Category: Civil Rights

By Richard Santini on behalf of Preserve Greater Golden Hill

Greater Golden Hill is one of San Diego’s most historically rich and culturally diverse neighborhoods. Nestled just southeast of Balboa Park, it has long stood at the intersection of San Diego’s past and future. From its earliest days, Golden Hill attracted artists, working families, civic leaders, and immigrants drawn to its proximity to downtown, its walkable streets, affordable housing, and sweeping views of the bay and Coronado. Two areas of its graceful 19th- and early 20th-century homes are city designated historic districts, but the character of the neighborhood extends far beyond the district’s’ boundaries. What defines Golden Hill is the coexistence of history, architecture, and cultural diversity that gives the community its unique soul.

Today, that soul is under threat. In the rush to meet housing targets, developers are forcing through projects that are out of scale, out of character, and out of touch with neighborhood realities. These are not the “gentle density” promised in planning documents. They are large, profit-driven complexes shoehorned into spaces meant for smaller-scale housing. This unchecked growth poses risks to safety, affordability, and livability—placing profit above people.

Compromised Public Safety

Mayor Gloria’s Complete Communities Executive Order 2024-1 allows expedited approvals only if “expedited service maintains protections for public health and safety.” Yet projects are being advanced without those protections.

SUNDAY, SEP. 7, 2025, 11:30 A.M. – 1:30 P.M.
28th STREET PLAYGROUND, SAN DIEGO, CA
Preserve Greater Golden Hill to Host “March & Roll” in South Park
Family-Friendly Event Aims to Spark Conversation About Housing Policies

On Sunday, September 7 at 11:30 a.m. at the 28th Street Playground in South Park, neighbors from the South Park and Golden Hill communities will gather for a “March & Roll”—an inclusive, lively, family-friendly walk-ride-and-roll event designed to bring neighbors together, raise awareness, and start conversations about how current state and local housing legislation is affecting the safety, affordability, livability, and future of San Diego’s neighborhoods.

The event will begin in South Park, where participants can meet, mingle, and decorate their walking shoes, strollers, scooters, bicycles, and wagons. At noon, the group will follow a set route through the neighborhood, showcasing community spirit and solidarity while enjoying South Park’s tree-lined streets and historic charm.

by Ernie McCray

There’s a dear friend of mine,
Jacquenese A. Barnes Price,
Jacque for short,
who will soon be an inductee
in the Hall of Fame
at Tucson High,
an honor she comes by honestly
because she was prepared naturally
for such esteem
by a mother
who stands as an iconic
Black social and political activist
in Tucson’s history,
a woman we kids used to call
“Miss Freddie,”

by Zach Schonfeld / The Hill / September 2, 2025

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that National Guard troops ran afoul of the law in Los Angeles when President Trump deployed them in June after immigration protests that turned violent.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled their actions violated an 1878 law that generally bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement.

“This was intentional—Defendants instigated a months-long deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles for the purpose of establishing a military presence there and enforcing federal law. Such conduct is a serious violation of the Posse Comitatus Act,” Breyer wrote.

Though most of the troops are no longer deployed in the city, the judge’s order blocks any remaining ones from making arrests and searches or conducting traffic patrols and riot control until the government meets a valid legal exception.

Breyer paused his order until next Friday, providing the administration with an avenue to appeal before it goes into effect.

Protests against the Trump regime took place Monday, Labor Day, across San Diego County with the largest and most significant event in downtown San Diego at Waterfront Park.

San Diego’s protests joined “Workers Over Billionaires” demonstrations throughout the country in cities that included Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and New York in a nationwide Labor Day effort organized by labor unions and other groups. Other demonstrations in the county included those in Chula Vista, La Jolla, Mira Mesa, Rancho Bernardo, Carlsbad, and Escondido. Local members and allies turned out to demand investment in schools, health care, housing, and climate action over corporate wealth. The Service Employees International Union and the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council were among the local event organizers.

