Category: San Diego

Editordude: The following is a ground-breaking sweeping review and analysis of Todd Gloria’s tenure as mayor by one of his long-time allies and supporters, the Voice of San Diego. It really is a remarkable piece by Will Huntsberry — and it touches on just about every scandal and misstep by Gloria — so it’s clearly welcomed by those longtime critics of Gloria — like the Rag.

What it doesn’t do, however, is delve into the corruption angle of Gloria’s administration, such as awarding the contract for the redevelopment of the Midway Sports Arena area — a huge, gigantic project — to his top campaign contributor, the manager of Midway Rising. Nor does it examine how a Gloria-backed PAC exercised voter suppression efforts against a fellow Democrat running for City Council. It’s a rather long piece, so sit back and relax — no, no, sit back and get pissed off. 

by Will Huntsberry / Voice of San Diego / January 14, 2026

In early 2020, the future was bright for Todd Gloria. Gloria hadn’t been elected yet, but his campaign was cooking and it seemed he held all the cards to become San Diego’s next mayor.

He convened a kitchen cabinet — an unofficial group of advisers — at a political consultant’s office downtown. Gloria sat at the head of the table and the group had heady discussions about his future.

At the time, he was San Diego’s shining son. Affable, polished and able to work a room like few other politicians. Child of a gardener and a hotel maid. First-generation college graduate. And soon he would be the first openly queer, non-White person elected mayor. Gloria had an amazing story to tell – and the assembled team was there to decide how to tell it.

By Dani Miskell / 10News / Jan 13, 2026

Museums in Balboa Park report a drop in attendance following the rollout of new paid-parking regulations.

The San Diego Natural History Museum, which hosted the first Free Tuesday of January, coinciding with the parking system launch, has seen significant decreases in visitor numbers during what is traditionally one of the park’s most popular programs.

“We’re concerned because we’ve seen a drop off in numbers. We’re down by about 25%,” said Judy Gradwohl, President and CEO of the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Free Tuesdays have been a longstanding tradition at Balboa Park, with museums taking turns offering free admission to visitors. However, the new paid-parking requirement appears to be deterring attendance, despite free museum access.

“We’ve only been in the first week of the parking regulations, but we’re getting a lot of negative feedback from members, from visitors, people in the community, anywhere I go, that’s all anybody wants to talk about,” Gradwohl said.

By Kelly Hessedal / CBS8 / January 12, 2026

Mayors from across San Diego County demanded Monday that San Diego city leaders repeal newly implemented parking fees at Balboa Park, citing fairness concerns, economic impact and a significant public backlash against the charges.

The coalition of mayors stand in support of activist Shane Harris’ proposal he drafted for the council calling for the parking fees to be repealed. Harris also said an online petition has gathered more than 1500 signatures.

The effort includes mayors from Coronado, Escondido, San Marcos, El Cajon and Chula Vista. It also includes council members from Del Mar and La Mesa. A news conference was held outside the Air and Space Museum Monday morning.

“Paying for parking to stay out and active is unacceptable,” said San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones.

SD Community Coalition Bulletin:

City Council To Hold Special Meeting Just Before Mayor’s State-Of-City Speech

In an interesting development, the San Diego City Council has posted notice that it will hold a special meeting about the Mayor’s 2026 “State of the City” address on Thursday, January 15, at 1:00 p.m. in the Council Committee Room. The Mayor’s address is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Thursday in the Council Chambers.

This link contains instructions for submitting a written comment before the meeting. The Council will begin the meeting by taking public comment in person and virtually.

This is a developing story, so please circle back for updates later this morning.

By Jeanette Quezada and Shelby Bremer / 7SanDiego / January 11-12, 2026 

Video of San Diego police officers hitting a man as they arrested him in Southcrest over the weekend has led to an investigation.

The incident happened at 38th Street and National Avenue on Saturday night. Police and witnesses say a man blocked his ex’s car in with his own, and she called 911.

[Go to original for video.]

Aurora Morales, who lives across the street, said that she was inside her home when she heard what sounded like an argument between a man and a woman. When she looked out the window, she saw what appeared to be a man trying to hit the woman’s car window.

“It seemed like he wanted her to get out of the car,” Morales said.

She said she then heard the man telling the woman he was going to pull something out of the car. That’s when Morales saw the man grab what appeared to be an iron tool to break the window.

Witnesses say there were more than a dozen squad cars but just a few moments captured on video have now prompted an investigation.

There are concerns tonight from some people about the way San Diego police officers handled an arrest last night in Southcrest. Video shared on social media is prompting questions about whether the officers involved used “excessive force.” We do want to warn you, some may find the video graphic. NBC 7’s, Jeanette Quezada, talked with witnesses today about what happened.

Please join Ocean Beach Historical Society, for A View From My Trike, Thursday evening, January 15, 2026 at 7:00 pm, at Water’s Edge Community, 1894 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.

OBHS Board Member and talented writer Mercy Baron presents an engaging selection of her stories from the San Diego Reader.

This fun and lively presentation will kick off Ocean Beach Historical Society’s 32nd season of free monthly programs.

By David Helvarg /  Op-Ed LA Times / Jan. 8, 2026

Recently, while sailing with friends on San Francisco Bay, I enjoyed the sight of harbor porpoises, cormorants, pelicans, seals and sea lions — and then the spouting plume and glistening back of a gray whale that gave me pause. Too many have been seen inside the bay recently.

