OB Rag

By Kate Callen

A city budget crisis is a golden opportunity to dump a failing project – so long as nobody cares how much money was already spent on it.

Mayor Todd Gloria just pulled the plug on his Civic Center Revitalization, a venture that struggled out of the gate in May 2023. Anyone back then could see that the dingy downtown complex needed restoration. But no one familiar with City Hall’s string of botched real estate deals felt bullish about it.

The approach to municipal redevelopment in the Faulconer-Gloria era has been, in essence, “Hey, kids, let’s put on a show!”

From 101 Ash Street to the Kearny Mesa truck yard to the East Village Ritz-Carlton to Midway Rising to Kettner & Vine, eager mayors have unveiled ambitious endeavors with much fanfare but little due diligence or independent analysis.

The outlook for America is very dismal if Trump carries through on his threats to deport millions of undocumented people – which he made again this week in a TV interview.

Specifically, California’s agriculture will close down if the people who pick the vegetables and fruits are removed from the fields. And, notably, the costs of those foods will skyrocket, even if offset by the missing mouths of those deported.

Since the pandemic, foreign-born workers have taken positions in such sectors as construction, agriculture, technology and health care, fields where domestic labor supply has been a challenge for those looking to hire. Immigrant workers made up 18.6% of the workforce last year, a new record, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

From 2021 to 2023, 1 in 3 workers in California were immigrants, according to the California Budget & Policy Center. Certain sectors, such as agriculture, are closely watching developments on immigration plans, as the industry has increasingly relied on H-2A workers on temporary visas to fill roles in production.

Plus, there would be a ripple effects from deportation, such as the closure of farms in the state and the reliance on importing food from overseas due to a dwindling labor force. That means higher costs to the consumer.

Sure, check out these great photos from OB’s Holiday Parade Dec. 7, 2024.

By Beth Demmon / San Diego Magazine / Nov. 20, 2024

Many, many people have been a part of building the Southern California seafood industry into the renowned enterprise it is today. Now, two of these pioneering groups—both from California, family-owned, and currently run by the second generation of the families that built them—are uniting as one.

The Brigantine, Inc., the restaurant group behind The Brigantine Seafood and Oyster Bar, Miguel’s Cocina, Ketch Brewing, Ketch Grill & Taps, Topsail, and Portside Coffee & Gelato, is in the process of purchasing The Fish Market’s two San Diego locations and adding the brand to the Brigantine family of restaurants.

By Gary Wonacott

In late in 1970’s, the Port made an agreement with the FAA air traffic controllers to change the departure track from 270 (bottom dashed line) to 290 (middle dashed line) for departures 10 pm to 6:30 am. That was referred to as the 290 nighttime noise abatement agreement. Those housing units close in to the end of the runway experience the highest single event noise levels.

At that time there were two different federal laws that mandated evaluation of changes in flight departure tracks to ensure that noise was not being shifted from one housing tract to another. While the distance the track is moved is small, there is still a substantial noise shift. This was, I believe, intended to be a temporary noise relief measure

Former San Diego City Manager Jack McGrory Testified He Informed Gloria of “Great Deal for Taxpayers”

By Arturo Castanares – Editor-at-Large / La Prensa / Nov. 29, 2024

A statewide university official testified under oath that he briefed San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria twice in 2022 on details of an offer for a free-to-taxpayers sports arena but the Mayor instead kept moving forward on selecting a private developer who had donated more than $100,000 to his election campaign.

Jack McGrory, a member of the 25-person California State University Board of Trustees and former City Manager for the City of San Diego, is the first official to detail a 2021 proposal received from Denver-based Oak View Group (OVG) to fund and build a new sports arena within the SDSU’s Mission Valley campus.

By Gloria Tran / Op-Ed San Diego Union-Tribune / December 4, 2024

Loss of life: Mason Orozco-Romero, 4 years old; Malikai Orozco-Romero, 8 years old; Officer Austin Machitar, 30 years old; and Edgar Giovanny Oviedo, 16 years old. Critical injuries: Officer Zachary Martinez, 27 years old.

These four lives were tragically cut short, and one changed forever, after police pursuits led to violent crashes in San Diego in the last few months. Each life lost is horrific irrespective of the circumstances. While the actions of those being chased contribute to these tragedies, it’s our duty to evaluate these incidents holistically to protect the safety of both civilians and officers. Could these lives have been saved? No one will ever know. However, the Commission on Police Practices —  which I chair — hopes to make San Diego streets safer for residents and officers.

It’s indisputable that police pursuits have inherent dangers. Are law enforcement chases necessary? At times, yes, when there is an imminent threat to public safety. The concern is whether or not the risk is worth the offense. For example, if a murder suspect is spotted and police attempt to apprehend the suspect but the individual speeds off, common sense leads to the conclusion that a pursuit is essential.

Peters: Turquoise Tower proposal is a ‘mistake’ so bad it may become ‘poster child’ for development foes

From Neighbors for a Better California

Congressman Scott Peters, who represents Pacific Beach and is the founder of the San Diego YIMBY Democrats, says the proposed 23-story high-rise on Turquoise Street in North Pacific Beach is a “mistake” that should be sent back to the drawing board.

In a post on December 5 on X, the 50th district representative added:

“Other home builders I’ve spoken to worry that it will taint the reputation of all development and be a poster child for those who resist all new housing.”

Peters weighed in on what, arguably, has become the most important political issue in Pacific Beach since 1972, when concerned residents organized to pass Proposition D, a local citizens initiative that limits the height of buildings in San Diego’s coastal zone to 30 feet.

The body of an unidentified man was recovered from the ocean early Monday morning, December 9, by first responders.

They had responded to a 911 call at 5:00 a.m. Monday reporting a body face-down on the beach near the end of Bermuda Ave. getting carried out to sea by waves.

By Crystal Niebla / inewsource / December 5, 2024

A resident-led planning group has successfully stalled a housing project in its neighborhood after raising alarms over a once little-known zoning law applicable only to their southeast San Diego communities.

The San Diego City Council last month [Nov. 12] voted to grant the Chollas Valley Community Planning Group’s appeal of a project that would build more than two dozen, single-story homes across more than 5 acres on Klauber Avenue in Encanto.

At the center of the debate: a controversial footnote quietly added to the municipal code in 2019 that allows a developer to build single-family homes at a higher density in the area.

Without the footnote, the Klauber Avenue site would only permit a maximum of 13 single-family homes.

City officials, while continuing to say they’re unsure how and why the footnote was inserted, are now working to remove it.

For now, the Klauber project is halted.

Peninsula News reports that demolition of the existing structure at Rosecrans and Talbot could begin any day. That would definitely signal that the city is proceeding with allowing the 4-story, 56-unit mixed-use apartment complex to be built.The news, an online publication of the Point Loma Association, stated “demolition could began any day,” and quoted Eric Law, of the Peninsula Community Planning Board, as saying, ” … the developer is just waiting for final approvals to begin clearing the property and start construction. This could come at any time now.”

If this building is allowed to proceed, it would violate a host of laws and relations and embed a significant departure from “normal” procedures and cordial relationships between city government and the residents and neighbors of Point Loma. It would violate the 30-foot height limit and any trust between the neighborhood in question and Mayor Gloria and city councilmember Campbell. Just for starters.

This project and the way the city dealt with the neighborhood and its volunteer community planning group are outrageous. Some in the Peninsula have concluded the only recourse is a legal one. This means the community has to protect itself from the city with legal means. That is also outrageous.