Author: Staff

This is the first of a series of November election “fun facts”.

The Port of San Diego has officially named a beach at Spanish Landing “Kumeyaay Beach,” acknowledging and responding to years of efforts by local Kumeyaay tribespeople to do such.

At a July 14th meeting of San Diego Port’s Board of Commissioners, the beach’s renaming was approved.

Before the vote on the renaming, Jessie Pinto, an elder of the Kumeyaay Nation, spoke:

“The name, ‘Kumeyaay Beach,’ is more than a sign. This is an opportunity to acknowledge the first people of the land, to tell a more complete story of San Diego. The visitors who see this may ask, ‘Who are the Kumeyaays?’ The simple question opens the door to education, understanding and respect.”

Members of the Kumeyaay Nation have long advocated for giving this beach a name, due to its cultural significance.

By Geoff Page

This is a Public Service Announcement – for anyone hiking in the Sunset Cliffs Park south of Ladera Street.

After 40 plus years of discounting stories of rattlesnakes in the park, I was completely shocked to find one in the middle of a well-traveled path on Friday, July 24th. There was no doubt what it was.

The photo above shows what it looked like when I turned a corner and saw what appeared to be a stick. This picture is not the actual snake. Had I been a member of the younger generation that reaches for their cell phone cameras immediately, I could have had a picture.

By Michael Hernandez

Though San Diego’s Clairemont neighborhood has been around for over 76 years now, the story of Clairemont’s development goes back even further to the late 1940s, when local developers Carlos Tavares and Lou Burgener bought 1,000 acres of land formerly used for cattle grazing.

Located on a wind-swept mesa overlooking Mission Bay, Tavares, an engineer, and Burgener, a kingpin among builders, transformed the land into one of the country’s largest post-war housing tracts, originally dubbed “The Village Within A City”. According to a pamphlet by the San Diego non-profit “Save Our Heritage Organisation” Tavares’ wife, Claire, made a suggestion that the new development’s layout should match the terrain with winding roads and cul-de-sacs for the children to play in. The development was named “Clairemont” in her honor.

Since its development, Clairemont has grown to encompass over six thousand acres of land and is home to more than 81,000 residents, becoming so large that it can be subdivided into five distinct neighborhoods: North Clairemont, Bay Ho, Clairemont Mesa West, Clairemont Mesa East, and Bay Park. Here’s an overview on what each of these five Clairemont neighborhoods have to offer.

Disclaimer: While the distinction of the five neighborhoods are outlined in the Clairemont Community Plan, passed by the San Diego City Council in December of 2025, the neighborhood boundaries are not officially defined, but illustrated based on multiple factors including historical documents, property deeds, and resident’s perceptions.

North Clairemont

The North Clairemont neighborhood is located in the upper region of Clairemont, closer to University City, and is bordered by the San Clemente Canyon and both California State Route 52 and Interstate 805.

By Michael Hernandez
With all of the ongoing major neighborhood shifts taking place in Ocean Beach, from the plan to replace the 60-year old Ocean Beach Pier to the addition of time limits and overnight closing to coastal parking, it’s easy to let some other changes in OB and Point Loma slip through the cracks. Here’s a look at five local properties up for grabs which could spell change for the communities in the near future:

Ocean Beach Upholstery – 4838 Voltaire St 

The first of  the five properties going up for sale is the long-standing local specialty shop Ocean Beach Upholstery, located in the heart of Ocean Beach at 4838 Voltaire St. Just three blocks from the beach, OB Upholstery has occupied the property for almost 50 years where it has specialized in custom marine/ auto interiors, and the restoration and replacement of soft tops, classic car seats, and boat covers. The property is currently being marketed as an approximately 3,800 square foot retail storefront on a 5,000 square foot lot. A marketing brochure from investment management company, Colliers, notes the “tenant is on a month-to-month lease allowing for an owner-user or investor to raise rent substantially”. Listed for sale alongside the upholstery shop is the adjacent property at 4826 Voltaire St. Built in the 1920s, the three-bedroom two-bath single family residence is also currently inhabited by a tenant on a month-to-month lease.

If you walk down the south side of West Point Loma Blvd. between Abbott and Bacon Street you might notice a cute and charming new addition to the neighborhood that celebrates OB’s love for our four-legged residents.

With the words “Take a toy, leave a toy” written on the library door, fun artwork, and dog celebrating quotes, the Ocean Beach Dog Toy Library has been open since April 2026 and has quickly become wildly popular due to its location in a sweet spot between OB Dog Beach and OB’s many parks.

The Library, installed by Tracy Dezenzo (long-time community volunteer) and Bill Orvis (OB holiday tree Santa), celebrates OB’s vibrant dog-loving community and encourages sharing and reuse vs consumerism and waste. Instead of letting gently used or ignored tennis balls, squeaky toys, and other chewies wind up in the garbage, neighbors can now drop them off for other dogs to enjoy.

Monday & Tuesday: Last Chance to Speak Out Against Mission Bay Bathroom Closures

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members and the general public informed about important Council hearings and other city public meetings.

Tuesday, July 13: City Council, 10:00 a.m.

