Author: Source

By Joely Proudfit / San Diego Union-Tribune OpEd / April 18, 2024 

Earth Day serves as a poignant reminder of our collective responsibility to the planet. In San Diego, where the beauty and biodiversity of our environment are as integral to our identity as the cityscape itself, this day provides an opportunity not just for celebration, but for deep reflection and learning — especially from the Native communities who have inhabited these lands for millennia.

The Kumeyaay, Payómkawichum, Kuupangaxwichem, Ipai peoples, along with other indigenous groups

By Katy Jae Waldman

San Diego is a beacon of equality, progress, and acceptance that makes it unlike anywhere else in the world. It is a vibrant and lively place with a diverse and powerful
community. San Diego takes care of its people, and we are proud of it. But unfortunately, the people that keep us clothed, fed, and caffeinated are suffering at the hands of their employers.

Amidst their rapid growth, it has become clear that Better Buzz Coffee is no exception to this. It seems that their pitch decks and investor meetings left out how their wageworkers were to share the spoils of their achievement. Their profits are soaring, but their workers are hurting.

By Amita Sharma / KPBS / April 18, 2024

Scan the crowd-sourced Historical Marker Database’s 375 entries for San Diego County and you’ll see a lot about Spanish colonial, early American settler and U.S. military pasts.

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.

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.

As usual, Peninsula News has the answers:

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’.  

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.

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,

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.