Category: Civil Rights

By Dana Williams / 7SanDiego / July 16, 2025

For the past several months, there has been little movement on a 23-story tower proposed for Turquoise Street in Pacific Beach, but that doesn’t mean the project isn’t moving forward, according to the developer, Kalonymus.

Marcella Bothwell, the chair of the Pacific Beach Planning Group and Neighbors for a Better California, talked to NBC 7 about the tower.

“It’s very easy for a community to get all riled up and think, ‘We’re gonna fight this,’ and then the developer goes quiet and there’s nothing to do,” Bothwell said. “Then, because we don’t get notice on stuff because everything is ‘ministerial,’ all of a sudden, construction is going to start.”

In December 2024, NBC 7 reported that the project quickly gained the attention of community members, like Bothwell, with its intent to burst the nearby 30-foot Coastal Height Limit in the area. It also stoked curiosity among San Diego City Council representatives to understand the limits to their power when it came to the State Density Bonus Law.

“The initial reaction was a little bit of disbelief,” San Diego Council President Joe LaCava told NBC 7 in December. “I just found it so unbelievable that somebody would propose something like this [in Pacific Beach].”

by Macy Meinhardt / San Diego Voice & Viewpoint / July 16, 2025

If you’ve been following our housing coverage over the past year, you’ve likely come across several mentions of a convoluted zoning policy known as Footnote 7.

Approved in 2019 without community input, Footnote 7 changed the minimum lot size in certain Southeastern San Diego planning areas—from 20,000 square feet per lot to just 5,000. This change was made to allow for more housing developments, but community backlash led to the footnote’s removal in April.

It was considered a partial win for a community that felt the zone change was discriminatory and discreet, as it only applied to Southeastern San Diego, a region known for concentrated poverty and minority populations.

Although the footnote was removed for future projects, it still applies to developments that were already in the approval process when the rule was in place.

Which takes us to where we are today: the Klauber Development debate.

By Robert Campbell / Special to the OB Rag

In a 6-3 vote that has left all Encanto community members and advocates stunned and deeply dismayed, the San Diego City Council approved the controversial Klauber Project last night, July 15, ignoring a mountain of critical legal case law and policy violations laid out in detail by land use attorney Craig Sherman. The site is located at 1362 Klauber Avenue.

The vote bypassed not only dozens of inconsistencies with state and local law, it also faced overwhelming opposition from residents of the Chollas Valley including the Encanto and Emerald Hills neighborhoods — historically underserved, low-resource, and environmentally burdened communities.  Not a single person spoke in favor of the development, with over 60 minutes of public testimony against the project and an additional 30 written statements submitted against approval. The developer declined to make any presentation or statement.

Despite urgent pleas from all community members and advocates in attendance, including myself as the Chair of the Chollas Valley Community Planning Group, along with a comprehensive legal memo from attorney Craig Sherman exposing the project’s many legal violations, the council moved forward with a decision that reflects a troubling pattern: the prioritization of development over equity, environmental justice, and community voice.

At last count, the newly formed San Diego Community Coalition comprised 25 San Diego communities plus multiple organizations that have united to exert concerted pressure on elected San Diego officials to address two intersecting issues: 1) Overbuilding incompatible ADU complexes and towers in residential neighborhoods; and 2) City Hall’s flagrant disrespect for constituents and communities.

The popular OB Rag serves as the platform for the San Diego Community Coalition, posting accessible news and updates. You can also follow timely news on its Facebook page HERE.

Stay tuned for news on our upcoming protests, including one planned against the 14-story high-rise in Midtown at 3677 Columbia Street. Click HERE for more information about this highly contested Complete Communities project.

Our next general and public meeting will be held on Saturday, July 26th from 10 to noon, at the Pacific Beach Library in the community room at 4275 Cass St San Diego 92109 .

First the bad news:

A divided San Diego City Council approved a controversial housing development in Encanto on Tuesday, July 15, even as they acknowledged the 23-home project was made possible by a since-repealed policy that critics call racist.

The council voted 6-3 in favor of the project after Councilmember Henry Foster, who cast one of the “no” votes, searched unsuccessfully for grounds to reject it that were legally sound enough to satisfy his colleagues.

Council members who voted to approve the project said they had no choice, because the allegedly racist policy that had paved the way for it wasn’t repealed until April — long after the project had gotten far enough into the city’s approval pipeline to be deemed a complete proposal.

People in Encanto are very upset with this vote — which the Rag plans to cover. In the meantime ….

During the hearing, Paul Krueger spoke on behalf of the newly-formed San Diego Community Coalition. Paul is a long-time San Diego journalist, member of the influential Neighbors for a Better San Diego, and occasional contributor to the Rag. Here are his remarks as transcribed by a Rag writer:

I took 10 minutes to make calls! You can do this!

Every action, every voice matters! Danna wrote an article in the OB RAG that will help your voice be heard. The article is titled:
Proposed SB 79 Makes SB 10 and Bonus ADUs Look Like ‘Gentle Density’ — Contact Our Assembly Members Today to Oppose It

Take 5 minutes to read the article in the Rag, and another 5-10 minutes to call all of the assembly people listed, and ask them to vote no on SB 79. They will ask for your full name and Zip Code.