Agenda:

Item 52: Sixth Amendment to Increase Expenditure Authority for the Procurement Contract Between the City of San Diego and Rehrig Pacific Company for Waste Carts, Recycling Cars, Cart Parts, Bins and Related Products

Why it matters: This consent item reveals that the City’s haphazard effort to close its budget gap by charging for trash collection has so far cost a whopping $106,526,000. That expenditure is roughly *200* times the $546,000 the city will save by closing 13 (nearly half) of the 28 bathrooms at Mission Bay.

Speaking of which…

Last Chance to Speak Out Against “Petty Assault” of Mission Bay Bathroom Closures

There has been two suspicious deaths in the general Point Loma area in the last five days.They appear totally unrelated.

In the first death, 62-year-old San Diego resident Darrell Cogdill suffered a gunshot wound and was found in a median along Nimitz Boulevard very early Thursday morning, July 2nd. He passed at the hospital.

And late Sunday night, July 5, a man was found dead in a parked car in the Midway District. He is still unidentified.

In the shooting, Cogdill was found laying unresponsive in a Nimitz Boulevard median north of Famosa Boulevard in the 4400 block of Nimitz. Police and medics responded to a call around 1:50 a.m. after someone reported seeing him. San Diego Fire-Rescue medics performed life-saving measures at the scene before transporting Cogdill to a hospital, where he died.

By Paul Krueger

I can remember when Sean Elo-Rivera, my city council representative, didn’t turn his back on me when I greeted him, when he didn’t talk over me and joke with his colleagues while I testified at council meetings, and when he didn’t leave the council chambers during my public comments.

Shortly after taking office in 2021, Elo-Rivera met with a group of Talmadge/ Kensington residents concerned about the emergence of multi-story apartment buildings in residential areas (branded as “Bonus ADUs”).

To his credit, Elo-Rivera was honest and unapologetic about his intentions. He told us he had no interest in helping us secure even modest reforms to the controversial ADU program. He saw no reason to include minimal requirements for landscaping, off-street parking, setbacks from adjoining homes, and basic design standards.

He did pledge to help make sure the developers complied with building codes and other requirements. But, as we warned him, they didn’t — and he did nothing to stop them.

In the five years since that initial meeting, Elo-Rivera has abandoned any pretense of representation for constituents who disagree with his views, criticize his policy choices, or complain about his behavior.

He’s made it clear that those of us who, in his words, “live north of El Cajon Boulevard” do not deserve his respect or even the basic constituent services of his non-partisan council office.

Elo-Rivera shows a special disdain for those of us who are — in his words — old, white, and “implicitly racist” homeowners. (No matter that Elo-Rivera himself now owns property north of his chosen El Cajon Boulevard battleline.)

Rag judges have – finally – determined a winner of the July 4th 250th anniversary Rag writing contest.

It is William Dorsett of San Diego. The Rag will be sending William a check for $100.

There were 7 entries  in the contest and we published them all anonymously. Dorsett wrote number 7, entitled, “What the 250th Anniversary Means Today… Living Under Trump: ‘I love America But It Can Do Better — the Torch Has Been Passed to Us.'”  Dorsett wrote his winning essay on the morning of July 4th.

Here is his essay:

Today marks the 250th anniversary of American Independence Day. It feels very different from the celebrations I remember growing up.

When I was a child, July 4th was a spectacle. My family gathered every year. My grandfather fired up the grill while my grandmother made potato salad and all the fixings. After lunch there was homemade ice cream or fresh peach cobbler. But the real excitement came after dark. Growing up in Texas, fireworks were everywhere, and lighting them was what I lived for each summer.

As we grow older, however, our understanding of history changes. I learned that the celebration of American independence has never meant the same thing to everyone. For many Native Americans, it marked the beginning of the destruction of their way of life. For African Americans, freedom would not come for another 89 years, followed by generations of unequal treatment. Women would wait nearly a century and a half before gaining the right to vote.

By Rag Staff

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members and the general public informed about important Council hearings and other city public meetings.

Please note: New rules on public participation go into effect at this meeting. The Coalition is planning an initiative to help community leaders navigate the changes. For now, remember that non-agenda public comments have a 2-minute limit, but all other public comments have a 1-minute limit.

Monday, July 6: City Council, 2:00 p.m.

Agenda:

Item 201: Appeal of the Environmental Determination for Coast Walk Project No. PRJ-1074172, Lots @ & 17

Why it matters: Building a two-story 5,478-square-foot house on the iconic Coast Walk ocean bluff will carve out yet another piece of the La Jolla coastline for the exclusive use of the privileged. Is there no end to predatory oceanfront development?

Item 400: Ordinance Adopting Updated SDPS Military Equipment Use Procedure and Renewing Approval for Use, Funding, and Acquisition of Military Equipment

Why it matters: The ICE killings of two citizens in Minneapolis taught us the hazards of militarized law enforcement in urban areas.

It is indeed the last four days of the OB Rag writing contest. Given that we’re nearing the 250th anniversary of American independence, the topic is: “What the 250th anniversary means today … living under Trump.”

Send 500 to about 1,000 word entries to us at our email: obragblog@gmail.com  (The best way is to simply paste the essay into the text of an email and send it to us.) All entries will be judged by a panel of citizen journalists and professional writers. The deadline is 9 p.m. Saturday, July 4th. (Maybe you weren’t inspired until the actual day was upon you — .)