OB Rag

By Katie Hyson / KPBS / January 28, 2025

The San Diego City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to repeal a controversial footnote in the city code. District 9 Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera was absent.

The 2019 footnote reduced minimum lot sizes for a certain zone of land, allowing denser housing — but only in neighborhoods in Southeastern San Diego. These neighborhoods were formerly redlined and remain majority Black and Latino and low-income.

On one lot in Emerald Hills, developers plan to build more than 120 homes where zoning would only allow 70 anywhere else in the city.

From Washington Post, Wednesday, January 29

The White House budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing federal grants, according to a copy of a new memo obtained by The Washington Post, after the administration’s move to halt spending earlier this week provoked a backlash.

Coalition Proposes Alternative Plan to Preserve Property as Community Hub

By Mike James

Ocean Beach, CA — A coalition of Ocean Beach and Point Loma community leaders is fighting to preserve the historic property at 1984 Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, part of the area’s iconic “Church Row,” which is at risk of being replaced by a high-density housing development.

The site, formerly home to the Point Loma United Methodist Church and more recently operating as Water’s Edge Church, has served as a vital cultural and social hub for nearly a century.

The property, owned by First United Methodist Church (FUMC) of Mission Valley, has been under scrutiny since the local congregation’s closure on Christmas Eve 2023. Discussions led by FUMC leadership propose selling the property for affordable housing. To explore this plan, FUMC enlisted LeSar Development Consultants to provide recommendations.

Such a project could result in the construction of an 80+ unit, four-story apartment complex under San Diego’s Complete Communities program, potentially bypassing zoning and height restrictions.

On Monday, January 27, the San Diego City Council voted in closed session to select a development team to convert the infamous 101 Ash St. office tower into what’s being proposed as “hundreds of subsidized apartments.”

The companies Create Dev LLC and MRK Partners Inc. were chosen to redo the asbestos-ridden building and civic blunder into a potential downtown housing success project.

End of story? Not exactly. This is San Diego.

It just so happens that Create Dev is run by the head of the San Diego Planning Commission, Kelly Moden. The person who chairs the Commission was just chosen to head up the make-over of one of the most controversial of the city’s recent real estate deals. Moden was appointed a year ago by Mayor Todd Gloria.

It’s a feint when politicians blame forestry management or a Jewish space laser. Any valid plan must curb fossil fuels.

By Jordan Thomas / Op-Ed Los Angeles Times / January 24, Jan 2025

To be a first responder at this stage in the climate crisis is to face an escalation of violence. For many wildland firefighters, the unprecedented scenes from the last couple of weeks in Los Angeles — dozens dead, tens of thousands without homes, hundreds of thousands more displaced — will appear part of a familiar pattern.
The national conversation, predictably, will follow a pattern as well: Republicans will try to dismiss or

The national conversation, predictably, will follow a pattern as well: Republicans will try to dismiss or play down the role of fossil fuel-driven climate change, and everyone else will have to decide whether to ignore them or argue.

How we frame this pattern of violence matters because it directs the focus of our solutions and the fight for accountability.

At a community meeting tonight in Clairemont tonight, Jan. 28, a proposal will be made that calls for an emergency moratorium on all infill construction projects in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones within the City of San Diego until comprehensive risk assessments and mitigation measures are completed.

Paul Coogan, Secretary of the Community Planning Committee will present the proposal at the Cathy Hopper Clairemont Friendship Center at 4425 Bannock Avenue, San Diego, 92117. The meeting runs from 6:15 to 8:00 p.m.

All community members, stakeholders, and media representatives are encouraged to attend. (Click HERE to Join the Meeting Via Zoom)

By Lori Weisberg / The San Diego Union-Tribune / January 27, 2025

Animal rights activists showed up at City Hall on Monday, Jan. 27, to protest a proposed settlement with SeaWorld that would require the theme park to pay the city $8.5 million in back rent that went unpaid during the pandemic.

PETA, which has long been critical of SeaWorld for its treatment of killer whales and dolphins, has filed a formal objection in federal court to the settlement, which it calls a “sellout.” The group says the payout falls short of the more than $12 million in back rent, late fees and interest the city had originally sought.

A big turnout by Encanto, Chollas Valley and other District 4 homeowners, residents, business owners, and their city-wide supporters is expected at today’s San Diego City Council discussion and proposed action to nullify a deceptive exemption to city planning codes.They hope that today at 2 PM, the San Diego City Council will consider revoking the underhanded “Footnote 7”.

Footnote 7 rezoned large areas of Chollas Valley—including areas that were planned for parks—without going through the proper Community Plan Update process. This was deliberately deceptive.

The Planning Department has yet to explain why it was buried within a general Land Development Code Update, denying Chollas Valley residents the opportunity to negotiate community benefits.

By Kristina Houck / Patch San Diego / Jan 7, 2025

As the law stands, California residents who are 18 and older must show a Real ID, a passport or other federally approved identification to board domestic flights or certain federal buildings beginning May 7.

The anti-terrorism law requiring the “gold star ID,” as it’s sometimes called, was originally supposed to take effect in 2008, but has been delayed so often that it has become a running joke. Will the Real ID Act really take effect this year?

Technically, yes.

The current May 7, 2025, deadline still stands, but the Transportation Security Administration has asked for flexibility to implement enforcement in phases, with progressive enforcement ending in 2027. But that doesn’t mean you should wait until then to make an application.

Jim Varnadore is a long time resident of City Heights resident and former chair of its planning committee who sends frequent letters to city officials and often has his “letters to the editor” printed at the U-T. Here is his latest public letter to the San Diego City Council emailed on January 23.

San Diego City Council

Ladies and gentlemen,

Walking along a thoroughfare here in City Heights recently, I noticed that there were no bicycles in the bike paths – none. I had noticed that earlier along Thirtieth
Street through North Park.

An Open Letter to Dr. Mark Stetter, Dean of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Regarding the Million Cat Challenge and Community Cat Programs
 
By Ed Boks / Jan 27, 2025

Dear Dr. Stetter,

Since its launch in 2014, the Million Cat Challenge—spearheaded by the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program (KSMP) and the University of Florida Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program—has sought to revolutionize shelter practices across North America. With its ambitious goal of saving one million cats through strategies like Community Cat and Return-To-Field (RTF) programs, the Challenge has been celebrated for achieving significant milestones.

However, a recent legal ruling in San Diego found aspects of these programs in violation of California’s animal protection laws, raising serious questions about their implementation and impact on animal welfare.

by Ernie McCray

I’ll always remember this year’s
“All People’s Celebration”
of MLK Day,
in particular,
not only because it was held on the day
of the 47th president’s
inauguration,
something I looked at as an insult
to the memory of Martin
who preached love and non-violence
but also due to it setting the tone
for the work that needs to be done
to counter the actions of this man
who is hell-bent,