Category: San Diego

By Clifford Weiler

The City of San Diego will be sending letters this week about the trash fee. Silence will become costly.

The city is mailing homeowners a document deceptively titled “NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING.” However, the notice is much more than about a public hearing. Obscured in the document is notice of homeowners’ right to stop a charge, with that charge possibly being added to their property tax bills, as well as the need to actually file a timely protest, and that failure to file will count as a “yes, you can increase my property tax bill.”

Unless a majority of those receiving that mailing send in a protest form, silence literally becomes costly garbage, long term.  And if approved, homeowners cannot opt out by using a cheaper private contractor instead of the city.

By Kate Callen

The San Diego Planning Commission won’t formally consider proposed Bonus ADU “reforms” until they meet May 1. But board members have been served notice that they should prepare for a showdown.

Neighbors for a Better San Diego (NFABSD) warned commissioners April 17 that if the City tampers with the Land Use Development Code (LDC) Update process, public backlash could be severe.

NFABSD’s Geoff Hueter and Danna Givot each spoke for three minutes during non-agenda public comment. The facts they presented were troubling.

It appears Mayor Todd Gloria has devised several ploys to shield his treasured Bonus ADU program from an overdue reckoning. Three takeaways:

Downtown San Diego once again witnessed thousands of protestors on Saturday, April 19, demonstrating against Trump and for defending constitutional protections and due process rights.

This time around, it was called “Not On Our Watch” and organized by a citizen-led group known as 50501 San Diego, the the local branch of a nationwide movement that intends to lead 50 protests in 50 states.

The gathering fell on April 19, a date organizers explained marks a symbolic connection to the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord—the spark that ignited the American Revolutionary War in 1775.

Waterfront Park to Gaslamp District March for Constitutional Rights

San Diego invites community members to join a peaceful demonstration advocating for constitutional protections and due process rights on Saturday, April 19th, 2025.

Event Details: Assembly & Program: 10:00 AM at Waterfront Park (1600 Pacific Hwy, San Diego, CA 92101) -Featured speakers addressing constitutional concerns -Open mic for community voices -Live music performances

March: Beginning at 12:00 PM, proceeding from Waterfront Park to the Gaslamp District

Post-March Activities: Flyering and canvassing throughout the Gaslamp District to raise public awareness

by Ernie McCray

The other day,
I kicked back in the sun,
in the spacious backyard
of my son’s new home,
celebrating
my little grandson Jackson’s
first year around the sun,
with family and friends,
and some of my other grandchildren,
mellow music playing in the background,
margaritas and juices available
for everyone,

This serves two purposes: it reminds us of the massive outpouring of resistance to Trump and Musk’s plans of fascism on April 5th, which marks a new reality. 5 to 6 million of our fellow Americans rallied that day in direct opposition their plans.

By Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D.

There’s a strange and sobering warning in the air this Holy Week— a convergence of sacred observance and civic unrest. Across the country, new rounds of protest are planned for Saturday, April 19. Here in San Diego, demonstrators will gather at Waterfront Park and march to the Gaslamp District to protest a wave of executive orders consolidating power in the hands of a single leader. The event is being organized by 5050california.org, under the banner: “Not on our watch—because silence is compliance.”

Last Sunday was Palm Sunday—a day marking Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem amid cries of “Hosanna!” (save us!) and the waving of palm branches under Roman rule. Historically, it was not just a parade, but a protest march that led to his execution by the occupying empire.

This Sunday, April 20, is Easter—a day when Christians celebrate Christ’s resurrection. It is also the final day of Passover, when Jews recall the liberation of an oppressed people. But April 20 is also Adolf Hitler’s birthday, still marked by white supremacist and neo-fascist groups. This troubling convergence of symbols—resurrection, liberation, fascist memory— aligns with another political calendar milestone.

Editordude: Lisa Mortensen often writes open letters to our San Diego City Councilmembers; here’s her latest.