California’s gray whales have been considered an environmental success story since the passage of the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act and 1986’s global ban on commercial whaling. They’re also a major tourist attraction during their annual 12,000-mile round-trip migration between the Arctic and their breeding lagoons in Baja California. In late winter and early spring — when they head back north and are closest to the shoreline, with the moms protecting the calves — they can be viewed not only from whale-watching boats but also from promontories along the California coast including Point Loma in San Diego, Point Lobos in Monterey and Bodega Head and Shelter Cove in Northern California.

In 1972, there were some 10,000 gray whales in the population on the eastern side of the Pacific. Generations of whaling all but eliminated the western population — leaving only about 150 alive today off of East Asia and Russia. Over the four decades following passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the eastern whale numbers grew steadily to 27,000 by 2016, a hopeful story of protection leading to restoration. Then, unexpectedly over the last nine years, the eastern gray whale population has crashed, plummeting by more than half to 12,950, according to a recent report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the lowest numbers since the 1970s.

Today’s changing ocean and Arctic ice conditions linked to fossil-fuel-fired climate change are putting this species again at risk of extinction.

By Gustavo Solis / KPBS / Jan. 12, 2026

Local privacy advocates are raising concerns about an obscure database managed by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) that might be allowing President Donald Trump’s deportation forces to circumvent state and local immigrant sanctuary laws.

For an annual fee of roughly $200,000 SANDAG grants immigration enforcement agencies, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP), access to the database, which is known as ARJIS.

The database contains information from every law enforcement agency in San Diego County — which includes traffic citations, arrest records, field interviews, a local jail census and some driver license records.

Local police agencies have shared data with their federal counterparts through ARJIS for decades. But now, the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics are raising new questions about what exactly is being shared with the federal government.

“It is not always great to share data because sometimes you don’t know what the motivations of those people might be,” said Seth Hall, a privacy advocate with the TRUST SD Coalition.

The Committee to Consider Dumping OB’s Historic District Should Use Current Housing Data Before Making Decision

By South OB Girl

Dear Land Use and Housing Committee Members:

San Diego’s Historic Preservation and Progress Package A will be brought before you by city staff on Wednesday, January 14 for your consideration. However, this package involves controversial proposals regarding preserving the city’s historic housing ideals and districts, yet current housing data is not available. Decisions about San Diego housing should be delayed until the housing data for 2025 has been prepared and analyzed in the forthcoming 2026 Annual Report on Homes.

A report issued once a year based on data from a full year prior does not seem sufficient for assessing the current housing crisis nor sufficient information for
government officials to make decisions about housing moving forward into this year.

This annual reporting seems particularly insufficient given the escalation of public concern and opposition in the past year regarding ADUs, high density projects, plans for resiliency, evacuation route safety, Complete Communities Housing, and Preservation and Progress Package A, among other issues. Given this escalation of public concern in recent years and some of the concern expressed in this letter, now would also be a good time to consider how San Diego’s housing data and building permit data is tracked, managed, and evaluated.

By Rob Campbell / Op-Ed SD Union-Tribune / Jan. 9, 2026

“Bonus programs delivering needed local housing,” the Dec. 28 commentary by Colin Parent, presents bonus density programs as a success story but ignores the most critical issue in San Diego’s housing crisis. Who is bearing the burden of these bonus “solutions”? [Parent is head of pro-developers group, Circulate SD.]

While the author characterized San Diego’s bonus housing density programs as an elegant workaround to “political gridlock,” they have created a system that strategically targets low-resource, infrastructure-deficient, historically marginalized neighborhoods while leaving the city’s Whitest, wealthiest, highest-opportunity areas functionally untouched.

Ignoring this reality turns the argument into a one-sided celebration of YIMBY (yes in my backyard) production numbers, which are detached from actual equity outcomes the city is legally and morally obligated to comply with.

A claim that the bonus density programs “apply everywhere” is misleading at best. In practice, these programs overwhelmingly land in communities of color in neighborhoods like Valencia Park, Lincoln Park, Chollas View, City Heights, Logan Heights, etc. These are the very same areas that have higher asthma, cancer, and cardiovascular disease burdens; worse mobility with old, non-ADA compliant pathways (sidewalks); fewer jobs; and long-standing histories of redlining, freeway construction and environmental racism.

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members informed about important Council and Planning Commission hearings. City Hall reopens this week after a 3-week legislative recess for the holidays.

First, a word about Balboa Park parking fees and non-agenda public comment:

The outrageous new fees to park in Balboa Park are on the City Council’s political front burner right now. But they aren’t on any of the Council’s agendas this week – which means the public can raise that issue during the non-agenda public comment at every Council meeting.

Council President Joe La Cava, who strongly supported the new fees, needs to hear a loud message from a lot of constituents: City Hall must live within its means. Stop spending money irresponsibly and then demanding that taxpayers cover your losses. La Cava won’t like having his meetings slowed down by non-agenda comments on Park fees. But he can’t interfere with our right to make those comments.

Monday, January 12: City Council, 2:00 p.m.

Agenda link here.

Items include: Public Utilities FY 2027-2031 Five-Year Financial Outlook

Why it matters: Last year, the Council fought over a proposal to increase water rates by 63% through 2029 and wastewater rates by 31% in the same period. The final 5-4 vote approved less draconian hikes of 14.7% and 14.5%. A year later, public furor over bait-and-switch trash fees and erratic Balboa Park parking fees will make utility rate hikes even more contentious.