Organizers using a scientific approach to crowd counting, determined that close to 10,000 attended the rally and march at Waterfront Park. Event spokesman Mark Sauer said, “Considering it’s a holiday for working folks, (turnout) was encouraging,” said Sauer, who added the rally was peaceful as no counter-protesters materialized.

The downtown crowd was estimated to be 1,200 to 1,500 people according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. NBC7 reported the Waterfront event drew between 2,000-3,000 people, a San Diego police official told the station.

Along with promoting the importance of organized labor, Sauer said speakers focused on the November special election for Proposition 50 — an effort by Gov. Gavin Newsom to redraw California’s congressional districts to negate a similar move in Texas — Trump administration policies’ effect on working families, and how the 2026 midterm elections will be a way “to put some serious checks and balances” on them, organizers said.

By Donna Frye

After reading Jeff McDonald’s article in the Sunday, August 31 San Diego Union-Tribune (and in today’s Rag here), one of the first things that came to mind was why wasn’t the proposal (that includes building 900 residential units on dedicated public parkland) shared with the public or city council?

Does it bother or concern any of the city council members that this information was withheld from them and the public, and was only recently disclosed because of a Public Records Act request?

Have they considered what could happen in light of this new information?

Right now, the mayor and city do not have to enter into lease  negotiations with any developers who want to build housing in Mission Bay Park. There is no law requiring them to do so.

However, it the city council goes along with the mayor’s request and declares the three properties in Mission Bay Park “surplus land” that changes immediately.

Editordude: This issue of declaring a section of Mission Bay Park as “surplus land” so developers can build hundreds of homes finally hit the big time yesterday, August 31 with the following article being the lead on the front page of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Rag has been touting this issue since early July — we even offered to hand it over to mainstream reporters over a month ago — but received no response. Former City Councilmember Donna Frye, who been has utilizing the Rag as her main platform on the issue of late, has a response to Jeff McDonald’s piece in today’s Rag. 

By Jeff McDonald / The San Diego Union-Tribune / August 31, 2025

Two newly released documents promoting a wholesale makeover of the Marina Village banquet center on Mission Bay are roiling San Diego advocates and pushing city officials to defend plans to declare dozens of acres of bayfront parkland surplus property.

One is a brochure describing a “world-class marina and hotel destination” that would attract thousands of tourists and business travelers to the city.

The other is an 11-page letter detailing the redevelopment project, a sweeping master-planned community of up to 900 housing units — a land use that is not currently allowed on the publicly owned parkland.

Aides to Mayor Todd Gloria say the unsolicited Marina Village proposal is dead on arrival because housing is not permitted on public parkland. But critics worry that legally designating the property surplus risks opening a door to developers that the city may not be able to close.

“I will strongly oppose any efforts from developers that would undermine the park as a public resource,” said Jeff Johnson, who serves as chair of the Mission Bay Park Committee. “Mission Bay Park belongs to the citizens of San Diego and California.”

By J.S. Whaldo

Every Labor Day, I see cookouts and long weekends. This year, I found myself thinking about something else entirely: the people whose work built the world we enjoy, and one man who reminded me why that matters.

The Origins of Labor Day: From 1882 to a National Holiday

Labor Day began in 1882, when workers in New York City set aside a day to march together and demand fairer hours and safer working conditions. The idea spread, and by 1894, it became a national holiday. Most of us now see it as the unofficial end of summer, but at its core, it is a day to honor the people whose labor built the railroads, bridges, farms, and cities that shape this country.

Meeting George Jackson: A Story of Hard Work and Dedication

As I thought about that, I remembered a man I met on a Mediterranean cruise the previous year. His name is George Jackson. We met at the rock and roll music venue. My husband and I were listening to the band, and during the intermission, we struck up a conversation with George. George is an easy-going, likable man. He is soft-spoken, but quick to join the conversation. I’ve thought about him many times since that cruise, about his life and how different it was from mine.