By Lisa Mortensen / April 16, 2025

Good morning council members:

I wanted to take a moment and thank you, Mr. Campillo, Ms. Moreno and Ms. Van Wilpert for speaking out against the city’s new trash program that the council voted to move forward on April 14th.  Your remarks and reasoning are a few of the viable points why this proposal should be torn up and put in the shredder.

It is obvious that the measure had gross inaccuracies as per the monthly fee, in addition to other wording that was ‘deemed reliable but not guaranteed’. Sadly, this fudging of facts by city hall was for the benefit of Todd Gloria to curry favor with the city’s unions in order to get their vote for his mayoral re-election.  I would imagine the councilmembers in district 3 and district 9 also wanted to give their re-election campaigns a boost of support from their coworkers. Pure and simple. This political trickery is now being rolled out at a time that will further burden homeowners dealing with rapidly increasing prices for necessity goods and services and a looming threat of recession as is described in the political cartoon below.

So, what the city is saying is, they want to gain revenue to plug up the budget deficit on the backs of single-family homeowners and keeping this in-house would provide that reward.   

By David Garrick / San Diego U-T / April 6, 2025

A sweeping proposal to revamp many San Diego parking rules — including plans to end free street parking on Sundays and install meters in Balboa Park — is facing backlash from residents, merchant groups and nonprofits. With the proposal headed for a City Council vote in late May, officials are making some concessions such as a plan to allow $9-per-year residential permits in any neighborhood where Sunday metered parking will no longer be free.

But the city is holding firm on other proposed changes that face opposition, including plans to dramatically shrink the share of meter revenue that nonprofit community parking districts get to keep for neighborhood projects.

The parking districts would also be required to diversify their governing boards, which are now dominated by merchants and don’t often include residents, community-based organizations or advocacy groups.

Editordude: The following “Reader Rant” is in response to a series of comments by Shelly OB who accused members of the new Community Coalition of being out-of-touch old people.

By Trudy Grundland

Shelly, it’s obvious that you are a woman who likes facts. I do too.

California legislators write the housing laws that allow developers to build, and the state of California gives cities new housing quotas every 8 years, divided into 4 income categories: above affordable income, affordable/moderate, low, very low income.

Cities must give permits to developers in order to reach their quota, or get fined by the state. Repeat: Cities must give permits. Developers DON’T have to build.

Cities give incentives to make it less expensive and easier for developers to build bigger = more units = meet quota. The state gave the City of San Diego a quota of 40% for above affordable = >$3K/month rent. That’s ridiculous because we have more than enough expensive housing. I’m sure you will agree.

The current 8 year cycle is April 2021-April 2029. The city is 50% through this state-mandated timeframe to meet its housing quotas. It has reached 173% of quota for above affordable income units, it is below 50% on the other 3 income levels.

From UC Peeps

The official proposed monthly trash collection fees are out and, while they are down slightly from the initial $53/month, they are still higher that other cities in the county.

City officials have said they will mail out protest cards beginning the week of April 21st to each of the estimated 233,000 households that would pay the new trash tax. 

by Ron Winter

In what would be a precedent-setting development on the historic Middletown hillside behind India Street’s restaurant row, a 14-story residential tower has been proposed. The densely populated area, which began building out in 1909, is currently a mix of older homes, apartments and condos that abide by a 40-foot height zoning restriction.

The City is using the controversial Complete Communities urban planning initiative to exempt height and density restrictions for residential developments. The result means fast-tracking the building permitting process through the Developmental Services Department as “Ministerial” review proposals. This means that community review, feedback and appeal, is not allowed, including any recommendations by Community Planning Groups.

In response, Middletown residents and business owners are organizing to demand responsible development in their neighborhood (StopColumbiaHighrise.org). They argue that the modest affordable housing requirement in the project can be built offsite, up to 3 miles away and 5 years later, thanks to a developer perk recently approved by the City Council. That’s 6 affordable units out of the proposed 161. The remaining units would be market-rate.

The proposed development, straddling two lots at 3677 Columbia Street, and an active earthquake fault, would have no street set-back and fronts on a narrow split-
level hillside street, meaning access for emergency and fire response would be limited.