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Judge Admonishes SDSU Lawyer for “Uncivil Comments” about Publisher

From La Prensa News Desk / March 11, 2026

La Prensa San Diego Publisher Arturo Castañares won a lawsuit last week against San Diego State University over its failure to release documents related to an offer for a free sports arena in Mission Valley, with the judge admonishing the University’s lawyer for making “uncivil” comments about Castañares in an official court filing.

The lawsuit was filed after SDSU failed to provide records Castañares requested about a trip to Texas taken by SDSU officials and local civic leaders to tour the University of Texas sports arena in Austin in May 2021.

That trip was scheduled by Oak View Group, which developed the Austin arena, and had indicated interest in entering into a similar deal with SDSU to build and operate a sports arena alongside Snapdragon Stadium at no cost to the University.

The disclosure of the trip and subsequent offer of interest from Oak View Group helped put important events regarding a potential sports arena in San Diego into perspective.

After the trip to Texas in May 2021, California State University trustee Jack McGrory, who went on the trip, met with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria to relay the news about a potential deal for a new sports arena.

McGrory later testified in a sworn deposition that Gloria asked him not to pursue the offer because he was about to move forward with an alternative plan at the existing site of the Sporta Arena in the Midway area of the City.

The Surplus Land Act needs exemption for leased land

Editordude: the following was a Letter to the Editor in today’s SD Union-Tribune in response to a Feb. 28 UT article entitled, ““Bill aims to stop Mission Bay Park housing” .

By Sue Taylor

This article describes a proposed solution to a broader problem in how the Surplus Land Act is applied to leased public land. The Mission Bay exemption is a start but doesn’t go far enough.

Changes made to the Surplus Land Act in 2020 expanded it to include leased public property, allowing land to be treated as “surplus” simply because a lease is expiring. Before 2020, the city routinely leased public land for approved uses that provided amenities while generating revenue for city services.

Measure Would Be on November 2026 Ballot

By Donna Frye

It seems that every 10 years or so, the city comes up with a proposal to charge people to park at the beaches and Mission Bay Park as a potential revenue source. Thankfully, once the public gets involved, the elected officials usually back off this very bad idea.

Most recently, on November 10, 2025, The San Diego Union-Tribune’s David Garrick reported that four members of the city council were proposing entry fees for Mission Bay Park and paid parking at the beaches.

The public rallied against charging anyone to enter/park at Mission Bay Park or our beaches and on November 18, the paid parking proposal was not included as part of the council resolution being sent to the mayor’s office for consideration in preparing the FY 2027 budget.

At that time, the only councilmember who spoke at any length about the issue was Campillo and he made it clear he would not support charging residents or non-residents to park at Mission Bay Park or our beaches.

Trump’s Assault Undermines Protections of Our Coastal Waters

By David Helvarg / The Progressive / March 11, 2026

My half-century as a journalist and two decades as an ocean advocate has taught me that democracy is not a guarantee of environmental protection for our public seas or people—it’s a prerequisite.

That’s why, in advance of what will be the third No Kings Day of mass protest against President Donald Trump’s increasingly authoritarian and unpopular administration, on March 28, a few activists from my organization, Blue Frontier, among others, are pushing for a greater focus on ocean-related issues, including clean beaches, safe and sustainable seafood, and oil- and plastic-free public seas.

While previous administrations have promoted offshore drilling and attacked climate science, the Trump Administration stands alone in ignoring the law and Constitutional separation of powers to undermine protection of our coastal waters.

Among other assaults on legal precedent, it has acted to undo the U.S. Civil Service Act during mass firings at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and elsewhere. It has also thumbed its nose at the Congressional War Powers Act and the military code of conduct in the September 2 killing of two survivors of a shipwreck, as part of a wave of deadly attacks on alleged drug-runners at sea.

By Tyler Faurot / Point Loma – OB Monthly SDU-T / March 11, 2026

Dozens of road segments on the Point Loma Peninsula have been identified in a city of San Diego analysis as candidates for speed limit reductions. And as city leaders review the study, some members of community planning boards in Point Loma and Ocean Beach are bemoaning what they see as an ineffectual approach for their neighborhoods, despite welcoming the idea of lower speeds.

California Assembly Bill 43, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021, allows municipalities to reduce speed limits, provided the reductions are justified by an extensive analysis. The city of San Diego compiled a 135-page speed management plan that was published in February and presented to the City Council’s Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

All four members of the committee voted Feb. 19 to recommend that the full council approve city staff’s proposals for new speed limits on the streets specified in the plan.

By David Garrick / SD Union-Tribune / March 10, 20226

San Diego took a key step Tuesday toward cementing long-term control of the Liberty Station mixed-use complex — despite objections from the company that manages much of the area.

The City Council unanimously approved payouts to the county and some other local agencies — mostly school districts, community college districts and health districts — that have a financial interest in Liberty Station. The council’s approval shifts the power to those agencies, which now must approve the payouts they will receive in exchange for relinquishing to the city their long-term rights over the sprawling property east of Point Loma.

