Category: Civil Rights

By Kate Callen 

In 2018, the last election year when San Diego City Council District 2 had an open seat, the winner, Jen Campbell, was best known for being David Axelrod’s cousin. Before her first term was up, Campbell faced a recall effort, and she was replaced as Council President amid charges her staff illegally influenced the redistricting process.

In 2022, Campbell ran for re-election as a tarnished incumbent. Then a funny thing happened. A dark money group linked to Mayor Todd Gloria blanketed District 2 with hit pieces smearing Lori Saldana, Campbell’s formidable Democratic challenger. Saldana finished third behind obscure Republican Linda Lukacs, and Campbell kept her seat.

The 2026 open seat election will be consequential for a district hard hit by City Hall’s subservience to developers. From a 10-unit complex on a small Clairemont cul-de-sac to a 56-unit mid-rise at a major Point Loma intersection, giant housing projects are hammering D2 neighborhoods.

By JW August

President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, as reported by the Associated Press, is asking 15 states, including California, for copies of voter registration lists from election administrators for 2020 and 2024.  The Department of Justice is leading the effort to pursue what it’s calling “widespread” voter fraud. It’s a reversal of the department’s longtime policy of protecting access to the ballot box.

These debunked claims of fraud have long been perpetuated by Trump and his allies.

My Feb. 1 story published by the OB Rag now appears to have been just the beginning — a small reveal inside the Pandora’s box of this president’s politics. 

by Ernie McCray

That shit ICE pulled in my old neighborhood
still sits with me,
all that rushing into town,
spraying gasses
and snatching people around,
ridiculously and literally laying siege on
a community,
fueled by a sick man’s
hatefulness and insanity.

And I can’t help but take it personally
because I spent 30 of the most wonderful years of my life
on the very block
this incredibly wicked abuse
took place –
a neighborhood as good as any to be found
any place.

It’s that time of year again — the OB Rag’s annual summer fundraising campaign during the first weeks of August.

We only do this once a year, so help us reach our goal of $3,000 over the next two weeks. We do have bills — just our annual server bill is $900. We do pay some of our reporters and writers a small amount, usually $35 to $50 an article, plus we have subscription bills and utilities to pay.

Over this last 2 years, the Rag has become the online platform for dissatisfied residents of many neighborhoods besides Ocean Beach and Point Loma – disgruntled and frustrated fellow citizens upset with the leadership of the city, the mayor’s Bonus ADU program, the so-called Complete Communities plan  – that people from University City, Encanto, Middletown, Hillcrest, Talmadge, Pacific Beach, Linda Vista, Clairemont — the list keeps growing – are increasingly using the Rag to sound off.

For some reason, locals are having trouble gaining traction about their travails from the mainstream or other online media and press. So, increasingly, they look to the Rag for support.

As the Rag is a platform of and for citizen journalists, we are often there for them.

So, help us keep it going.

How to Support Us

Send us a one-time donation via our PayPal button on the homepage; or

Become a regular monthly contributor; via PayPal on the homepage; or

Send us a check made out to “OB Rag” to:

OB Rag
PO Box 7012
Ocean Beach, CA 92167

Here are more reasons to contribute to the OB Rag:

By Allison Depner

You’ve probably seen me traipsing around O.B. wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt or dress along with dangly earrings while using my white cane.  Lately, I’ve added sunglasses and a hat to my ensemble. As a blind person, I’ve encountered all sorts of behaviors from sighted people. The most common reaction I encounter is unsolicited help in the form of taking hold of my arm. Other reactions include telling me that a curb is coming up and silencing a conversation until I pass. I’ve also been accused of pretending to be blind or being able to see more than I let on.

Until yesterday, these mostly benign behaviors have been somewhat easy to ignore and could be attributed to ignorance. Sure, sometimes I feel annoyed, and respond with impatience and irritation.  I try to remind myself that the average well-meaning person on the street probably doesn’t know that telling me about the upcoming curb actually distracts me from focusing on the tactile information that I receive from my cane. I realize that most people truly want to help, and their hearts are in the right place.

So, what happened yesterday?

By Donna Frye

Below are  my comments to the Mission Bay Park Committee for the August 5 Meeting.

RE:  Oppose Item 202, Recommendation to City Council to Declare City-Owned Real Property within Mission Bay Park as Surplus Land

Dear Chair Johnson and Honorable Committee Members,

I am writing to ask this committee to oppose the mayor’s recommendation to declare City-Owned Real Property within Mission Bay Park as Surplus Land.

Last month, when I first learned that the mayor was asking the city council to declare three properties in Mission Bay Park “surplus land” I could not believe what I was reading. After lots of research, it became clear that a “surplus land” declaration would allow developers to submit proposals to the city to build affordable housing in Mission Bay Park.

How could state-granted Tidelands on dedicated public parkland (that was codified by the voters as parkland in perpetuity by San Diego City Charter Section 55 ) be declared “surplus” and made available for developers to submit proposals to build affordable housing?

It made no sense to me then and it still doesn’t.

August 4, 2025

PRESS ADVISORY

City Council Attempts To Give Away Mission Bay Park Land  – Committee Meeting Tuesday, 6 pm., at Paradise Point.

