OB Rag

By Gustavo Solis / KPBS / Jan. 12, 2026

Local privacy advocates are raising concerns about an obscure database managed by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) that might be allowing President Donald Trump’s deportation forces to circumvent state and local immigrant sanctuary laws.

For an annual fee of roughly $200,000 SANDAG grants immigration enforcement agencies, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP), access to the database, which is known as ARJIS.

The database contains information from every law enforcement agency in San Diego County — which includes traffic citations, arrest records, field interviews, a local jail census and some driver license records.

Local police agencies have shared data with their federal counterparts through ARJIS for decades. But now, the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics are raising new questions about what exactly is being shared with the federal government.

“It is not always great to share data because sometimes you don’t know what the motivations of those people might be,” said Seth Hall, a privacy advocate with the TRUST SD Coalition.

By Jennifer Velez / The Coronado Times / Jan. 10, 2026

For a man who doesn’t drink coffee, Luis Madrid sure knows his beans, and has parlayed that knowledge into a new location for Coronado Coffee Company at 1180 Rosecrans Street, Suite 101, in Point Loma.

Well known around Coronado, Luis actually got his start in the coffee business at age 14, making $5 pushing the Café del Sol coffee cart and setting it up outside the former Bay Books location before school every morning. He then made an additional $5 putting it away after school.

“I gave my mom that money to buy groceries to feed our family, and I was happy to be helping,” he shares. By age 17, he was getting $7 an hour as a barista at the cart. Two years later, the owner Steve was moving and selling the business, so Luis took his entire savings of $22,000 and went all in to buy it and renamed it Café Madrid. Luis has built a reputation for serving delicious coffee, tea, smoothies, acai bowls, and pastries, but more importantly he is known for his connection with his customers. I experienced this firsthand when I moved here eight years ago and I remain loyal for the best mochas on the island and the friendliness he and his staff exude.

From Grokipedia

Editordude: Here’s a sampling of what’s available at Grokipedia about the nearly 50-year old OB Community Garden in northeast Ocean Beach.

The Ocean Beach Community Garden is located at 2351 Soto Street in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, California, ZIP code 92107, situated in a residential area proximate to the Pacific Ocean beaches and local landmarks such as Ocean Beach Pier.[1]

This positioning integrates the garden seamlessly into the coastal community, enhancing accessibility for nearby residents while reflecting the neighborhood’s laid-back, beach-oriented character.[1]

Originally an empty lot acquired in 1978, the site has been transformed into a productive green space spanning approximately one-quarter acre, dedicated to community cultivation.[4] The overall dimensions allow for organized gardening amid the urban coastal setting, with the transformation emphasizing sustainable land use in a formerly underutilized area.[1]

The garden’s layout features 51 individual plots arranged in a grid-like pattern to optimize space and sunlight exposure, complemented by communal pathways for easy navigation and shared green areas for collective use.

By Madison Beveridge / Point Loma – OB Monthly SDU-T / January 11, 2026

Funding for a new Ocean Beach Pier, bike path lighting, trash cans and ongoing park and pedestrian issues are among the list of things the Ocean Beach Planning Board would like to see in the city of San Diego’s budget for next fiscal year.

The volunteer advisory group even included San Diego County in the 2026-27 wish list it created during its meeting Jan. 6, calling for funding for what it considers necessities and vital areas of interest in Ocean Beach.

The San Diego City Council intends to vote on the new budget in June. The fiscal year begins July 1.

Much of the Planning Board’s budget request is the same as in previous years, including items such as park maintenance, public space enforcement and pedestrian safety.

Multiple board members voiced concerns about dogs being off leash and who should be enforcing rules against it.

By Jesse

Our neighbor is acting as a de facto developer since he owns the construction company that will be using SB 9 to split a lot in two and build two units on each lot. Turning a single-family lot into multi-family density. This is just outside the Transportation Priority Area so it does not justify increased density. Additionally it is within the Coastal Overlay Zone and Peninsula Community Plan. My dad will be reading the following speech at Thursday’s Peninsula Planning board:

I’m here to ask for your help opposing the proposed coastal development next door to me at 1855 Guizot Street (PRJ-1134704). This project is using the SB 9 lot-split pathway to partially demolish an existing single-family home, split a 0.16-acre lot in two, increase allowable floor area across the new lots, and build two houses, each with an attached ADU, creating four units where one home stands today.

The Committee to Consider Dumping OB’s Historic District Should Use Current Housing Data Before Making Decision

By South OB Girl

Dear Land Use and Housing Committee Members:

San Diego’s Historic Preservation and Progress Package A will be brought before you by city staff on Wednesday, January 14 for your consideration. However, this package involves controversial proposals regarding preserving the city’s historic housing ideals and districts, yet current housing data is not available. Decisions about San Diego housing should be delayed until the housing data for 2025 has been prepared and analyzed in the forthcoming 2026 Annual Report on Homes.

A report issued once a year based on data from a full year prior does not seem sufficient for assessing the current housing crisis nor sufficient information for
government officials to make decisions about housing moving forward into this year.