Of the 13 agencies with a financial stake, four have approved their compensation agreements, one was slated to vote Tuesday night, three are scheduled to vote next week and five haven’t taken action. Those approvals are crucial to finalizing the city’s efforts to declare Liberty Station a “future development” site, which will allow the city to continue owning it, instead of a “liquidation” site that the city must sell.

By Steve Rodriguez

List of operational code names reads
like a best hits collection. Just Cause
and Desert Storm titles evoking
nostalgic memories of victory.

Not so much Iraqi Freedom, begun
with WMD promises and statues
toppled. Surging to a crescendo,
then lingering like a bad relationship.

The San Diego Veterans For Peace, Hugh Thompson Memorial Chapter #91, is very pleased to announce that a billboard reminding Active Duty Troops that they have a duty to disobey illegal orders, has been installed on the NE side of Harbor Drive going north, between 32nd and 28th Streets in San Diego.  This billboard is part of a national program by Veterans For Peace, with many similar billboards now being posted across the United States.

The San Diego billboard will be up for one month ending in early April.

Please see the VFP website: https://www.veteransforpeace.org/take-action/service-member-support

Background

Veterans For Peace has launched a campaign to remind our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters and grandchildren, who have joined the military, that they have the right and the responsibility to refuse illegal orders, and that we will support them when they do.

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / March 10, 2026

Seven candidates seeking to represent Clairemont and Point Loma on the City Council clashed at a recent forum over bike lanes, ADUs, Balboa Park parking, the city’s budget deficit and a proposed empty homes tax.

Mike Rickey, a Merchant Marine from Clairemont, was the most vocal critic of new bike lanes being created across San Diego to encourage people to use cycling to commute and get around. “The money that we’re spending on these bike lanes and removing street parking is absurd,” Rickey said.

Jacob Mitchell, a chemist from Point Loma, said the biggest problem with new bike lanes is that they often don’t connect well with other safe areas to cycle.

Mandy Havlik, a Point Loma neighborhood leader, said the need for a safe cycling network should be balanced against the impact on businesses of removing street parking. “A lot of small business owners feel like they’re competing with a bike lane to stay open,” Havlik said.

Nicole Crosby, a deputy city attorney who lives in Clairemont, said bike lanes don’t make a lot of sense in communities like Clairemont where hills and canyons are a major challenge. “It’s putting the cart before the horse,” she said.

Richard Bailey, a former mayor of Coronado who now lives in Point Loma, said the city’s nearly $8 billion backlog of infrastructure projects means bike lanes must be a low priority. “Bike lanes are more of a nice-to-have, not a must-have,” Bailey said.

Assemblymember Ward Introduces Legislation to Protect Mission Bay Park and an Update on City Leases for Dana Landing and Sportsmen’s Seafood

By Donna Frye

It’s a nice change to write about something that is good, respects the public’s concerns, and protects and preserves dedicated public parkland. It’s not a usual occurrence which makes it all the more welcome.

The good news is that Assemblymember Chris Ward introduced legislation (AB 2525) on February 20, 2026 to exempt all of Mission Bay Park from the State Surplus Land Act.

Even though it has to go through various legislative committees and the governor needs to sign it to become law, I am optimistic that Mission Bay Park will be protected and preserved as the voters intended it to be. It will also eliminate any conflicts between the San Diego City Charter and the Surplus Land Act.

For those who may not be aware of why this is such good news, here is some background about how we got here.

By JW August / Exclusive to the OB Rag

The Trump administration has rolled out a plan to begin further cuts in the federal workforce, a move that some sources say has a hidden agenda  — to remove employees who are seen as not loyal to the president.  We are told by a long time source that U.S.Veterans who voted Democratic or Independent will be on an administrative hit list as the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) just released “reductions in force ” (RIF) is rolled out.  (The source will be identified as ‘S’ or he/she through this story.)

The RIF is “the first major overhaul of the federal employee performance management system in decades,” according to government news platform, Government Executive.com. This follows the early 2025 effort by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to make massive cuts to the federal workforce. Chaos and confusion were byproducts of that effort.  Its value is still a matter of debate.  The American Federation of Government Employees said this current RIF is part of the Trump effort to “dismantle ,the non-partisan civil service.”

The OPM believes they can reshuffle the deck, do whatever is needed to cut the workforce.  They say, “The applicable statute (5 U.S.C. 3502) directs OPM to prescribe regulations ‘for the release of competing employees in a reduction in force’ that give ‘due effect’ to four factors: tenure of employment; military preference, length of service; and efficiency or performance ratings.”

From OBCF

Submit your Candidate Statement Today! Voting begins on Thursday, April 9th.

Dear OB Community,

The Ocean Beach Community Foundation is opening nominations for our 2026 Board of Directors election. We have 5+ open seats, and we want to fill them with people who genuinely love this town and want to help keep it running.

Here’s what that actually means:

When the OB Town Council dissolved, OBCF stepped up to carry on its traditions — including events that have been part of this community for over 40 years. The Holiday Parade, the Pancake Breakfast, the Restaurant Walk, the Food & Toy Drive, the Santa Experience at Veteran’s Plaza, the Holiday Auction — these don’t happen without a small group of volunteers who show up and do the work. That’s us. And we need more of us.