Author: Staff

By Staff

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

Monday, November 9: City Council, 1:00 p.m.

Agenda:

• Item 600: Intention to Form Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District for Redevelopment of the Sports Arena
• Item 601: Midway Rising
• Item 602: Approval of Disposition and Development Agreement between the City and Midway Rising

Why it matters a lot:  As Donna Frye warned us in her compelling November 6 Rag post about Midway Rising, “there are more questions than answers” about a massive real estate deal that has the potential to be a bigger disaster than 101 Ash Street. The public needs to ramp up the pressure on the Council. This is far from a done deal.

Tuesday, November 10: City Council, 10:00 a.m.

Agenda:

Item 56: Amendments to Municipal Code Related to Prohibiting Smoking and Vaping in Outdoor Dining Areas

By Paul Krueger and Kate Callen

Just one week after Bethany Bezak was named San Diego’s Chief Operating Officer, a devastating report by City Auditor Andy Hanau offered evidence that she is an exceptionally bad hire.

On October 26, Hanau and his staff delivered an audit of the city’s Streetlight Repair Program that contained troubling revelations about waste, fraud, and mismanagement.

Findings included unwarranted overtime paid to city electricians (overtime costs increased from $230,000 to $1.4 million) and blatant timecard cheating by employees, including two electricians who allegedly spent 198 hours – the equivalent of 25 days – sitting idly in their parked city trucks.

The audit “identified City vehicles with a total of 333 hours of extended stops where no worksites could be verified.” The review also found that “fifty-five percent of callback-related work orders involving multiple electricians did not identify all employees who claimed overtime for responding.”

Who was the Director of the Transportation Department overseeing the Streets Division and supervising streetlight repair in the crucial years leading up this audit?

Bethany Bezak.

By Michael Hernandez

The midterm elections have come and gone, leaving in their wake a renewed sense of change and hope for the future. While it may be a while before we feel the complete effect of Tuesday’s victories, in the meantime we can examine some changes that could take place real soon at the local level, with the next round of properties going up for sale in Ocean Beach and Point Loma:

4222-4224 Voltaire Street

The first property we will be looking at is the 4222-24 Voltaire Street Through-Lot. According to an offering memorandum for the property, this 5,135 square foot commercial through-lot runs from Voltaire Street to Whittier Street, and is also known as 4217 Whittier Street. The lot features a storefront with residential improvements in the back. The storefront along Voltaire is currently home to Bubba’s Barber Shop, a popular neighborhood barbershop established in 2018.

By Staff

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

The full City Council is adjourned this week for elections.

Thursday, November 5:

Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, 9:00 a.m.

Agenda:

Item 2: Proposed Revisions to Council Policies 900-20 Naming of City Assets and 000-40 Marketing Partnerships

Why it matters: The proposed revisions appear to strengthen transparency and oversight while maximizing potential revenue. But in a cash-poor city that continues to squander public trust, this issue will always need close scrutiny.

Local Artists Associated with San Diego Museum of Art Sponsoring Exhibition

A group of local artists associated with the San Diego Museum of Art are sponsoring an exhibit in downtown Ocean Beach starting Tuesday, November 3rd. The exhibition entitled Takeover: Small-Scale Works will consist of fifty-five paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, and mixed-media works by forty artists, none of which are larger than 16 inches in any direction.

This is all happening at SHIFT Gallery at 4847 Newport Avenue (across the street from Target) by the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild. Barbara Sexton, nationally known artist and retired Mesa College art professor, selected the art from 221 entries in a juried competition.

Takeover will run November 3 through November 17 at SHIFT Gallery. SHIFT is open seven days a week from noon to six p.m. and by appointment. The public is invited to meet participating artists at a gallery reception on Thursday, November 5, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

By Michael Angelo Hernandez

Another man loses his life under the custody of the president’s pseudo-paramilitary force, ICE. On Wednesday, October 28, San Diego County confirmed the name of the deceased inmate as Guillermo Pascual Verganza. The 43-year-old Guatemalan man died inside the Otay Mesa Detention Center on Saturday, October 24. In their official press release, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said:

“At approximately 11:31 a.m. Oct. 24, facility staff observed Jimenez in his assigned safety cell and attempted to wake him after he was unresponsive. Facility staff contacted medical personnel, declared a medical emergency, and called 911. Medical personnel began cardiopulmonary resuscitation at approximately 11:38 a.m. Paramedics from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection arrived at approximately 11:52 a.m. and continued lifesaving measures. A paramedic pronounced Jimenez deceased at approximately 12:23 p.m.”

