OB Rag

By Mat Wahlstrom / Special to the OB Rag

Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 11, the Uptown Community Planning Group (UpCPG) that was chosen to replace Uptown Planners, will hold the final in-person voting for its first regular election.

Readers of the OB Rag may recall that the last time we visited the city’s shenanigans in Uptown was September 2024. Back then, the City Council had to take time out to retroactively bless the malfeasance and fraud committed by Vibrant Uptown, their handpicked YIMBY usurpers.

Despite Vibrant Uptown’s efforts , the composition of the final board was roughly split between their endorsed candidates and those not beholden to their pro-developer agenda. Understandably, this led to conflicts that should be understood as natural and part of learning to operate under new rules.

San Diegans will march from US Courthouse to Federal Building, City Hall, and will sign giant Thank You card to EPA workers. Hundreds of San Diegans will rally and march to thank and defend EPA and NOAA workers who are under attack by the Trump administration and stand up to Trump’s attack on our climate.

In the wake of climate-driven devastating fires in Los Angeles, participants will call for city and state governments to stand up to the Trump climate denialism and step up their own climate actions.

We cannot stand by while the Trump administration denies climate change in the face of the heartbreaking fires in LA, expands fossil fuel drilling, illegally cuts funds for renewable energy and environmental justice, places fossil fuel executives in charge of our environment, and paints a target on the backs of the EPA workers who are working for our health and our environment every day.

By Steve O SanDiego

I was in the mood for some BBQ, and as I walked past BBQ House on Newport Ave, their menu outside caught my eye. The Rice Bowl immediately stood out, and I was honestly surprised I’d never thought to try it before as it’s exactly the kind of thing I love. I guess I’d always been sidetracked by their Sloppy Joe sandwiches, Pulled Pork burritos, and… well, too many other tempting options to list. But this time, I knew I had to give the Rice Bowl a shot.

It comes with a choice of brisket, pulled pork, grilled chicken, or ham, all served over steamed rice and baked beans, then topped with coleslaw and a choice of mild or spicy BBQ sauce. The combination sounded hearty and satisfying, with a great mix of textures and flavors. I decided on the spicy pulled pork, and from the very first bite, I knew I had made the right choice.

By Kate Callen

The City Council’s March 4 hearing on Bonus ADUs was riveting. It didn’t deliver concrete action — at City Hall, the can never stops skittering down the road — but it did alter the political landscape. Some takeaways:

Henry Foster III Is In the House. After just 10 months representing District 4, Foster is the Council’s most powerful voice and its resident status-quo disrupter. Councilmembers who catch flak about ADUs typically bob and weave. Foster went into the Encanto community, saw the blight himself, and returned with a righteous anger and an audacious plan. If he stays on this path, he could be a formidable contender for mayor in 2028.

Everyone of the Democrats should have gotten up and walked out with Al Green when he was escorted out of the Chambers.

At least three lawmakers were injured on Tuesday, March 4th during Trump’s state of the union address before a joint session of Congress, one of them seriously.

It was a chaotic scene as Democratic congress people and Senators reacted to Trump’s lies and attempts to stage a coup over the government and install an oligarchy.

Smoke bombs and flares were thrown, further fueling political tensions in the Capitol but preventing Trump from speaking further — he was rushed from the floor. Elon Musk was also chased from the floor by irate congresswomen and seniors.

Lawmakers were scheduled to listen to over an hour address by Trump, but the opposition party found its footing and role in the attempted coup and refused to allow it to happen. They said that Trump and Musk’s moves were illegal and that lawmakers should first insist on the resignation of Musk from any official role in the government.

By Steven Mihailovich / Point Loma – OB Monthly SD U-T / March 5, 2025

A proposed $53 monthly fee for city of San Diego trash collection at single-family homes stirred up animated debate as the Ocean Beach Community Foundation held its first public meeting of 2025.

Randy Reyes, representing City Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell, whose District 2 includes Ocean Beach and Point Loma, stoically defended the new fee proposal against a barrage of questions and comments that took the entire nine-minute Q&A period following his usual presentation, even though the trash topic wasn’t broached in his report.

