Author: Staff

Town Hall Hosted by San Diego Community Coalition on Dec. 13

Rag Staff Report

At the December 13 San Diego Community Coalition Town Hall, Union-Tribune City Hall Reporter David Garrick spoke candidly, listened carefully, and laid out the challenges facing journalists who cover local government.

As the City Hall reporter for the city’s major metropolitan daily, Garrick is the unofficial dean of the San Diego press corps. When he started covering City Hall in 2014, Kevin Faulconer was the new Mayor, Todd Gloria was City Council President, and Sempra Energy occupied the tower at 101 Ash Street.

In an hour-long exchange at the Logan Heights Library with community activists from across the city, Garrick was straightforward and thoughtful.

He explained that while journalists rarely report things perfectly, they always try to report things accurately. Throughout the discussion, he was open to hearing views that had not occurred to him.

By Jillian Butler

As wallets tighten under economic uncertainty and SDG&E  prices soar to astronomical highs, a beloved Ocean Beach gathering place is fighting to keep its doors open.

Owned by Kyle Schubert, Long Story Irish Pub has been a community hub for people hailing from all walks of life -– from aspiring musicians playing at their Tuesday open mic nights to Little League teams celebrating a win over lunch, to sports fans catching a Padres game.

A seasoned restaurateur, Schubert moved from Sacramento to San Diego to both open Long Story Irish Pub with his friends and to be with his long time partner, Azure. The namesake of his pub is a tribute to the “long story” of his love for Azure. Schubert met his partner when he was only 13 years old, and followed her down to San Diego decades later, laying down roots here.

Coalition Bulletin: “This Week at City Hall”

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members and the public informed about important Council and Planning Commission Hearings. City Hall is beginning to wind down this week before it goes into a 3-week legislative recess for the holidays. We will resume this bulletin when the city government reopens Monday, January 12.

Monday, December 15: City Council, 10:00 a.m.

Agenda link:

Items include: Closed session discussion of “City of San Diego v. 101 Ash, LLC et al,” involving “the City’s claims against its contractors for negligent disruption of asbestos during renovations of the 101 Ash Street property.”

Why it matters: After 10 long years of civic disgrace and hundreds of millions of dollars gone, this albatross is still around the city’s neck. Will it ever end?

Monday, December 15: City Council, 2:00 p.m.

Agenda link:

By OB Rag Staff Report

Much like Cabinet meetings at the White House, the San Diego City Council on Monday re-elected Council President Joe La Cava unanimously and with tributes that were downright worshipful.

The casting of ballots took mere minutes and seemed to follow a script where each Councilmember recited a different set of La Cava’s awesome leadership skills. Only Councilmember Henry Foster III declined to join the performance. Councilmember Jen Campbell was absent.

Excerpts:

Council President Pro Tem Kent Lee (made the nomination): “President La Cava has approached this role with thoughtfulness, integrity and transparency and has shown a willingness to work thoughtfully and collaboratively with the community.”

Coalition Bulletin: This Week at City Hall

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members informed about important Council and Planning Commission Hearings. Agendas may change before the meetings. For an updated list, visit the OB Rag on Monday.

Monday, December 8: City Council, 2:00 p.m.

Agenda Link:

Items include:

— Selection of a 2026-2027 Council President
— California Coastal Commission Modifications to Transit Priority Area Parking Reform and Housing Action Package 2.0
— “40th & C Project”: This will consolidate and subdivide sixteen existing lots into ten new lots and the construction of eleven new single-dwelling unit homes with eighteen new Accessory Dwelling Unit homes.

By Csaba Petre

I had the good fortunate of watching the OB Holiday Parade this year from a unique vantage point above Newport Ave.

The turnout was big, with people of all ages and families with kids lining both sides of OB’s main street.

The Galactic theme and turnout made this a particularly inventive and lively parade, which went more than two hours and concluded with Santa rolling by in a Harbor Patrol boat. Highlights included several fantastic live bands, and many aliens, UFOs, and space-themed cars.