ICE’s press release originally misidentified Verganza as “Roberto Jimenez Gutierrez” and characterized him as a “criminal illegal alien”. Immediately following the announcement of his death, ICE listed the man’s alleged criminal history, including a 2024 conviction for selling liquor to a minor, prior arrests for battery against a spouse, and child abuse among other charges. Charges which his family insists are all made up.

A fight at OB’s famous seawall turned deadly deadly Wednesday night, authorities said.

Polce responded around 8:30 pm to a report of an injured person near Abbott Street and Newport Avenue, and found a critically injured man believed to be in his 50s. He was taken to a hospital where he later died from his injuries. Neither he nor the suspected assailant have been publicly identified.

SDPD Lt. Christopher Leahy, with the Homicide Unit, said witnesses told officers that the victim and another individual were involved in a verbal argument that escalated into a physical altercation. The fight is believed to have occurred at the low-slung seawall at the foot of Newport Avenue. It’s not clear yet whether some kind of weapon was used, or even who was the instigator.

OB Staff Report

With a week to go before the November 3 elections, the Rag is taking one last look at how much money candidates have raised in the Council District 2, 4, 6, and 8 races. The data are taken from Follow the Money.org (FTM), a self-described “coalition of non-partisan organizations working together to create transparency for campaign contributions and expenditures with local San Diego candidates.”

To help the public fully understand campaign finance, FTM, where one of the key groups is the League of Women Voters, reports what has been spent in support of a candidate (“why you should vote for X”) and what has been spent in opposition to the candidate (“why you should not vote for X”).

Money spent in support is generally considered “campaign contributions” that are given directly to the candidate or party. They are subject to contribution limits, and they must be publicly disclosed.

Money spent in opposition typically comes through “independent expenditures” by outside groups or individuals for public communications (ads or mailers) for or against a candidate. There are no spending limits, but funders must file disclosure reports and identify themselves in the materials, almost always in small print.

Here are the races:

By Rag Staff

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

Monday, October 26: City Council, Closed Session, 10:00 a.m.

CS-2: Victoria Hayes, et al. v. City of San Diego

Why it matters: The horrific December 23, 2023 accident resulting from a high-speed police chase that killed two young brothers was a major factor in the creation of a police oversight board. It’s hard to imagine why the boys’ mother is still waiting for a resolution of her civil suit.

Monday, October 26: City Council, 2:00 p.m.

Agenda

Item S400: FY2026 Year-End Financial Performance Report

Why it matters a lot: This is a bleak picture. The Independent Budget Analyst (IBA) notes that:

This morning, Tuesday, a Rag reader was leaving one of the local dog parks and saw these signs posted illegally on Nimitz by the dog park in the OB / Point Loma area.

The signs clearly state that “Nicole Crosby stands with MAYOR TODD GLORIA.” The small print says they’ve been paid for by the Lincoln Club Business League PAC.

Why would someone place them on the sides of local roads? Who benefits? It’s not Gloria’s supporters so it must be Crosby’s opponent in the campaign for the District 2 city council seat, Richard Bailey — or else his supporters, like the Lincoln Club. He can claim denial. They can claim they didn’t put them on the side of the road.

By Michael Angelo

‘No Kings’ in Clairemont/Kearny Mesa/Linda Vista

On Saturday, more than 2,500 ‘No Kings: Vote Early’ events took place all over the United States, mobilizing voters to cast their ballots early for the upcoming midterm elections. On that day, San Diego saw 24 locally organized  ‘No Kings’ events encouraging voters in the county to do the same.

As a Rag writer, I attended two of these events and spoke with event organizers and participants about the importance of early voting and what motivated them to get involved. We’ve already given you a sample of these events, but here’s a closer look at what ‘No Kings: Vote Early’ looked like in Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, and Linda Vista:

The ‘No Kings: Vote Early Climate Canvassing in Clairemont’ Event

Organized by the grassroots climate change advocacy and climate justice nonprofit San Diego 350, the ‘No Kings Climate Canvassing in Clairemont’ event was held at the North Clairemont Park at 4421 Bannock Ave. The event began at nine in the morning with a group of about 10 people ranging from high school students to more senior residents. San Diego 350 staff kicked the event off with an explanation of how the morning would unfold. In groups of 2 or more, volunteers would be assigned turf in the neighborhoods adjacent to the park to go door-to-door, asking people to “Vote Early. Vote Secure.”

Volunteers were given leaflets to distribute, reading “The time is NOW to stand up for Democracy! Overcome Trump’s threats to corrupt the election and tamper with the US Post Office. Cast a secure vote by voting early using a ballot drop box or going in-person”. Also on the leaflets were important dates to remember, including the November 3rd voting deadline, along with more information about San Diego 350.