OB Rag

By Danna Givot / June 9, 2025

San Diego’s Bonus ADU program is not producing truly affordable accessory dwelling units. Even worse, it is making single-family homes more expensive.

Let’s start with the single-family homes that developers are buying up for their high-density Bonus ADU projects. They prey on starter homes, especially smaller homes on larger lots where they can build the most ADUs for the lowest investment. The developers are willing to spend more than a first-time home buyer can afford because they are valuing the property based on its investment potential, which is the maximum rent they’ll charge for those studios and one-bedroom units.

These developers – often backed by out-of-town investors – offer cash up front for the property, while most home buyers need a mortgage, which requires time-consuming inspections, appraisals, and lots more paperwork for the seller.

Almost invariably, the developers secure the property, and the market reflects these new, higher prices for future buyers.

By Joni Halpern

“Go ahead and take my place in line,” said the old man in front of me as we stood recently in a long queue of people waiting to enter a local Social Security Administration (SSA) Office.  “I’ve been here since 7 o’clock this morning,” he told me.  “I can’t take it anymore.”

He had just climbed out of the ground cover into which he had fallen after one of his bandaged legs had finally given way.  He had been waiting in line to schedule an appointment so he could return at some later date to resolve a Social Security problem of which he had been notified by mail some weeks earlier.

Americans who need help from SSA staff members cannot enter an SSA office without an appointment.  The trick is to schedule the appointment.  In the long line of people I met that day at the SSA office, every single one had tried to get an appointment by calling the highly publicized phone number listed on the SSA website and on every other communication issued by SSA.  Most had also tried to get an appointment by going online.  When that failed, their last resort was to go in person to an SSA office to wait in line to schedule an appointment.

Here’s two brief reports on Bernie Sanders’ reaction to Trump deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to Los Angeles.

By Sudiksha Kochi / USA TODAY / June 8, 2025

Progressive firebrand Sen. Bernie Sanders said he believes President Donald Trump is “moving this country rapidly into authoritarianism” after Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to help quell immigration protests in Los Angeles.

“This guy wants all of the power. He does not believe in the Constitution. He does not believe in the rule of law. My understanding is that the governor of California, the mayor of the city of Los Angeles did not request the National Guard, but he thinks he has a right to do anything he wants,” Sanders, a Vermont independent, told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

The protests come as the Trump administration has taken stronger actions to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants. Demonstrators allege the administration’s immigration enforcement has violated civil and human rights.

By Marty Graham / Times of San Diego / June 8, 2025

San Diego is broke and its leaders have convinced voters that people who live in less dense housing should pay more into city coffers.

Elected leaders’ efforts targeting people who live in single-family homes and fewer than four-unit condo or apartment buildings will come to a head on Monday when the City Council may approve fees of nearly $600 a year for some residents — fees that will rise rapidly to nearly $800 over the next three years.

To sell those fees, the city hired Bay Area consultants known for setting the highest trash collection rates in California (including Long Beach, Oakland and San Jose) and spent no less than $4.5 million to hold the least scientific survey ever — aimed at raising the cost of service from the $73 million in the city’s request for proposal to the $155 million the consultants arrived at. And despite requests, city officials so far won’t release the consultants’ underlying data.

By Paul Krueger / June 8, 2025

A Hells Angel convicted of brutally stabbing a black man two years ago on Newport Avenue will serve 14 years-to-life in state prison for that crime, plus seven more years for related felonies.

Prosecutors said Troy Scholder has a history of violence marked by racial hatred, and was an “proud, continuous and unrepentant” member of the violent motorcycle gang.

A jury convicted Scholder of multiple felonies for his role in the June 6, 2023 attack on three black men. Prosecutor Miriam Hemming said the attack was prompted by a complaint by one of the gang member’s girlfriends that one of the victims made inappropriate comments to her outside a Newport Avenue bar.

Ocean Beach, San Diego — On Sunday morning, June 8, more than 300 people came together at Dog Beach in Ocean Beach to form a bold human banner spelling out the phrase “NO KINGS.” Organized as a peaceful visual demonstration, participants stood shoulder-to-shoulder to send a powerful message in defense of democracy and the Constitution.

Set against the natural beauty of San Diego’s iconic coastline, the banner was captured from above by drone photography, creating striking aerial images and videos now available for media use.

Protect Point Loma will hold a Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, June 11, at 6:00 p.m. at the Liberty Station Conference Room, 2600 Laning Road.

The meeting will feature an update on controversial plans for a four-story, 56-unit (8 affordable) apartment building at 1004 Rosecrans Street at the intersection of Rosecrans and Talbot.

Protect Point Loma, a 501c4 non-profit, has organized opposition to the project, which would sit on an active fault line on a site where a previous gas station left hazardous waste on the property.

By OB Rag Staff / June 6, 2025

In a decision that has received international “only in California” news coverage, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that San Diego’s 2024 ban on teaching yoga at shoreline parks and beaches is unconstitutional.

The judgement, which reversed a lower court ruling that yoga instruction is not protected by the First Amendment, clears the way for plaintiffs Steven Hubbard (aka “NamaSteve”) and Amy Baack to resume their free oceanfront yoga instruction.

By Michael Smolens / San Diego Union-Tribune / June 6, 2025

Not long after President Donald Trump was sworn in to his second term, there was plenty of advice from law firms and analysts on how businesses should prepare for increased immigration raids.

Among the highlights: recheck employee documents, advise workers of their rights and tell them who to notify should immigration enforcement officials show up.

One thing that didn’t appear on many lists: Get ready for a SWAT-like operation.

By Neighbors for a Better San Diego / June 5, 2025

Senate Bill 79 (SB 79) narrowly passed the California Senate vote with a bare minimum number of votes (21 out of 40).

The San Diego County delegation was split: Catherine Blakespear and Brian Jones voted against the bill, while Steve Padilla and Akilah Weber Pierson voted for it.

Now, we must focus on our local Assembly members. It’s important to let them know that you oppose SB 79!

CA State Assembly members who represent residents in San Diego County are:

NO KINGS Human Banner Action at Dog Beach – Pre-Rally Demonstration Sends Message Across the Nation

Join us on Sunday, June 8 at Dog Beach in Ocean Beach for a powerful and creative act of visual resistance as we form a massive “NO KINGS” human banner in the sand.

By Arturo Castañares, Editor-At-Large, La Prensa San Diego

The Mayor of Imperial Beach made a false claim against the Mayor of Chula Vista as the two city leaders face off in a special election to fill a vacancy on the County Board of Supervisors.

Paloma Aguirre posted on social post this week that  John McCann was “at the center” of a school district political corruption scandal that saw 18 people indicted in 2012, including six school board members, but McCann was the only sitting Board member not charged with any crimes in the investigation that included three school districts.

McCann, who had previously served two four-year terms on the Chula Vista City Council before being elected to the Sweetwater Union High School District in November 2010, later returned to the City Council in 2014 and was elected Mayor in 2022.

In early 2012, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis charged 15 individuals in a years-long corruption ring that included the Superintendents of three school districts, school board members, and a private company executive who conspired to direct lucrative construction contracts to companies who had provided campaign contributions and expensive dinners to officials.

But the majority of the corrupt acts occurred before McCann was even elected to the school board.