OB Rag

By JP Theberge

The Harmony Grove Village South saga has a new chapter, and this one is playing out in Sacramento, behind closed doors.

A Colorado billionaire is using the California state legislature to get what he’s been unable to get in court.

SB 1256, authored by San Diego-based Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R), would kill a pending wildfire safety lawsuit against the Harmony Grove Village South (HGVS) project near Escondido, and the bill’s sole listed supporter is RCS Harmony Partners, the entity owned by Marcel Arsenault, the Colorado-based developer behind the project.

by Michael J. Stepner and Mary Lydon / Times of San Diego / May 12, 2026

Theaster Gates is an urban planner, artist and a professor at the University of Chicago in visual arts. In 2019 he received the prestigious Urban Land Institute’s J.C. Nichols Prize for Urban Development.

“Many cities are looking to reinvent themselves, and Theaster’s work represents art and culture as important elements of reinvention,” said Michael Spies, the Nichols Prize jury chairman. Recognition by this respected international real estate organization becomes a powerful justification for art being at the core of community and economic development.

Meanwhile, Mayor Todd Gloria is proposing to cut $11.8 million from the arts and culture grant program to help shore up the overall $118 million city budget deficit in the next fiscal year. The majority of the San Diego Union-Tribune’s “Econometer” expert panelists stated that the arts are a nice to have amenity, but the city needs to make difficult budget decisions.

We beg to differ. The impact of the arts cannot be commodified on a spreadsheet.

This is a call for OBceans and Point Lomans to join their neighbors tonight at a presentation by the City of San Diego on a seawall project that could permanently harm Sunset Cliffs.

Question this project — and be prepared to ask ‘Why are we spending $32 Million on this project when the City is cutting library and rec center hours?’ And why is a project that began two years ago with less than an $8 million price tag, now up to $32 million?

See this notice by neighbors.

The balloting for new Board members of the OB Community Foundation is over and the new directors have been elected. And here they are, plus the current Executive Committee

From SOHO

On Saturday, May 9, nearly 100 attendees joined us via Zoom for a truly outstanding program featuring a presentation by Donovan Rypkema, principal and founder of PlaceEconomics, on San Diego’s landmark study, The Urban Vitality Blueprint: A Data-Driven Analysis of Equity, Affordability, and Vitality in San Diego’s Historic Districts.

Rypkema’s presentation was followed by a robust 30-minute Q&A, which deepened the discussion and offered additional insight into the findings, implications, and broader importance of the work. Those in attendance left with a clearer understanding of how historic preservation in San Diego functions not only as cultural stewardship, but as a measurable driver of economic and community vitality.

This study gives us exactly what is so often needed in public conversations about preservation: a strong factual foundation. When preservation is questioned or misunderstood, we are now able to respond not only with lived experience and professional expertise, but with rigorous, independent research. As Donovan made clear, we now have data.

This vintage photo of Sunset Cliffs must be over a 100 years old (I’ll let Kathy Blavatt decide) as you can see that large pink mansion at the corner of Osprey.

Editordude: Below is an unsolicited rebuttal to Kate Callen’s post on “Framing the news about bicycling” from Paul LeBlanc, a resident of PB.

By Paul LeBlanc

I read with interest Kate Callen’s recent opinion piece on bicycling and media coverage, entitled, “Framing the News About Bicycling? Let’s Try ‘Safety First,” but I respectfully disagree with its central premise.

The author contends that, rather than “lecturing reporters on how to do our jobs,” attention should be directed toward instructing cyclists to safeguard their own lives. That framing invites a more fundamental question: are journalists not themselves subject to critique? Thoughtful scrutiny of language and framing is not an affront to journalism; it is one of its necessary companions. Reporting, particularly on matters of public safety, carries an obligation to be precise, neutral, and grounded in evidence. To question how incidents are described is not to lecture, but to engage.

by Arturo Garcia / Times of San Diego / May 10, 2026

The San Diego City Council will consider a settlement in the lawsuit challenging the city’s trash fee during a closed session on Monday, May 11th.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, attorney Gabriel McWhirter, who is representing the city against a group of local homeowners, told Judge Euketa Oliver during a hearing on Friday that a proposed settlement is “currently on the table” regarding Measure B, which instituted a pickup fee for single-family households after being passed in November 2022.

The proposed settlement comes around a month after Oliver denied the city’s request to dismiss the suit, which argued that the fee violated Proposition 218, the state ballot measure stipulating that the cost of utility fees cannot exceed that of providing the intended services.

By Rag Staff

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

Monday, May 11: City Council, 10:00 a.m.

Closed Session Agenda:

Item CS-7: Mary Brown, et al. v. Joe LaCava, et al.

Why it matters: The Council will discuss a settlement offer in a citizens’ lawsuit challenging the legality of the City’s bait-and-switch trash fees. If the settlement isn’t approved, opening statements in the trial are scheduled for Tuesday, and Mayor Gloria, Council President LaCava, and other City officials will be called as witnesses.

Monday, May 11: City Council, 2:00 p.m.

Agenda:

Item 204: Update to the Land Development Code and Local Coastal Program, Minor Amendments to the Downtown Community Plan and General Plan

By Geoff Hueter of Neighbors for a Better San Diego

First, it is important to highlight that on Thursday night, May 7th, the San Diego City Council voted to follow the City Planning Department’s restriction of SB 79 to 1 mile walking distance and the phased approach to implementing SB 79 in the following areas:

• high fire hazard zones,
• low resource areas,
• historic resources, and
• areas subject to sea level rise.

This is the most important outcome of the ordinance that was adopted last night and what we supported.

By Zain Khan / Yahoo Finances New York Post  / May 4, 202

State Farm is in crisis mode in California as officials look to slap it with massive fines and suspend its license over the handling of the deadly 2025 Palisades Fire.

The California Department of Insurance issued a damning verdict on the state’s largest insurer after an investigation into its actions towards customers following the inferno.

The probe, released in part on Monday, found a staggering 398 violations of state law in 114 of the 220 sample claims it looked into.

Among the key findings was claims were not investigated or resolved within required timelines, payouts were unreasonably low and policyholders were frequently reassigned to different adjusters — creating confusion some described as “adjuster roulette.”

Smoke damage claims, which made up nearly half of all complaints, were also mishandled, with delays, denials and missing explanations cited by investigators.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said Monday: “Wildfire survivors came to us for help, and we followed the facts.

OB Rag Staff Report

Rag stories about Balboa Park have what reporters call “legs” — they get lots of views and comments. This has been especially true since City Hall imposed parking fees that have threatened the Park’s solvency by driving away visitors.

So we weren’t surprised when our April 27 story on a $1.8 million reduction in the 2027 Park budget became a “top post.” Commenters generally agreed that the city has utterly failed the park and must turn over its management to an independent nonprofit.

But one comment piqued our interest. Don said the city hadn’t actually cut $1.8 million from the park. He contended that the city was simply going to shift $1.8 million from a “Developed Regional Parks” fund over to pay for Balboa Park operating expenses.