This annual reporting seems particularly insufficient given the escalation of public concern and opposition in the past year regarding ADUs, high density projects, plans for resiliency, evacuation route safety, Complete Communities Housing, and Preservation and Progress Package A, among other issues. Given this escalation of public concern in recent years and some of the concern expressed in this letter, now would also be a good time to consider how San Diego’s housing data and building permit data is tracked, managed, and evaluated.

By Rob Campbell / Op-Ed SD Union-Tribune / Jan. 9, 2026

“Bonus programs delivering needed local housing,” the Dec. 28 commentary by Colin Parent, presents bonus density programs as a success story but ignores the most critical issue in San Diego’s housing crisis. Who is bearing the burden of these bonus “solutions”? [Parent is head of pro-developers group, Circulate SD.]

While the author characterized San Diego’s bonus housing density programs as an elegant workaround to “political gridlock,” they have created a system that strategically targets low-resource, infrastructure-deficient, historically marginalized neighborhoods while leaving the city’s Whitest, wealthiest, highest-opportunity areas functionally untouched.

Ignoring this reality turns the argument into a one-sided celebration of YIMBY (yes in my backyard) production numbers, which are detached from actual equity outcomes the city is legally and morally obligated to comply with.

A claim that the bonus density programs “apply everywhere” is misleading at best. In practice, these programs overwhelmingly land in communities of color in neighborhoods like Valencia Park, Lincoln Park, Chollas View, City Heights, Logan Heights, etc. These are the very same areas that have higher asthma, cancer, and cardiovascular disease burdens; worse mobility with old, non-ADA compliant pathways (sidewalks); fewer jobs; and long-standing histories of redlining, freeway construction and environmental racism.

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members informed about important Council and Planning Commission hearings. City Hall reopens this week after a 3-week legislative recess for the holidays.

First, a word about Balboa Park parking fees and non-agenda public comment:

The outrageous new fees to park in Balboa Park are on the City Council’s political front burner right now. But they aren’t on any of the Council’s agendas this week – which means the public can raise that issue during the non-agenda public comment at every Council meeting.

Council President Joe La Cava, who strongly supported the new fees, needs to hear a loud message from a lot of constituents: City Hall must live within its means. Stop spending money irresponsibly and then demanding that taxpayers cover your losses. La Cava won’t like having his meetings slowed down by non-agenda comments on Park fees. But he can’t interfere with our right to make those comments.

Monday, January 12: City Council, 2:00 p.m.

Agenda link here.

Items include: Public Utilities FY 2027-2031 Five-Year Financial Outlook

Why it matters: Last year, the Council fought over a proposal to increase water rates by 63% through 2029 and wastewater rates by 31% in the same period. The final 5-4 vote approved less draconian hikes of 14.7% and 14.5%. A year later, public furor over bait-and-switch trash fees and erratic Balboa Park parking fees will make utility rate hikes even more contentious.

By Donna Frye

On Tuesday, January 13, the city council will vote for a second time on the College Area Community Plan Update (Item 64) and the Clairemont Community Plan Update (Item 65) and associated rezoning actions for both. They items are on the consent agenda so unless a city councilmember asks for them to be pulled for discussion, there won’t be any further council discussion on either item because they are “considered to be routine and the environmental documents have been considered.”

The public, however, may provide comment on any item on the agenda, including the consent agenda.

Link to agenda 

The council previously heard both plan updates on December 16, 2025 and a council majority approved them despite community concerns about the environmental impacts from the increased density and intensity. Councilmember Campillo voted against approving the College Area Community Plan Update in support of the community concerns and Council President LaCava voted against the Clairemont Community Plan Update because he believed it was a missed opportunity to provide even more density.

The College Area Community Planning Board even proposed their own plan called the “7 Visions Plan” but that was never considered as part of any meaningful environmental analysis.

Here are some pics from today’s events.

Pacific Beach Saturday, Jan. 10

Nearly 600 Events Planned as of Friday Evening

By April Rubin / Axios / January 9, 2026

ICE Out For Good” vigils and protest events were quickly planned nationwide for Jan. 10 and 11 in response to a fatal shooting by immigration officers in Minneapolis, organizers told Axios on Friday.

Why it matters: The killing and a subsequent Border Patrol shooting in Portland have sparked outrage and anger at the Trump administration, which has defended its agents.

Driving the news: There have been at least seven officer-involved shootings since President Trump ramped up Homeland Security operations in early 2025.

On Wednesday, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis as she drove past immigration agents. The Trump administration claimed the shooting was an act of self-defense as Good drove away, but Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has rejected that claim.

On Thursday, two people were shot by Border Patrol agents in Portland during what officials said was “a targeted vehicle stop.” Both were hospitalized.

State of play: Protests, vigils and other “ICE Out For Good” events are being held by groups including Indivisible, 50501, the Disappeared in America Campaign, Voto Latino and the American Civil Liberties Union. The mobilization is meant to humanize ICE victims and demand accountability.