The monthly price, which the city plans to start charging in July to recoup its costs, would end more than a century of fee-free service for trash and recycling collection for single-family homeowners and some small multi-unit properties.

Editordude: Here’s a brief summary of yesterday’s city council hearing from Neighbors for a Better San Diego.

From Neighbors for a Better San Diego

TBD…
An internal memo by the Planning Department — distributed to Councilmembers on Friday but not shared with the public — changed Council direction on the Bonus ADU program. We won’t know what we got yesterday until the Planning Department comes back with concrete details on how they are going to implement the Council’s motion.

The Council Chambers were completely packed, mostly with people wearing yellow supporting the repeal of the Bonus ADU program. Many people spoke to how the Bonus ADU program has affected their lives personally.

Here is a link to the full meeting. The Bonus ADU item starts around the 2:10:00 mark with a forceful presentation by Councilmember Foster’s staff.

After hours of testimony — and at times some fiery debate by Councilmembers — here was the final motion:

Editordude: The Rag is forced to quote from today’s UT about this important City council hearing yesterday, Tuesday, March 4; we will have some follow-up hopefully in the days ahead.

By David Garret / San Diego Union-Tribune / March 5, 2025

San Diego is substantially rolling back a controversial city incentive that allows the owner of a single-family lot to build potentially dozens of backyard apartments on it.

The City Council voted 6-3 Tuesday to eliminate the program in eight types of single-family neighborhoods where lot sizes tend be larger than other single-family neighborhoods.

The goal is preventing abuse of the program by developers who target what city officials call “outlier” lots: large, unusually shaped lots that allow more backyard apartments than city officials ever intended or imagined.

Council members said the compromise they reached will retain the positive aspects of the program, such as producing more housing relatively quickly, while eliminating some of the biggest negatives.

The council also voted in favor of other significant changes to the controversial incentive, which is formally known as a bonus accessory dwelling unit program. City officials call backyard apartments accessory dwelling units, or ADUs.

By Robert Reich

Trump is killing the economy, reducing the U.S. government to rubble, and destroying our relationships with our allies. Putin may love it, but it’s a catastrophe for us and much of the rest of the world.

Many of you ask me: Where’s the Democratic Party?

I wish I had a good answer. At a time when America needs a strong, bold, courageous opposition, the Democrats’ silence is deafening.

My old friend James Carville advises Democrats to “roll over and play dead.” With due respect to James, he’s full of sh*t.

Democrats have been rolling over and playing dead too long. That’s one reason the nation is in the trouble we’re in.

If Democrats had had the guts years ago to condemn big money in politics, fight corporate welfare, and unrig a market that’s been rigged in favor of big corporations and the rich, Trump’s absurd bogeymen (the deep state, immigrants, socialists, trans people, diversity-equity-inclusion) wouldn’t have stood a chance.

My simple advice to congressional Democrats: Wake the hell up!

Tonight, Trump will address both chambers of Congress. He has taken over the brains and intestines of Republican lawmakers, who will applaud his stream of lies.

Democrats will do — what? Sit on their hands? Applaud a few insipid things?

Ideally, Democrats should boycott the whole event. Even sitting in the well of the House as if this were just another president addressing just another Congress legitimizes Trump’s coup.

By Mike James

It’s disheartening to think that, in many ways, we’re right back where we started in 2017.

A powerful reminder that the fight isn’t over, every page of the OB Rag currently features an image of a “human banner”— showing hundreds of protesters spelling out the word RESIST!

March 4th marks the eighth anniversary of Impeach on the Beach, also known as March 4 Impeachment—a demonstration against the 45th president, Donald J. Trump. On that day in Ocean Beach (San Diego), hundreds gathered to form two human banners: RESIST! and IMPEACH! Captured by drone footage, the event received nationwide coverage.

What many didn’t know was that the protest came together in just a few weeks.

The Idea Takes Shape

It all started when my friend and fellow OBcean, Deanna Polk, sent me an image of a RESIST! human banner formed by thousands of protesters on Ocean Beach (San Francisco) on February 11. Along with the image, she wrote: “Let’s do this!.”

I naively responded immediately: “Why not!”