OB Rag

It’s deja vue all over again. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget cuts resonate with history and closely resemble the cuts that then-Mayor Jerry Sanders wanted back in 2008. Today, our Democratic mayor sounds like the former Republican mayor, 17 years later.

Earlier this week, Gloria unveiled his proposed budget which included slashing funding for arts, libraries and recreation centers, among other targets.

He proposed to close all 37 city branches every Sunday and Monday, and proposed cuts to recreation centers by slashing hours from either 60 or 65 down to 40 a week. And Sanders years ago, wanted to some similar cuts. As we reported :

Three years into his first term as mayor, Sanders … (was) faced with a huge budget crisis — wanted to solve it by making substantial cut-backs to key public services. And he chose San Diego’s libraries. In order to balance the city’s budget, he threatened to close all San Diego libraries — including the OB Library, of course — or seriously cut back their hours.

Surfrider Foundation Launches “Love Your Beach” Tour to Rally Support for California Coastal Act

As noted in our recent post, Under Siege: California’s Coastal Commission and the Fight for Public Beach Access, federal officials and state electeds have threatened to undermine the Coastal Act. For anyone who benefits from a safe, accessible, healthy coast in California – which is everyone! – the time is now to remind lawmakers to stand up for California’s coast.

Surfrider is here to help with that! We’re hitting the road on April 19 and making our way from San Diego County to Humboldt to give voice to all the people who love and value our beaches. Each stop will offer opportunities to talk about your favorite beach and how the Coastal Act protects it, and ways to take action to ensure your access and that protection continue.

By Surfrider Foundation / Santa Barbara Independent / Apr 23, 2025

California — In a grassroots homage to the historic “Save Your Beach” campaign that inspired the passage of Proposition 20 in 1972, the Surfrider Foundation has launched the Love Your Beach Tour — a coastwide activation in support of the California Coastal Act and the California Coastal Commission.

The tour spans from San Diego to Humboldt County, energizing communities to take action in defense of the coast.

The blue-eyed grass is San Diego’s new official flower.

Part of the iris family and native to the area, this plant was selected through the San Diego Bird Alliance’s NCAA bracket-style tournament that drew more than 7,750 votes from the public. [The SD Bird Alliance is the former Audubon Society.]

Using a plethora of plant-based puns on Earth Day, City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday, April 22, for the blue-eyed grass to represent the city.

The flower beat out the bush sunflower in the finals to replace the non-native carnation, which was chosen in 1964 through a secret ballot.

From KPBS – City News Service

The San Diego City Council on Tuesday, April 22nd, approved a contract with nonprofit Jewish Family Service of San Diego to continue running the city’s Safe Parking Program, including the new H Barracks site.

The barracks site, near San Diego International Airport, is intended to have 190 spaces for people using the program. Tuesday’s approval by the council is a one-year contract with Jewish Family Service.

On Saturday, April 26, from 9:00am to 11:30am, the Point Loma Rotary Club is hosting a morning of community service at Sunset Cliffs Natural Park. This hands-on event is a chance to give back to our beautiful coastal environment while connecting with neighbors and fellow volunteers.

Event Details:

• Time: 9:00 AM (no later than 9:30 AM) to 11:30 AM
• Location: South end of the Ladera Street parking lot, accessible via Sunset Cliffs Blvd. (from Point Loma Ave.) or Cornish Dr. (from Hill St.)
• Lunch: Complimentary sandwich lunch provided by Chick-fil-A

What to Expect:

By Lynne Miller

Three issues:

1.  Please listen to your constituents.  The people of Ocean Beach and Point Loma are opposed to the 4591 Pescadero overbuild.  I am pretty sure you know the reasons already.

Drive around San Diego and see the horrific changes that the city has forced on the residents.  Please stop this now.  Stop enticing Big Builders to come to San Diego and destroy it. Stop waiving laws that protect our land, our safety, our life style.

Imagine for a moment a disaster in San Diego, say a fire or a tidal wave.  There is no way out of many areas, including coastal cities.  People will be trapped, just like they were in Maui and Paradise.

Stop cramming people into small places, taking away land needed for storm runoff, and pretending that this is a solution to affordable housing and homelessness.  Run the numbers.  How many actual affordable housing can you count?  The city/state formula for qualifying as high density, low income housing tells the real story. Putting all these structures, high and dense, around the city without proper infrastructure is creating unsafe conditions.

Time for bullied San Diegans to fight back, only starting with trash fee

Editorial Board / San Diego Union-Tribune / April 17, 2025

San Diegans already disillusioned with City Hall have new reasons for angst. In a bizarre story that raised eyebrows around the world, the Union-Tribune revealed Sunday that newly elected City Attorney Heather Ferbert has allowed a top aide to receive pay and accrue vacation benefits while on a four-month global cruise.

Ferbert’s reputation may be permanently damaged by her obliviousness to the message this sends during the city’s latest budget crisis — and by her refusal to take basic follow-up questions about the immense favor she granted to attorney Jean Jordan on top of her nearly $300,000 in annual compensation. “There’s nothing else to add,” Ferbert’s spokesperson said in an email to a reporter, only adding to the amateur hour vibe of the matter. Of course there is. Let the public record requests begin. Let’s see how much work Jordan is actually doing while at sea.

By Linda Taggart

Subject: Urgent Concerns Regarding Proposed Cuts to San Diego Humane Society Funding

Dear Mayor Gloria,

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the proposed 20% cut ($3.5 million) in the City of San Diego’s contract with the San Diego Humane Society, as outlined in the draft budget.

I understand you have publicly stated there would be “no cuts to public safety,” but I, along with many others, respectfully disagree. Humane Law Enforcement is a critical component of public safety, for both animals and people.

These proposed cuts would have devastating consequences for the residents and animals of San Diego. The San Diego Humane Society provides essential services that directly impact the safety and well-being of our community. Specifically, these cuts would eliminate the following:

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.

Corey Bruins, the former president of the Ocean Beach Town Council, currently faces 9 felonies.

These include one count of fraudulent appropriation by agent, with an aggravated white collar crime enhancement, one count of grand theft, six counts of use personal identifying information of another, and one count of money laundering also with an aggravated white collar crime enhancement.

Bruins was arraigned on March 28 and pleaded not guilty. He was ordered by the court to stay away from Shelly Parks, Jenny Brengelman, and Stephanie Kane — either current or former members of the OBTC (now OB Community Foundation).  A readiness hearing is set for May 7 at 8:15 a.m. in Department 1102 in downtown San Diego. Because he’s charged with felonies, there is a preliminary hearing currently set for May 21 at 8:30 a.m., assigned out of Department 102 downtown.

The investigating agency is the San Diego Police Department’s Financial Crimes Unit. His retained defense attorney is Earll Pott.

As OBceans may recall, Bruins was forced to resign from the OBTC in disgrace in January 2024, which threw the Town Council into months of turmoil and crisis, so much so that the organization had to change its name.

Without listing each felony count in detail, here’s several examples verbatim:

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.