Category: Culture

By Geoff Hueter of Neighbors for a Better San Diego

First, it is important to highlight that on Thursday night, May 7th, the San Diego City Council voted to follow the City Planning Department’s restriction of SB 79 to 1 mile walking distance and the phased approach to implementing SB 79 in the following areas:

• high fire hazard zones,
• low resource areas,
• historic resources, and
• areas subject to sea level rise.

This is the most important outcome of the ordinance that was adopted last night and what we supported.

By Zain Khan / Yahoo Finances New York Post  / May 4, 202

State Farm is in crisis mode in California as officials look to slap it with massive fines and suspend its license over the handling of the deadly 2025 Palisades Fire.

The California Department of Insurance issued a damning verdict on the state’s largest insurer after an investigation into its actions towards customers following the inferno.

The probe, released in part on Monday, found a staggering 398 violations of state law in 114 of the 220 sample claims it looked into.

Among the key findings was claims were not investigated or resolved within required timelines, payouts were unreasonably low and policyholders were frequently reassigned to different adjusters — creating confusion some described as “adjuster roulette.”

Smoke damage claims, which made up nearly half of all complaints, were also mishandled, with delays, denials and missing explanations cited by investigators.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said Monday: “Wildfire survivors came to us for help, and we followed the facts.

OB Rag Staff Report

Rag stories about Balboa Park have what reporters call “legs” — they get lots of views and comments. This has been especially true since City Hall imposed parking fees that have threatened the Park’s solvency by driving away visitors.

So we weren’t surprised when our April 27 story on a $1.8 million reduction in the 2027 Park budget became a “top post.” Commenters generally agreed that the city has utterly failed the park and must turn over its management to an independent nonprofit.

But one comment piqued our interest. Don said the city hadn’t actually cut $1.8 million from the park. He contended that the city was simply going to shift $1.8 million from a “Developed Regional Parks” fund over to pay for Balboa Park operating expenses.

“Step Into The Sun” Winning Song

by Peter Blackstock / Special to Times of San Diego / May 7, 2026

The Schizophonics, Anthony Cullins, Slightly Stoopid and Tigers In Cairo took home top honors at the 35th annual San Diego Music Awards, which drew a sold-out crowd from the local music community on a cool Wednesday evening at Humphreys by the Bay.

Garage-rock trio the Schizophonics were named Artist of the Year. Fallbrook blues/soul artist Cullins won Album of the Year for “Inside Out & Backwards.” Ocean Beach reggae-rockers Slightly Stoopid won Song of the Year for “Step Into The Sun.” And postpunk band Tigers In Cairo was named Best New Artist.

Awards shows can be difficult propositions, and SDMA’s organizers should be commended for getting through an extensive program in three hours. In addition to handing out 28 awards, SDMA presented six performances by nominated artists, plus another by musicians from the educational nonprofit Young Lions Jazz Conservatory.

by Staff and Wire Reports / Beach & Bay Press / May 6, 2026

In the wake of a devastating proposed city budget, a citizen-led initiative to assist the city of San Diego meet its Mission Bay Park Master Plan began Wednesday.

The initiative invites locals to help steer the direction of the city’s largest aquatic park.

The Mission Bay Park Conservancy seeks to maintain city-owned structures around the bay, including the visitor’s center and 25 restrooms, which are at risk of seasonal closure as San Diego seeks to patch a more than $120 million hole in its Fiscal Year 2027 budget.

Additionally, 14 city jobs in the park would be eliminated under San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget.

“This nonprofit is designed to be a community catalyst — bringing together public and private efforts to turn vision into action,” said Bradley Schnell, Mission Bay Park Conservancy founder and president.

From the Richard Baily Campaign

San Diego is facing serious challenges. A growing budget deficit, mounting infrastructure backlogs, and declining basic services didn’t happen overnight – they are the result of years of bad policy, irresponsible spending, and a lack of accountability at City Hall. Fixing these problems will require better policies from experienced leadership with a clear vision for how city government should function..

That’s why I’m proud to endorse Richard Bailey for San Diego City Council.

Bailey is by far the most qualified candidate in the field and centers his entire campaign platform around policies, not politics.

Richard brings something that is increasingly rare in government today: a deep command of the actual policies and decisions that shape our city.