By Alexandra Mendoza and Teri Figueroa / The San Diego Union-Tribune / July 13, 2025

At a Linda Vista apartment complex, masked federal agents recently swarmed an undocumented immigrant to make an arrest as an angry crowd gathered in protest, in a scene that has played out in viral videos across social media amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Standing in front of yellow police tape, between the agents and bystanders, stood San Diego police officers.

“All we are here for is scene security,” the officer told Arturo Gonzalez, an activist recording the operation. “We have not made any immigration arrests.”

Gonzalez wasn’t convinced: “You’re not making any arrests. You are just protecting them so they can do their duties.”

California law is clear. Local law enforcement agencies cannot assist federal agents with immigration enforcement. But local cops have been increasingly called to the scenes of such arrests in recent weeks as public immigration arrests continue to roil communities.

Police are in a thorny spot.

By Kate Callen / July 14, 2025

Tomorrow — July 15 — should have been the day the San Diego City Council ended four years of predatory development by enacting reforms of the destructive Bonus ADU program.

But the vote, rescheduled from July 1 by Council President Joe La Cava, did not appear on tomorrow’s meeting agenda when it was posted last Wednesday. Then the item was added to the agenda on Thursday. Then it was removed on Friday.

La Cava had said he postponed the July 1 vote at the last minute because Councilmember Jen Campbell was absent. But Campbell has been attending meetings remotely while wearing a neck brace.

Perhaps he will explain the new last-minute postponement when the Council meets. Perhaps his explanation will be plausible. Agenda items are moved all the time for all sorts of reasons.

But the Council President is facing a public that has run out of patience and faith. There have been too many bad deals, too many botched estimates, too many bait-and-switches.

The stakes in the battle for Bonus ADU reform are still high. Right now, across the city, people living near modest homes listed for sale have to wonder: Will that property turn into a multi-story apartment building?

July 9, 2025
To:
Assembly Local Government Committee Chair, The Honorable Cecelia Aguiar-Curry
San Diego County Assembly State Members
District 74 – The Honorable Laurie Davies
District 75 – The Honorable Carl DeMaio
District 76 – The Honorable Dr. Darshana R. Patel
District 77 – The Honorable Tasha Boerner
District 78 – The Honorable Christopher Ward
District 79 – The Honorable Dr. LaShae Sharp-Collins
District 80 – The Honorable David Alvarez
Subject: Opposition to SB 79 – Request to Vote NO

Dear Assembly Members,

The Community Planners Committee (CPC), representing 41 Community Planning groups throughout the City of San Diego, urges you to vote NO on Senate Bill 79 (Weiner) (hereafter, SB 79). As the elected community voices for the city, we urge you to consider what is appropriate for San Diego and your constituents. While Senator Scott Weiner’s Fact Sheet – Updated 7.7.25 states the City of San Diego supports SB 79, neither the mayor nor the city council have explicitly endorsed SB 79.

In fact, San Diego’s Legislative Platform not only emphasizes support of land use regulations that would be eliminated by SB 79, it supports retaining local control over state and federal regulations in general.

By Danna Givot

The State Assembly’s Local Government Committee will vote on Senate Bill 79 on Wednesday, July 16. SB 79 will allow 45 to 75 foot tall apartment buildings to be built up to ½ mile from transit (as the crow flies), which can be several miles walking distance from transit across freeways and canyons). You can view a 1 minute video explaining SB 79 here or an 8 minute video here.

State assembly member Chris Ward of San Diego sits on the committee that will vote on SB 79 this Wednesday.  It was Assemblymember Ward who told the Housing and Community Development Committee on July 2nd that the City of San Diego supports SB 79.  But we now know that the supposed support letter from the City of San Diego was drafted and signed by the City’s lobbyist, not an official representative of the City of San Diego

by CBS8 Staff / July 10, 2025

Attorneys for 15 property owners who are suing to overturn San Diego’s new trash fees have laid out their argument.

In a newly amended complaint, former city attorney Mike Aguirre and law partner Mia Severson say the city purposely inflated the cost to provide trash collections to generate cash to balance a massive budget deficit.

“The city is in dire financial shape, which we appreciate, and that puts all the pressure in the world on city officials to come up with some way to plug the hole, and that’s what this is,” Aguirre told CBS 8.

Plaintiffs argue that the city used “inflated and hidden” cost projections, including a $5 million consultant study and an operational analysis that added more than $41 million to the budget, to justify the fee.

“We’re not asking for money, we’re not asking for anything draconian,” said Aguirre.  “We are just asking for what the public is entitled to.”

The lawsuit contends that the city’s projected costs for fiscal year 2026 nearly double actual recent costs, resulting in a surplus that plaintiffs say will be diverted to cover unrelated budget shortfalls, such as pension debt and deferred maintenance.

The Pacific Beach group, Neighbors For A Better California, is sponsoring a short march and rally to stop the 23-story, 200-unit monster tower being planned for 970 Turquoise Street in PB.

It’s on Saturday, July 19th at 5:30 pm. Organizers are asking people to meet at the Dunn-Edwards parking lot at 5180 Mission Blvd and walking the .2 miles to the proposed site.