Harris would see it when he returns.

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More on Civitas and Its New Design for the OB Pier

April 10, 2024 by Source

From Informed Infrastructure / April 8, 2024

Yesterday, Civitas, an award winning global landscape architecture and urban design firm, as a subconsultant to Moffatt and Nichol, a premier waterfront engineering practice, presented the latest design concepts for the replacement of the Ocean Beach Pier based on extensive community outreach and engagement over the past year. The presentation event provided community members with an exclusive look at the latest concept that the City of San Diego has selected based on the public’s preferences.

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Is the City Liable for Sunset Cliffs Coastal Erosion of Private Properties?

April 10, 2024 by Staff

A bunch of condo complex owners at the foot of Bermuda Avenue in Ocean Beach want the city to help them pay for dealing with Sunset Cliff erosion problems on their property.

These Ocean Beach residents say they’re worried coastal erosion could seriously impact their condo complex, Oceanus. Russ Rasmussen, a resident of Oceanus told SanDiego7 News that he moved into his unit 13 years ago. “When I moved in, the bluff was eroding right in front of our complex.”

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