By Erwin Chemerinsky / Op-Ed Los Angeles Times / April 30, 2026

The Supreme Court has again dealt a devastating blow to voting equality in the United States.

On Wednesday, April 29th, in Louisiana vs. Callais, six justices effectively nullified a 1982 federal statute that prohibits states from running or establishing election systems, such as election districts, that have a discriminatory effect against voters of color. Simply put, unless it can be shown that a state or local government acted with the intent of racial discrimination — something very difficult to prove — it will be impossible to successfully challenge laws as having violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 or the Constitution.

The Voting Rights Act is, simply put, one of the most important federal laws adopted during my lifetime. Although the 15th Amendment, adopted in 1870, prohibits denying someone the right to vote based on race, this was a hollow promise due to an array of practices used to keep Black individuals from voting. In Mississippi in 1964, for example, only 6.7% of eligible Black citizens were registered to vote. At the time it had the highest Black population of any state in the U.S.

by Dorian Hargrove / Times of San Diego / May 6, 2026

The saga over a proposal to build a 136-unit accessory dwelling unit project in Pacific Beach continues.

Pacific Beach residents discovered public notices were placed near the parcels on Pacifica Drive and Chalcedony, indicating the property, referred to as Chalcifica, is in default and heads to auction on May 28 if developer SDRE does not catch up on the amount owed.

Opponents of the project should not get their hopes up.

The president of the development company that now owns the Chalcifica says the notices are part of a dispute with the lender.

“The foreclosure is without merit,” said Brian Doyle, president of Infill Innovation. Doyle says his company acquired ADU-developer SDRE in April 2026.

The City of San Diego is holding an informational meeting on Tuesday, May 12th about a proposed seawall along Sunset Cliffs. It will be held at the Point Loma Library from 5 to 7 p.m.

Please see the following City documents.

By Steve Anderson / Beach & Bay Press – Times of San Diego / April 30, 2026

Recently, Mayor Todd Gloria proposed major cuts to San Diego’s arts and culture funding. As the city faces an $118 million deficit, the proposed arts cuts alone would save $11.8 million. Like much of Gloria’s decisions as mayor, this was met with backlash, especially among the local arts community.

On top of that, it seems like the cuts will affect other beloved aspects of our community — street fairs and parades are also under threat of losing major funding. Within Point Loma and OB that would be annual events, like the OB Street Fair and Chili Cook Off.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the OB Street Fair will cease to exist, but it might raise attendance fees and the organizations that support the events may experience layoffs.

by Linda Caballero Sotelo / Voice of San Diego / May 5, 2026

Over a recent phone conversation, a friend conveyed her sense of disillusionment with how cities are being managed. The expression “tone-deaf” came up, and that warnings are all around us. Across the United States, cities are making budget decisions that reveal far more than their fiscal priorities. They reveal their values, their imagination, and their sense of responsibility to future generations.

In San Diego, the mayor’s proposed budget would virtually eliminate nearly the entire $12 million arts and culture budget, effectively dismantling the cultural ecosystem of educational organizations filling the gaps for student art education-based programming, artist support to produce works that attracts visitors and creates a livable and forward city to enjoy, visit and invest in. An ecosystem that extends across borders and has taken decades to build.

This is not simply a budget cut. It is a cultural alarm, a canary in the coal mine warning us about the direction of our civic life.

This Thursday, May 7th, the City Council is holding a “Special Meeting” to vote on an ordinance implementing Senate Bill 79, the new state law that allows 5+ story apartments within one-half mile of trolley stops and certain major bus routes.

And a Call to Action has been announced for residents to help limit the impact of SB 79 by attending or by using the city’s online comment system.
It’s Agenda Item 600.

Here’s more on the situation from Neighbors For A Better San Diego (NFABSD):

To use the protections allowed under the law, San Diego must adopt an implementing ordinance before SB 79 takes effect on July 1.

 While Neighbors For A Better San Diego (NFABSD) opposed the bill in Sacramento, the Planning Department’s phased approach is the best available path under a bad law and deserves support. It limits immediate exposure in high-fire-hazard zones, low-resource areas, historic sites, and sea-level-rise areas, and it applies the state’s optional one-mile walking-distance cap to reduce the most unreasonable overreach.