OB Rag

By Bruce Coons / Op-Ed San Diego Union-Tribune / April 10, 2025

Ricardo Flores’ recent opinion piece calling for the elimination of the Mills Act in San Diego, citing the city’s budget deficit and arguing that historic tax relief unfairly benefits wealthy homeowners, is an argument based on misleading claims and a fundamental misunderstanding of both the Mills Act and the role of historic preservation in our city’s economic and cultural vitality.

Preservation strengthens, not weakens, the city’s economy. The Mills Act is a proven tool that stimulates local economies by increasing property values, attracting visitors and generating jobs in restoration and tourism. It incentivizes the preservation of historic structures, which are essential to San Diego’s identity, economy, and quality of life. Far from being a drain on city resources, historic preservation drives long-term economic growth.

The tax adjustments granted through the Mills Act are modest compared to the economic benefits these historic properties provide over time. Eliminating the program would not solve the city’s financial challenges — but it would weaken neighborhood stability and undermine a key sector of San Diego’s economy.

No One in Charge at City’s Trash Fee Open House for District 2

By Kate Callen

Which is more dismissive? Someone who ignores you? Or someone who pretends to listen but clearly doesn’t care what you think?

If you’re okay with synthetic respect, the City’s Trash Fee Open Houses have been pleasant in a quaint sort of way.

The April 7 event for District 2 residents (including OBceans) felt like a high school science fair. Environmental Services staffers were friendly. Display tables featured toy-sized trash bins in three colors and giant photographs of the latest in trash trucks.

It would have been a worthwhile event if community members wanted to learn the finer points of top-notch waste management. But that’s not why they came.

Melanie and Bob Sherman of Point Loma were hoping someone in charge at City Hall would explain why trash fee estimates are so high. And they wanted assurance that new fees wouldn’t be skimmed for “administrative overhead.”

From Voice of San Diego / April 8, 2025

Two South Bay mayors will race for the open seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre will appear on the runoff ballot July 1.

With 11,000 votes still to count, McCann, a Republican, had won 44 percent of votes. Aguirre had gotten 32 percent of votes counted.

Two other Democrats in the race, San Diego City Councilmember Vivian Moreno and Chula Vista City Councilmember Carolina Chavez, garnered too few votes – 13 percent and 8 percent – to overcome the frontrunners’ lead. Three other lesser-known candidates split the remainder of the vote.

McCann will come up short of the 50 percent threshold needed to win outright.

The artists toiling away in their studios and workspaces, and the environmental advocates encouraging others to join their work, believe in the power of art to nudge people to care a little more about nature. Locally, that power will be on display during a new exhibition at Grossmont College’s Hyde Art Gallery, “One River, Many Stories.”

The San Diego River Park Foundation and the San Diego River Artists’ Alliance are partnering in this display of the stories of the San Diego River and its ecosystem, with an opening reception from 4 to 6 p.m. March 25 (the exhibit is open March 24 to April 24; the artists will also meet with the public again from 2 to 4 p.m. April 10).

David Garrick at the U-T announced this morning that the City of San Diego is knocking 10% off its proposed trash fee as a response to all the push back from residents. But is that enough to placate angry residents?

Garrick:

The revised proposal announced Wednesday suggests a monthly rate of $47.59 for full-service customers — more than $5 less than the initial proposal of $53 per month that the city announced in February.

The fee would still rise in coming years when the city adds new services like bulky trash pickup. But instead of rising to $65 in July 2027, the fee would rise to $59.42 at that time.

By Steve O San Diego

I visited Elvira, the cozy little spot across the street from 3rd Corner as they offer brunch on weekends from 11:30am to 3pm. I’d been meaning to check it out, so I headed over to try something off their brunch menu. I picked an item I couldn’t pronounce and I wasn’t entirely sure what I had ordered at first, but when my plate arrived, any uncertainty vanished. The presentation alone was stunning. It genuinely looked like something you’d see served at a castle. Fit for royalty!

I ordered the “Colazione di Nonna Elvira,” which I now can’t recommend highly enough. Five stars, without a doubt. Every single component of the dish looked like a masterpiece. I was so impressed that after finishing, I had to look up a few of the dishes I wasn’t familiar with. What I learned made me appreciate the meal even more.

