OB Rag

by Marisa Kendall /CalMatters/ June 28, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court today granted cities more power to arrest, cite and fine people who sleep outside in public places — overturning six years of legal protections for homeless residents in California and other western states.

In Grants Pass v. Johnson, the court sided with Grants Pass in a 6-3 decision, ruling that an ordinance passed by the Oregon city that essentially made it illegal for homeless residents to camp on all public property was not unconstitutional. 

Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels famously said that if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes the truth. We’ve definitely seen how this has played out at the national level with Trump denying he lost the 2020 election. But it also happens at the local level.

And this is what has happened since mid-June when the developer-aligned group Circulate SD issued a report claiming the California Coastal Commission is worsening the housing crisis.

The so-called “report” which is full of half-truths and exaggerations was picked up by several other local media as gospel,

The Aratina Solar Project is about to BULLDOZE Nearly 4000 Ancient Joshua Trees! Who Approved THIS???

Sign the petition at Change.org here.

I Thought They Were Protected!

Ancient Joshua Trees are going extinct, and we must save them. The Aratina Solar Project in Boron, California, is approved to destroy nearly 4000 ancient Joshua Trees in this forest (Each Blue Dot on the map represents an old growth Joshua Tree). These iconic trees have stood for centuries, providing habitat for numerous species and contributing to the unique biodiversity of our region.

[Editordude: Here’s a re-post of a Reader article from January 2024 about the state of San Diego’s ocean cliffs. The video of Sunset Cliffs shows the exact same cracked bluff that Charles Landon’s drone video from yesterday has.]

Sunset Cliffs December collapse part of a series

By Mike Madriaga / January 16, 2024

Right before Christmas Eve, 619newsmedia shared a video taken at Sunset Cliffs of a cliff that had just split. The recent sighting was the third sheared cliff reported in the county in 2023.

It appears that a final vote by the San Diego City Council on the redevelopment deal the city has with Midway Rising won’t occur until early 2025. And this is mainly due to the city shoring up a consultant to ensure that Midway Rising gets government financial assistance to build its pledged affordable housing units.

Just this past Monday, June 24, the Council got the latest developments in an update from Christina Bibler, head of the city’s real estate division spearheading negotiations with Midway Rising.

The Rag finally heard back from the Liberty Station Community Association, which is responsible for maintaining the grounds at Liberty Station, about the removal of at least 20 large trees last week.

Sarah Olsen, property manager of Liberty Station Community Association c/o Reliable Property Management Services, sent us the following email:

Please see the following regarding the Landscape Renovation project at Liberty Station:

Residents of Clairemont, San Diego, are protesting the construction of a 12-unit apartment complex in their neighborhood, citing zoning violations and concerns about traffic, parking, and fire safety. See this video by realtor David Demangos.

More than 50 people turned out on Saturday, June 22 to protest a 12 unit “Bonus ADU” being built on one single family unit property in Clairemont. The project at 4578 Jicarillo Ave off Moraga Ave in Clairemont/Bay Ho will have no parking, has had no community input, is being built on a very severe fire zone canyon, and none of the units will be low income.

Organizers with Neighbors for a Better San Diego who helped organize the event object to the city’s transparently false rationale that no parking is needed because new residents will walk up to one mile to a transit stop.

Based on other similar projects, the “affordable” one bedrooms will probably rent for $2700+ and the market rate units for $2900+, with no parking and no yard.

The company building the 12 units is SDRE Homebuyers, who advertise they know “how to decisively bring in a top-dollar offer for our real estate opportunities.”

By Geoff Page

The Keystone Kops. Who’s on first? The inmates are running the asylum. Take your pick, all of them describe the City of San Diego’s Monday, June 24, presentation of its Coastal Resilience Master Plan ideas for Ocean Beach and Point Loma.

Where to start. The city has planned a series of workshops to present it’s ideas on ways to deal with sea level rise and climate change. The workshop planned to discuss, specifically, Ocean Beach and Sunset Cliffs was originally scheduled for June 24. At the Pacific Beach library on Cass Street. Pacific Beach, to discuss Ocean Beach.

Brand new drone footage confirms that a section of the bluff at Garbage Beach off Sunset Cliffs could collapse imminently. The new drone work is by Charles Landon.

Last week, the Rag identified the dangerous section and notified the city via lifeguards who came to the site at the Rag’s invite.

Yet, over the week, the city has not done a single thing to notify or alert beachgoers about the dangerous bluff above them. You can see by the accompanying still shot that beach goers sit just below the bluff in question (see photo -taken Monday, June 24, 2024).

By Mark Knudson / Mile High Sports / June 19, 2024

This much we know: Stan Kroenke likes to own things. And he likes to build big shiny new buildings, too. And he likes to put winning teams in multiple sports in those buildings. And he likes to do all this in multiple locations.

Stan Kroenke is not just a “Denver” guy as we all know. He owns championship winning teams in Los Angeles and across the pond in England, too.

What we don’t know for sure is why Stan Kroenke is reportedly set to become the “lead investor and limited partner” in the “redevelopment” of an almost 50 acre site in San Diego where plans are to build a big fancy new NBA/NHL ready arena.

The Callen Report

By Kate Callen

1. Are you surprised that so many of your 2020 supporters are sitting out your 2024 campaign?
2. Do you understand why the picture of you perched on a golden throne has exposed you to ridicule?
3. Is it true you’ve already set the record for ribbon cuttings, proclamations, dedications, celebrations, and other “victory lap” photo ops by a San Diego mayor in a single term?
4. When you cut the ribbon at the 2022 opening of North Park’s “climate action” 30th Street bike lanes, were you driven to and from the event in your city-issued gas-guzzling SUV?