[Dear reader: if you a photo or two of Saturday’s parade and wish it posted, please send as an attachment — no larger than 1,000 — to obragblog@gmail.com]

By OB Staff 

David Garrick, the San Diego Union-Tribune’s City Hall Reporter, will give a Saturday, December 13 presentation on “This Just In: Covering the City Hall Beat.”

The forum, part of a series organized by the San Diego Community Coalition, will take place from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Logan Heights Library, 567 S. 28 Street. Following Garrick’s brief remarks, the floor will open for questions from the audience.

Garrick has had a front row seat in San Diego politics for more than a decade. When he started covering City Hall in 2014, Kevin Faulconer was the new Mayor, Todd Gloria was City Council President, and Sempra Energy occupied the tower at 101 Ash Street.

San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer held a community meeting in Encinitas Thursday, Dec. 4, to urge the public to take a stand against the Trump administration’s plans to expand Califonia’s offshore drilling. She was joined by Solana Beach Mayor Lesa Heebner. The meeting had been organized by the environmental groups California Coastal Protection Network, Oceana, Surfrider Foundation and Wildcoast.

The Thursday gathering followed the Nov. 20 announcement by the Trump administration that it will reopen ocean waters off the Pacific Coast to oil drilling leases, generating rapid opposition from California officials and environmentalists.

Lawson-Remer said she and others are united in defending the San Diego region, and told President Donald Trump and oil executives to “go pound sand.”

“We are not going to go backwards,” no matter how much Trump calls clean energy “a con job,” Lawson-Remer said during the meeting.

Once again, we return to Letters to the Editor for the truth — and it’s so much more fun to see letters written by people  you know. So, here’s a couple from today’s Union-Tribune, one from Rag writer Kate Callen and another from Ralph Teyssier, a commenter on the Rag.

Re “Campillo’s reforms a smart response to Gloria’s trash fee machinations” (Nov. 30):

Thank you for pointing out that San Diego has one elected official with a functioning moral compass. Yes, Raul Campillo is pushing the reform rock up the hill — for now. But widespread disgust with the mayor’s mendacity and the connivance of eight City Council members is changing the political landscape. We see this in the overflow crowds at council meetings and the scores of angry letters you print.

By Jillian Butler

Ocean Beach residents are once again grappling with the consequences of corporate overreach. As many long-time OBceans have feared, the Target Express at 4864 Newport Avenue is backtracking on the assurances made to both Ocean Beach residents and business owners. In 2017, Target applied for ownership of the building formerly housing the Newport Avenue Antique Center.

According to NBC 7:

The store is part of Target’s master plan to open what it calls “small-format stores” in urban areas and in dense suburban neighborhoods – namely places where a full-size Target store may not fit. These smaller stores aim to offer an assortment of products that cater specifically to the community in which the store stands.

With Ocean Beach’s historical opposition to large corporate franchises and diverse array of small businesses, this was met with stark opposition from the community back in 2017. A petition against the Target garnered over 2,600 signatures. Local print shop, James Gang, sold “No Target in OB” shirts. Ocean Beach Town Council meetings were filled to the brim with community members opposing a mega corporation on one of Ocean Beach’s liveliest streets. Crowds of concerned OBceans gathered on Newport Avenue to protest the installation. One resident even traveled to the Target headquarters in Minnesota to demonstrate against the Target Express.

This OBcean Actually Rides the Bus

By South OB Girl

San Diego City officials who tout “transit-oriented development” for Ocean Beach may have never actually taken the bus in our community.  I have, and what I’ve seen is both instructive and alarming.

OB streets are not wide enough for buses to operate safely.  Cable Street, the main thoroughfare for MTS Bus #35 and MTS Bus #923, which are the current buses in OB, is one lane on both sides, with cars parked up and down the whole length of it. Buses routinely drive close to or over the double yellow lines. When the bus makes a left turn down Cable from West Point Loma Blvd. or a right turn onto West Point Loma Blvd. from Cable, it takes up all the space of both roads, and it blocks the entire intersection of Cable and West Point Loma Blvd.

Most drivers in cars behind the bus try to pass because of the frequent stops along the route. Because there isn’t much room, passing cars cross over into the other lane when there is no oncoming traffic. Too often, the result is a collision.