Author: Staff

Historic District at Risk, Seawall Debate, and a Call for a “Seat at the Table”

By Jillian Butler

March 3rd, 2026–The Ocean Beach Planning Board met Tuesday night, March 3, at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center on Santa Monica Avenue. Only seven residents attended in person, with a handful more joining via Zoom — a modest turnout for discussions that could significantly impact OB’s historic character and coastline.

Notably absent were representatives from City Council District 2, State Senator Akila Weber, Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath, and County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer. In a meeting centered on preservation, development, and public safety, their absence did not go unnoticed.

Mayor’s Rep Catches Flak Over “Package A” Passage

Randy Reyes, representing Mayor Todd Gloria’s office, informed the board that City Council had passed Preservation Package A. The new policy could affect OB’s  Emerging Cottage Historic District — potentially making it harder for the district to qualify for historic protection.

Community Coalition Bulletin: This Week at City Hall, March 2 — 6

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

Tuesday, March 3: City Council, 2:00 p.m.

Agenda:

Item 330: Performance Audit of the City’s Key Performance Indicators

Why it matters: The City Auditor states that “key performance indicators (KPIs) are critical tools to … evaluate the City’s programs and services and deliver improved outcomes for residents.” But the Auditor has found that “the City underutilizes KPIs [and] lacks a cohesive approach to KPIs.” Recommendations include publishing an annual City KPI performance report and creating a publicly accessible dashboard with historical performance data. We can only hope.

Item S501: Consideration of an Empty Homes Tax Ballot Measure

Why it matters: Sean Elo-Rivera’s proposal for a yearly $8,000 tax on more than 5,000 mostly unoccupied homes faces a steep uphill battle.

By South OB Girl

San Diegans promoting the protection of historical resources and historical districts departed from City Hall on Tuesday disheartened and disgusted.

The vote of San Diego City Council to approve City Planning’s Preservation and Progress Package A had been a disappointment for many.  Members of the public in attendance however had not been just OBceans.  Dozens of people from throughout San Diego attended Tuesday’s meeting and organizations and individuals from throughout the city gave compelling speeches during public comment.

Only a small number of people, about 4 people, spoke in favor of approving Package A.  However, the odds were not looking in favor of the opposition from the beginning of the afternoon session and before public comment even started.

There are 9 City Council members and 3 of them were absent on Tuesday.  Marni von Wilpert, Raul Campillo, and Sean Elo-Rivera were absent.  There were whispers in the audience that they must have been absent to avoid the issue completely, as all three will be launching into fresh campaign trails.

So that left 6 votes on Tuesday. 

Urbane Café
3954 W. Point Loma Blvd, Suite B,
San Diego, California 92110
Phone (619) 374-0183
www.urbanecafe.com

By LK Bruce

Hallelujah. You might not think the 42nd location in a sandwich/ salad/ soup outfit would elicit such a response but it does.

Urbane Café was founded by two friends in Ventura, hoping to fill a need there for a great sandwich and salad. Feeling every great sandwich starts with the freshest of bread, they designed the cafe around a hearth oven. The two came up with a bread recipe that was soft and round, baked “right in front of your eyes.” The menu then centered around locally sourced ingredients, house-roasted meats, and housemade crafted sauces to give each creation its own unique flavor. Though a chain at this point, they’re still family owned.

Urbane Café’s long-time location at the base of the University of San Diego may well be known to some Peninsula dwellers. Though just a hop and a skip from the Peninsula, to some it is psychologically remote, given the need to cross both I-5 and 8 to get there. Still it was always worth the hurdle, offering a unique take on lunch. When you remembered it.

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

Monday, February 23: City Council, 10:00 a.m.

Agenda:

Items 201, 202: Convention Center Expenditures

Why it matters: After a court ruling cleared the way for the City to start collecting higher transient-occupancy taxes under Measure C, a spigot of money is opening to fund Convention Center upgrades. Given the City’s recent history of financial mismanagement, these new allocations deserve scrutiny.