The Mission Bay Park Committee (MBPC) will meet at 6:00 p.m., on Tuesday, August 5, 2025. The meeting will be at Paradise Point (Mission Bay Room)
It is reported that multiple City Councilmembers will be appearing in an effort to explain why the City is trying to sell parklands (potentially for upscale condominiums). The meeting will be held in Paradise Point’s Mission Bay Room.

Without input from the MBPC or San Diego Park Board, the Council attempted to move forward to declare three separate parcels in Mission Bay Park as “surplus land,” under State law, in order to put them out to bid. Under State law, once land becomes surplus, priority has to be given to low income housing projects. Most likely, any “low income” project would simply put expensive condominiums in Mission Bay Park, with the developer building low income housing elsewhere as a credit to get the long-
term lease.

This would be first time that the City of San Diego has sold off park land for residential development.

Dozens of Pacific Beach residents and supporters gathered Monday, August 4th, at the site of a controversial large-scale ADU development planned for the corner of Pacifica and Bluffside as an attorney announced a lawsuit against the City of San Diego.

The neighborhood group Neighbors for a Better Pacific Beach is the chief plaintiff in the suit, designed to halt the planned Chalcifica project, with more than 100 units.

The suit argues the planned project would harm the environment and public safety, and the group behind it points out it’s on the site of a well-known Kumeyaay coastal village.

In today’s San Diego Union-Tribune, writer Jemma Stephenson reports:

According to the plaintiffs, the city should have processed the project application on a discretionary basis but instead has handled them all on a ministerial basis, based on set standards rather than individual judgments. They also say the city never responded to the Kumeyaay Cultural Repatriation Committee’s request to meet about the issue.

On Monday, August 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM at the intersection of Pacifica Drive and Bluffside Avenue, Pacific Beach, members For a Better Pacific Beach will announce to the filing of its suit against the City to stop the processing of Christian Spicer’s 136 ADU project, “Chalcifica.”

The community group “Neighbors for a Better Pacific Beach” and dozens of supporters will announce the filing of the lawsuit to stop the proposed development on a parcel of land that sits atop the site of a significant historical Kumeyaay village in a Very High Fire Hazard Zone.

The project developer, Christian Spicer, is the subject of intense criticism by community groups. Spicer consistently ignores neighborhood concerns when he crams massive, multi-story ADUs with no parking in single-family areas.

“Christian Spicer’s proposed 136-unit ADU project is a poster child for bad planning, inadequate city review, the rejection of valid community concerns, and predatory practices,” said Merv Thompson, Chair of Neighbors for a Better Pacific Beach.

By Paul Krueger

More than 50 Middletown residents and their supporters waved signs, marched, and demonstrated their vehement opposition to a proposed high-rise in one of San Diego’s oldest residential districts.

The scene of Saturday, August 2nd’s demonstration was the 3600 block of Columbia Street, just up the hill from El Indio, the Shakespeare Pub, and other restaurants and businesses on India Street. It’s a quiet, densely populated neighborhood of single family homes and moderately-sized two- and three-story apartment buildings. The streets are narrow. Parking is scarce.

Scott Case, his Middletown neighbors, and business owners on India Street love their neighborhood, and are working tirelessly to stop a proposed 14-story, 161-unit apartment tower that would be crammed into two residential lots on Columbia Street.

Only 32% Approve of Israel military action in Gaza — Americans’ support for Israel in Gaza plummets to record low, new Gallup poll finds

Americans’ approval of Israel’s military action in Gaza has fallen 10 percentage points since the prior measurement in September, and it is now at 32%, the lowest reading since Gallup first asked the question in November 2023. Disapproval of the military action has now reached 60%.

These findings are from a July 7-21, 2025, Gallup poll, as Israel’s campaign against Hamas stretched into its 21st month. Americans supported Israel’s actions in Gaza in its initial reading in 2023, taken several weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Since then, disapproval has outpaced approval in each survey, peaking at 55% in March 2024 before dipping to 48% in two readings later in the year. Gallup Poll

Immigration — Support for Deporting All Undocumented Migrants Dropped to 38%

Americans’ views of immigration have swung drastically upward in the past year, with a new poll showing record-high support for immigration amid President Donald Trump’s controversial mass deportation campaign. A record 79 percent of American adults think immigration is good for the country,

Every Saturday at 10:30 am. San Diego Climate Mobilization Coalition Meetings August 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th

Every Saturday 10 am – 12 pm Peace Vigil for Palestine:

The San Diego River Park Foundation has volunteer opportunities in Ocean Beach: Point Loma Native Plant Garden Club

August 2nd. Saturday  11:15 am – 2 pm Protest at Del Mar Racetrack #2  

August 2nd Saturday 8 pm – 9 pm Voice for Peace: A Call for Change film

August 3rd Sunday 4 pm Racial Justice Coalition General Body Meeting O

August 4th Monday 6 pm One Million Rising

August 4th Monday 12 pm – 1 pm Interfaith Vigil for Earth Justice

August 5th Tuesday 11am – 12:30 pm Environmental Justice, Extreme Heat, and the Future of Energy Assistance Programs

August 5th Tuesday and August 12th Tuesday 5 pm – 6 pm Solidarity & Rapid Response:

August 6th Wednesday 2pm – 4 pm  Copy of Rising Voices: Youth4Climate Fundraiser  Event by SanDiego350