First off, the eggs were cooked exactly how I’d requested them, which seems like a small thing, but anyone who’s particular about eggs knows it’s a make-or-break detail.

After the dust had settled from the thousands, even millions of Americans who protested Trump and Musk this past weekend, I discovered that a protest “alert” from Yahoo was in my email box.

Upon a close reading, however, of the so-called alert, I had to wonder how many would-be protesters had been fooled by it.

Here’s a screen shot:

If you can’t read it, here’s what it says verbatim:

“You’re reminded to prepare for the ‘Hands Off! San Diego Fights Back’ event against COVID-19 on Saturday, Apr 5, 2025, at 12pm PDT at Civic Center Plaza, 1200 Third Ave, San Diego, CA 92101 ….”

Noticing the baldfaced misinformation in the email, I clicked on the accompanying icon and learned:

“Yahoo Mail uses AI to summarize the most important information from you message. This technology is new and may make mistakes. View Terms”

by Ernie McCray

We have a president
who commits treason,
an offense that just happens to be
our country’s
most serious crime
and we haven’t called him out on it
at any time
which blows my mind
because there have been times
when engaging in trying to overthrow
the government
came with a steep price,

By Roberto Camacho / Times of San Diego / April 7, 2025

A controversy about an op-ed in The San Diego Union-Tribune by a student at UC San Diego in the wake of violent responses to pro-Palestinian protests has stirred a conversation about free speech, its limits, and who has a right to speak — and about what.

For decades, universities have held themselves out as boundary-pushers at the forefront of societal metamorphosis and have served as conservatories for challenging ideas and conversations.

However, some ideas appear to be more palatable than others.

When “Mia,” a 21-year-old anthropology major at UCSD and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, was invited to contribute an op-ed to the Union-Tribune to share the perspectives of Jewish students in support of Palestinians, she was elated.

However, a few days later Mia’s op-ed was removed from the U-T’s website without explanation, sparking a local outcry from educators, activists, and community members.

KPBS / April 7, 2025

At least five UC San Diego students had their F-1 visas “suddenly” revoked by the federal government, and a sixth student was allegedly detained at the border, denied entry and deported, Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said over the weekend.

Khosla said the university received the notification “without warning,” and that the federal government has not explained the reasons behind the terminations. The students have been notified and the school is working directly with them to provide support, he said.

Looks like Corey Bruins, the former president of the Ocean Beach Town Council, is in very big trouble. The DA’s Office filed felony charges in Superior Court on March 6, 2025, and at his arraignment on March 31, Bruins plead not guilty.

He is currently out on his own recognizance. By one account, Bruins has an upcoming preliminary hearing sometime in May 2025. According to the Superior Court website, Bruins’ case number is CD307110.

Bruins, as OB observers and local activists know, was forced to resign as OBTC president in January 2024, throwing the Town Council into turmoil and crisis.

As the Rag reported then:

The immediate upshot, as interim president Cameron Reid explained in the statement he read to the some 60 people in the audience, is that president Corey Bruins has been ousted and that the group’s financial accounts have been turned over to an independent auditor. The former treasurer, Connor Harrington, has also resigned. (See full BOD statement below.)

By Michael Moore / Substack / April 8, 2025

This weekend, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE took to the streets of America to protest Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and what this administration of dangerous idiots, creepy billionaires and outright white supremacist fascists are doing to this country.

MILLIONS OF PEOPLE! There were 1,500 registered protests and hundreds more that just sprung up spontaneously in places where nothing had been planned but people said… “F*ck it! Let’s just go down to the courthouse!”

You would think this would be front page news. This would be blasting every 20 minutes of “Breaking News” and “This Just In!” and “Happening Now in the Situation Room!”

But, according to CNN, it was “scores of people” and USA Today said it was “tens of thousands” which was at least more than FOX News which said it was just “thousands of people.”

They refused to believe that MILLIONS of everyday Americans left their homes and packed tens of thousands of streets — even though they knew in advance there were over 600,000 people who had already RSVP’d to rallies nationwide weeks before the protests even started! And if you’ve ever met any Lefties and Independents and Traditional Non Voters… we don’t sign up for ANYTHING. For every 1 person who RSVP’d there were at least 8 who said, “Dude, I’ll just show up, why do I have to RSVP? This isn’t a bridal shower!”