OB Rag

By Erwin Chemerinsky / Los Angeles Times Op-Ed / Feb. 20, 2026

The Supreme Court’s decision invalidating President Trump’s tariffs sends a clear and crucial message: The justices will not be a simple rubber stamp approving presidential actions. In the first year of Trump’s new term, 24 challenges to presidential actions came to the court, almost all on its emergency docket. In 22, the justices ruled in favor of the president. But Friday’s 6-3 decision striking down his tariffs is a huge victory for separation of powers and the rule of law.

The importance of tariffs to Trump, and their consequences for the world, cannot be overstated. The president said that their invalidation “would be a total disaster for the country” and “would literally destroy the United States of America.” In its petition to the Supreme Court, Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer said “the tariffs are promoting peace and unprecedented economic prosperity” and “pulling America back from the precipice of disaster, restoring respect and standing in the world.”

Trump has treated tariffs as something he can impose or rescind at will. But not anymore.

A brand new candidate has just emerged for the already crowded District 2 City Council race and it’s Sandra Kay.

Kay has picked up where candidate Richard Bailey has been with his mantra of “policies not politics” and perhaps has even bested him with her “Not Not Political” campaign launch. It also appears she is striving for the Ocean Beach vote.

The following is from her campaign launch website:

This time, OB leads! It’s Wednesday in Ocean Beach. Time to awaken the civic power of our creative community. Join your neighbors and local creatives for a night of music, performances, and real conversation that brings people together instead of pulling us apart. .

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Richard Bailey, one of the newest candidates to have thrown their hat into the ring for the District 2 City Council race, has now changed his party affiliation from Republican to No Party Preference.

Bailey has asked for a retraction from the Rag, but there is nothing to retract.

The following were written comments for the San Diego City Council Rules Committee by Victoria LaBruzzo, submitted on behalf of the Community Planners Committee (CPC), on February 18, 2026.

by: Victoria LaBruzzo

Subject: Seat at the Table Proposal & SB 707 Implementation

Council President LaCava and Honorable Committee Members,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide written comment on today’s informational item regarding SB 707 and potential amendments to the Rules of Council. I also appreciate the invitation to participate in this discussion.

My comments focus on the interplay between SB 707 and the Community Planners Committee’s “Seat at the Table” proposal, which CPC submitted on January 29. These two efforts can work together to strengthen public participation and improve the quality of deliberation at Council and Committee hearings.

The Brown Act has always been grounded in a clear legislative intent: that public bodies provide meaningful access to the public and conduct their deliberations openly.

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members and the public informed about important Council and Planning Commission hearings and other city public meetings.

Monday, February 23: City Council, 10:00 a.m.

Agenda:

Items 201, 202: Convention Center Expenditures

Why it matters: After a court ruling cleared the way for the City to start collecting higher transient-occupancy taxes under Measure C, a spigot of money is opening to fund Convention Center upgrades. Given the City’s recent history of financial mismanagement, these new allocations deserve scrutiny.

Tuesday, February 24: City Council, 10:00 a.m.

by Calista Stocker and Myckenzie Smith / Daily Aztec / February 17, 2026

On the first day of CSU Unit 6’s Unfair Labor Practice strike, members were met with support, administrative attention and some police pushback.

From 5 a.m. to 12 p.m., more than 50 skilled trades workers — including facilities services, electricians and technicians — showed up at SDSU to fight for unpaid contractual raises and step increases that were promised to them in July 2025.

As a facet of the Local Teamsters 2010, CSU Unit 6 represents more than 1,100 skilled trades workers systemwide. From now until Friday, union members are withholding their labor across CSU’s 22 campuses.

For the striking members, the campus disruption is a necessary evil and a last resort to obtain their overdue raises.

By Scott Case

The City’s Developmental Services Department has confirmed that the proposed Columbia Street high-rise preliminary review findings (PRJ-1126254) have expired since there has been no further submittals in the past year, as governed by the Information Bulletin 513.

Any new project proposal will need to be re-evaluated against the current city code and conditions.

By Anonymous OBcean

Dear representatives of Councilmember Campbell and Mayor Gloria,

I am writing to express my outrage after receiving a citation under San Diego’s “daylighting” parking enforcement near an unmarked crosswalk.

This law, as currently enforced, functions as a trap. There are no signs, no painted curbs, and no visible warnings to alert drivers that parking is prohibited. Residents and visitors are expected to somehow know they must remain 20 feet from an invisible, unmarked crosswalk. That is not reasonable governance — it is punitive and predatory.

Public safety should never be implemented through gotcha enforcement.

Earlier today, Friday, Feb. 20, the Rag re-posted an article from the Times of San Diego about Richard Bailey, the former mayor of Coronado, who has just announced he is in the running for the District 2 San Diego City Council seat.

In Times reporter Tessa Balc’s Feb. 19 article, she says this:

“As mayor of Coronado he [Bailey] was affiliated with the Republican Party. He has since re-registered as an independent.”

Now to be clear, Bailey is not quoted as saying this — Balc the reporter says it. Where did she get it, if not from Bailey? (We have a call into her at the Times.)

“We’re still “Enron-by-the-Sea”

By San Diego U-T Editorial Board / Feb 20, 2026

Most of San Diego’s elected leaders keep confirming that they can’t be trusted. There’s their hypocrisy about the “digital divide” — it’s awful when supermarkets inconvenience people who aren’t tech-savvy but not when city parking programs do far worse. There’s the two-facedness about “fairness” and affordability — Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera nobly criticizes all the evil corporations and out-of-towners that he says are exploiting San Diegans, then embraces the city’s plans to hammer residents, especially poorer ones, by adding to existing fees or creating new ones.

[Please go to original for links]

And at the top of the ladder is Mayor Todd Gloria, who never hesitates to offer preposterous descriptions of his administration’s actions. This was on display in early January. After the disastrous rollout of paid parking at Balboa Park, the U-T reported that he argued “the new system is functioning well and being ‘actively adopted’” — even as he suspended the collection of fees.