Tuesday, February 24: City Council, 10:00 a.m.

By Jillian Butler

Within the Peninsula Community and San Diego as a whole, homelessness continues to be a pervasive topic brought up in social media discourse, political campaigns, and community meetings.

It is equally divisive as it is pervasive. Some argue for strict crackdowns while others worry about over-policing. Regardless of individual feelings, the homelessness crisis of San Diego is a problem that requires concrete solutions. Ocean Beach has always prided itself on compassion. But compassion alone hasn’t resolved the growing tension around homelessness in 92107.

The San Diego Regional Homeless Task Force estimated that there were no less than 9,905 homeless residing within San Diego County in 2025. At least 221 of those individuals are in the 92107 area code. The average age of those experiencing homelessness is 43 years old. The gender demographics are closely split with 51% being female and 49% being male. Racially, Black people of color make up 48% of the homeless population. Both senior (age 55+) and youth (age 12-24) homeless rates are consistently increasing.

By South OB Girl

It is unfortunate for San Diegans that many wise words have fallen on deaf ears during the proceedings of the city’s “Preservation and Progress Package A,” which proposes amendments to existing policies for historic properties, historic communities, historic designation, de novo appeal, and San Diego’s historical resources.  As Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) described in their January 9, 2026 OB Rag article:

This fast-tracked proposal would weaken San Diego’s historic preservation program by allowing the City Council to override expert historic designations, thereby stripping protections from historic districts… while prioritizing new construction over true preservation.

Package A specifically targets Ocean Beach for the construction of high-density Complete Communities Housing Solutions and specifies Ocean Beach for the removal of historic protections.  This would pave the way for high-density housing developments with greatly reduced setback requirements and little to no on-site parking.  Such construction is currently not allowed in OB.

Package A paves the way to annihilate the small beach town as we know it while flooding our community with big box apartment buildings that could be mixed in with single family homes and historic beach cottages. Such development would have a myriad of repercussions including oversaturation of on street parking due to limited on-site parking and a strain on public utilities such as water, sewer, and power.

OB Rag Staff

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

Wednesday, February 18: Rules Committee, 9:00 a.m.

Agenda:

Item 2: Amendments to Council Policy 000-21 related to the submission of ballot proposals by the Mayor, the Council, City Hall departments and public agencies.

Why it matters: This proposal by Councilmember Raul Campillo would place new requirements on City-initiated ballot measures

OB Rag Staff Report

KPBS Public Media informed staff on February 11 that News Director Terence Shepherd and Director of People and Culture Lois Hoyt were “no longer with” the station. The internal memo signed by Chief of Staff Travis Tamasese gave no specifics about why both senior executives were leaving simultaneously.

“We recognize that these announcements, though unrelated, are being shared at the same time and reflect a great amount of change for the organization,” Tamasese wrote. “Please know that we are here to support you if you would like to touch base.”

Shepherd joined KPBS in 2022 after eight years as news director of WLRN, Florida’s major public news outlet. He previously worked as a business editor at the Miami Herald.

A woman who stabbed two men in an Ocean Beach alley, pleaded guilty and will be sentenced to prison on February 17. Jana Nicole Halaska’s sentence will range from four to eight years. She is 29.

Halaska pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on Jan. 14 as her trial date approached. It all extends from an incident on April 13, 2025, when she stabbed the victims, Gabriel Millan and Christopher Abrahamsen in an alley at Bacon Street and Newport Avenue just after 1 a.m. Millan and Abrahamsen were seriously injured, were rushed to an emergency room at a hospital, where they remained for many days.

Halaska famously declared “that’s not how you treat a lady” before stabbing the two men.

Halaska’s attorney tried to resolve the case by entering her into a mental health diversion program, but Judge Chandra Reid denied the motion on Dec. 10, records show. and she remains in the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility on $500,000 bail.