By Kate Callen / August 28, 2025

When Mayor Kevin Faulconer challenged San Diegans in 2019 to ditch their cars and take public transit, I invited him to join me on my weekday MTS #2 bus ride from North Park to downtown.

In an op-ed published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, I began by assuming that because Faulconer promoted mass transit vigorously, he must be a regular transit user. But in case I was wrong, I gave the mayor a tutorial on the challenges of commuting by bus. And I offered to pay his fare if he rode with me. He never responded.

I’m extending that same invitation to Nicole Capretz of the Climate Action Campaign after reading her August 28 U-T commentary, “Housing Policies Sabotage Families, Climate Goals,” an argument for pro-density Senate Bill 79.

As Capretz tells it, the passage of SB 79 will stack more housing “near transit,” and then commuters will switch from cars to buses and trolleys, traffic will diminish, greenhouse gases will dissipate, and our lives will be happier and healthier.

That’s a tidy scenario. But the reality of mass transit in San Diego is tangled. The only way to learn that is to navigate the cat’s cradle of buses and trolleys to go from Point A to Point B – or, if you must transfer to reach your destination, from Point A to Point B to Point C.

By Eric Law

In response to Nicole Capretz’s commentary (SDUT August 28, 2025, Housing policies are sabotaging family budgets and climate goals), the housing densification policies in force across California make our state the least affordable in the nation. Senate Bill 79 (SB 79) would make this even worse.

SB 79 incentivizes very dense development of up to 8-story apartment buildings in areas that are purportedly close to transit. Large-scale development could occur anywhere within ½ mile of designated transit stops, regardless of local zoning, neighborhood type, or even the city’s development plans. Any local say in building these enormous structures would be eliminated.

SB 79 relies on the premise that we need more affordable housing, and it needs to be close to transit so that low-income people can easily access public transportation. This is where SB 79 and other dense housing “initiatives” completely fail. Dense urban building does not create affordable housing. It makes housing more expensive.

Densification advocates argue that simply building more housing will lower the cost of housing. If this was true, California would logically have the cheapest housing

By Jackie Calmes / Los Angeles Times / Aug. 28, 2025

“I am not a crook,” President Nixon said in 1973.

“I’m not a dictator,” President Trump insisted on Monday.

And with that, another famously false presidential proclamation entered the annals of memorable statements no president should ever feel compelled to make.

[Please go to original for links]

It took months more for Nixon’s crimes to force him to resign in 1974 ahead of his all-but-certain removal by Congress. But a half-century later, Trump is unabashedly showing every day that he really does aspire to be a dictator. Unlike Nixon, he doesn’t have to fear a supposedly coequal Congress: It’s run by slavish fellow Republicans who’ve forfeited their constitutional powers over spending, tariffs, appointments and more. Lower courts have checked Trump’s lawlessness, but a too-deferential Supreme Court gets the last word and empowers him more than not.

Americans are indeed in proverbial uncharted waters. Four months ago, conservative columnist David Brooks of the New York Times wrote — uncharacteristically for a self-described “mild” guy — “It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising.” It’s now past time.

By Francine Maxwell

San Diego’s parking enforcement is not equal across the city, and District 4 residents see the consequences every day.

In July, a San Diego resident filed a Get It Done report [see above] about a car parked in the wrong direction on 68th Street. The violation was clear — a 72-hour parking violation. The city’s response was just as clear:

“Due to limited resources, SDPD was not yet able to address your report. If the vehicle has moved, please Close Your Report. If the vehicle is still there, it will be addressed as SDPD resources are available.”

This response is common in District 4. But the lack of enforcement doesn’t stop at cars parked the wrong way. It invites larger problems. On Streamview, illegal dumping piles up when abandoned cars are left on the street. Missed enforcement also means more unsafe encampments, repeated Oversized Vehicle Ordinance (OVO) and Vehicle Habitation Ordinance (VHO) violations, and blocked street sweeping that leaves our neighborhoods dirty and drains unchecked.