Category: Civil Rights

Clairemont and College Area Community Plan Updates to Be Considered by City Council Dec. 16

By Donna Frye

Significant, unmitigated, unavoidable but acceptable may soon become the city’s new mantra for describing and addressing environmental impacts when it comes to updating community plans.

And Hillcrest and University may soon be the last two communities to have had an environmental impact report prepared for their community plan updates.

That’s because the city has decided that the July 2024 Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) for the Blueprint SD, Hillcrest Focused Plan Amendment and University Community Plan Update (2024 PEIR) is the appropriate environmental document for analyzing the Clairemont and College Area Community plan updates and most likely any future community plan updates.

Instead of each community having an environmental analysis of its own, the city has issued an addendum to the 2024 PEIR for Clairemont and the College Area community plan updates.

Some of the impacts identified as being “significant and unavoidable” in the 2024 PEIR include air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, public services such as fire protection, police protection, schools and libraries, deterioration of parks and recreational facilities, and construction or expansion of recreational facilities.

By Teri Figueroa / San Diego Union-Tribune / December 8, 2025

Two years after a split San Diego City Council agreed to install 500 automated license plate recognition cameras throughout town, the technology is up for review — and it’s still controversial.

On Tuesday, the council is slated to look at the plate readers as part of a review of 54 surveillance technologies that police use, which also includes cameras officers wear on their uniforms and SWAT robots and tactical equipment.

San Diego police hail the readers as a force multiplier that helps solve crimes. In 2024, San Diego had 36 homicides in San Diego. Information gleaned from the license plate readers aided in nearly a third of the investigations and helped lead to six apprehensions, police said. Without the technology, a spokesperson said, four of those cases would not have been solved.

Police also note that since the system was launched, they have recovered $6 million in stolen property, including more than 400 vehicles.

Critics argue that the automated license plate readers create a mass surveillance network and intrude on civil rights. And as communities reel from the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns, many fear the federal government could muscle access to local surveillance systems despite laws barring such. An Associated Press investigation published last month said the U.S. Border Patrol is using a license plate reader program that flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on travel routes and locations.

by Roberto Camacho / Times of San Diego / Dec. 3, 2025

Arturo González started his morning on Nov. 18 the same way he has most days since the beginning of last summer — patrolling the neighborhood looking for potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity — when he came across an unmarked vehicle similar to models commonly used by federal agents.

González, a San Diego-based social justice activist, first began documenting events during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protest when he was 17.

González is unlike many others who started community patrols as federal law agencies increased immigration enforcement. He is unaffiliated with any formal organization, a one-man shop who is well known locally for broadcasting his patrols to more than 422,000 followers on TikTok and other social media platforms.

Over the summer, González began covering protests in Los Angeles during the Trump administration’s massive surge of ICE raids there, which sparked days of protest and Trump deploying Marines and National Guard troops in response.

By Colin Sekerka / The Point PLNU / Dec 9, 2025

Human trafficking in San Diego is prevalent, profitable, horrific and about as American as apple pie.

Over the past year and a half, I researched, interviewed, wrote and presented on the topic of human trafficking in San Diego, statewide and international sociopolitical spheres. As a fourth-year political science major minoring in economics, I owe an incredible deal of research and topic-relevant guidance to Point Loma Nazarene University’s History and Political Science Department professors, especially in helping me pinpoint where this wicked sociopolitical economic issue ought to be addressed.

I’ve dedicated my time, discipline and skillset this semester to conducting an honors research project on the nature of human trafficking in America’s Finest City.

The conversation around human trafficking is drenched in anger, disappointment, sympathy for the victims and frustration. In the time I’ve spent researching, interviewing high-caliber personnel involved in regional anti-human trafficking efforts and mapping trends in previous political science courses, I’ve grown familiar with its origin. To tackle the issue and attempt to assess the root causes for its presence in San Diego, there are a couple of realities to keep in mind.

By Paul Krueger

Mayor Gloria and his minions routinely claim credit for accomplishments they didn’t make happen. In their latest PR contrivance, the “Todd Squad” is crowing about a national survey that shows 76 percent of San Diego residents are “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their city.

According to Gensler Research, San Diego ranks second in “satisfaction with their city as a place to live,” trailing only San Antonio, TX, with a 78-percent score. (Axios, which published the results, cautioned that “satisfaction” is a “broad” term, defined as “a general vibe check on how people are feeling about job opportunities, housing costs, safety, and other key urban issues.”)

Our ever-smiling Mayor immediately plastered his social media accounts with the upbeat poll results. Remember, this is the man who rammed through lax multi-unit ADU development, agreed to revise them in the face of neighborhood outrage, and then had the temerity to take credit for the reforms.

Still, did anyone in the Land of Todd even read the Gensler report? A glance at the survey methodology reveals a very significant — even disqualifying — limitation: The poll was conducted more than a year ago, from July 18 to November 24, 2024.

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By Alexis Sterling   / Nation of Change / Dec.5, 2025

A new confrontation between the White House and blue states raises concerns about the political use of food assistance programs

The Trump administration is poised to block key federal funds tied to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as part of an escalating dispute with Democratic-led states over data demands involving millions of low income households.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Dec. 2, that the Department of Agriculture would begin halting federal transfers next week for states that have not turned over detailed information on SNAP recipients. The move has triggered legal challenges, sharp criticism from lawmakers, and questions about whether the administration has the authority to interrupt a program that helps 42 million people afford food.

Rollins said on Tuesday that the administration had requested state data earlier this year to address what she called “rampant” fraud in the program.

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.

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.

There’s been a spike in detentions of Afghans living in San Diego recently and it’s being condemned by the local chapter of America’s largest Muslim civil rights group, CAIR, which stands for Council on American-Islamic Relations.

In a statement issued Dec. 3, the Executive Director, Tazheen Nizam of San Diego’s CAIR said:

“This past week, our office has seen a spike in calls from Afghan community members suddenly facing new threats to their status and safety. This morning, I accompanied an Afghan evacuee to what ICE claimed was a routine check-in in San Jose; despite full cooperation, he was detained immediately. We’re hearing the same fear from long-time green card holders, already-vetted refugees, and families who have waited years to reunite with loved ones now trapped in limbo.

by Ernie McCray

Oh, as I looked back at pictures
of the “No Kings” protesters
in San Diego
I so wished that I could take to the streets
as I’ve done so many times before
over my lifetime
but standing and walking
for a longtime
would not treat me very kind.
But it’s plain to see
that this kind of massive togetherness
is the key
to our surviving the mess
we find ourselves in,|
chaos brought to us
by a madman
whose goal in life
is to do us in

Joe Adamantly Still Supports 30-Foot Height Limit and Opposes Turquoise Tower

By Madison Beveridge / PB Monthly SDU-T / December 1, 2025 

Large-scale, controversial housing projects and people staying overnight in vehicles were the top concerns voiced by Pacific Beach residents during a recent town hall meeting.

The Pacific Beach Town Council hosted the Nov. 5 meeting with City Council President Joe LaCava at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in PB.

With attendees ranging from locals to government officials, the primary focus was a question and answer session with LaCava.

The councilmember, whose District 1 includes Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Carmel Valley, Torrey Pines and Del Mar Mesa, served as a sounding board for the community during the meeting. The evening was a chance for locals to connect directly with their elected city representative and address the region’s short- and long-term goals.

“Several of the most notable topics discussed were the two large project developments happening in Pacific Beach right now,” said PB Town Council President Charlie Nieto. “The first is the Turquoise Tower, which is a 23-story residential tower. The other is a newer project called Chalcifica, a 136-unit project.”