OB Rag

By Kate Callen

Years ago, when attorney Everett DeLano challenged the City of San Diego for violating the Clean Water Act, the city insisted it should not have to pay penalties because taxpayers would have to foot the bill.

“In the legal system, we call that ‘externalizing the costs,’” DeLano told a packed audience at a January 17 San Diego Community Coalition forum. “You make other people pay. And that applies now.

“State laws are encouraging a tremendous amount of development. But we’re in a situation where we have a lack of infrastructure, so communities are paying the costs.”

Today, DeLano is one San Diego’s foremost land use attorneys. His recent victories against high-density projects include the Save Our Access lawsuit to restore the 30-foot height limit in the Midway/ Pacific Highway area, which includes Mayor Todd Gloria’s pet Midway Rising project.

DeLano didn’t start out fighting predatory development. He began his career as an environmental lawyer with the Sierra Club in Denver and the Natural Resources Defense Council in Los Angeles pursuing what he calls “natural resources defense.”

His abiding belief in environmental protection – whether the “environment” is an estuary or a neighborhood – has propelled DeLano into a string of court wins to mitigate the harsher impacts of rampant growth.

BBy Mandy Taheri / Newsweek / Jan. 20, 2026

What Is the 25th Amendment?

The 25th Amendment was ratified in 1967, in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It was instituted to prepare for medical emergencies and incapacitation that could prevent a president from performing normal duties.

The Amendment has four sections.

Section 1 says that if a president dies, resigns or is removed from office, the vice president becomes president.

Section 2 notes that if there is a vacancy in the vice president’s office, the president shall nominate a stand-in who shall take office after being confirmed by a majority vote in both chambers of Congress.

Section 3 allows a president to temporarily hand over power by sending a written declaration to the House speaker and the Senate’s president pro tempore, saying he is unable to perform his duties. The vice president then becomes acting president until the president sends another written declaration, saying he is able to resume the job. This section has been invoked when the president undergoes medical procedures.

Finally, Section 4 allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare in writing that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, making the vice president the acting president. If the president contests that declaration, Congress must decide the issue. The president remains sidelined only if two-thirds of both the House and Senate vote that he is unable to serve. Congress has 21 days to reach a decision once the question is formally before it.

Trump’s Letter Renews Talk

The last time the president confronted chatter about the 25th Amendment, it was in the immediate aftermath of Jan. 6.

Here is text of message Trump sent to Norway’s leader:

Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT

By  Steve Benen/ MS Now / Jan. 20, 2026

It was a message that might as well have been written in crayon. A day after Donald Trump announced new tariffs on several European countries — economic penalties that would remain in place, he said, until his demands to acquire Greenland were met — the president sent a truly ridiculous message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, in which the Republican suggested part of his Greenland crusade is rooted in his failure to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

In fact, according to Trump, because Norway hurt his feelings by failing to give him an award he wanted but did not earn, he no longer feels “an obligation to think purely of Peace.”

In a written statement, Støre said that he’s tried to explain to Trump “on several occasions” that the Norwegian government is not responsible for the decisions made by the independent Nobel Committee. The American president, however, continues to insist that Støre is lying, that the Norwegian government is secretly in charge of the honors, and that all of this has something to do w

7 Events Planned for San Diego County; National Walk Out of Work, School and Commerce

One year into Trump’s second regime, we face an escalating fascist threat: ICE raids on our communities, troops occupying our cities, families torn apart, attacks on our trans siblings, mass surveillance, and terror used to keep us silent. It is time for our communities to escalate as well.

On January 20 at 2 PM local time, we will walk out of work, school, and commerce. We will withhold our labor, our participation, and our consent. A free America begins the moment we refuse to cooperate. This is not a request. This is a rupture. This is a protest and a promise. In the face of fascism, we will be ungovernable.

WALKOUT FOR OUR FREEDOMS
WEAR RED, WHITE, & BLUE

“We will be ungovernable”: Resistance 2.0 pivots to disruption

By April Rubin / Axios / Jan. 19, 2026

Mass movements against the Trump administration are poised to take a different form in year two: more disruptive and potentially more violent.

Why it matters: Tens of thousands of Americans are expected to participate in walkouts on Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration, setting the stage for what future resistance could look like.

By Ron Donoho / San Diego Sun / January 16, 2026

Was San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria hoping to turn the page on public outrage over new parking fees by ignoring the topic during his 2026 State of the City address?

If so, the tactic backfired.

Those fees – in place at Balboa Park and also covering 17 blocks in downtown San Diego – are what many people still wanted to talk about after the mayor’s glaring omission in his annual speech. It was delivered on January 15, and the setting for the second year in a row was the 250-seat City Council Chambers at City Hall.

TV newscasts, online reports and other headlines focused on parking fees. Leaving the topic out of his address didn’t tamp down the ire. It stoked flames of discontent.

After the city faced more than a quarter-of-a-billion-dollar deficit in its last annual budget, one of the hot button fixes by the mayor was implementation of new charges on people who drive cars.

Rookie move by a veteran politician.

by Ernie McCray

We, Maria, my heart,
and Lillia, her bosom buddy,
and I,
just returned from Cuernavaca
where we visited
Josefina Sosa Catalan,
a longtime friend.

What a time we had
from the time we got there
until the very end.

On the plane ride home
I relived,
in my thoughts,
how radiant and graceful Josefina is,

Stop the development of the Turquoise Tower/Vela project in Pacific Beach

The Issue

The proposed Turquoise Tower/Vela project has raised significant concerns among the residents of Pacific Beach. Bird Rock, La Jolla and surrounding beach communities. Plans for this 23-story structure, at 970 Turquoise Street, pose multiple threats to the community’s well-being and local character.

Before any approvals are issued, the public deserves transparency and a fair opportunity to review the facts. We’re are asking the City of San Diego to publish the baseline calculations and assumptions being used to justify the project’s size and intensity and state in writing the approval path being used (ministerial vs. discretionary) and the basis for that decision. The city must not issue approvals until this information is public and the community has had a reasonable opportunity to review it.

Traffic congestion is a serious issue that this massive project will only make worse. The area is already challenged by heavy traffic and the addition of such a large development on a narrow two-lane road will bring more vehicles, leading to longer commutes, increased pollution, and a heightened risk of accidents.

By Miriam Raftery / East County Magazine / Jan. 16, 2026

CalAware Founder and open government champion Joseph Terrence “Terry” Francke died December 24 with his wife, Carolyn “Muffy” Francke at his side.

As cofounder and long-time general counsel of Californians Aware (CalAware), Francke fought for the rights of the public and press to access information, court actions and public meetings of government bodies.His legal advice led to numerous reforms across California, including interventions that led to improved public access at boards and agencies in San Diego and East County.

He also served as general counsel to the First Amendment Coalition and as legal counsel for the  California Newspaper Publishers Association, as well as a newspaper editor, school district information officer, and public affairs officer for the U.S. Marines.

JW August, a past CalAware president,  former investigative producer for NBC 7and senior producer for the investigative team at ABC 10 News, [and current writer for the Rag] praises Francke as a “warrior for the First Amendment,” as well as a friend and mentor who helped “smaller publications and bigger ones that may have run into a legal wall…Any reporter, any editor, any citizen could call him and get experienced help.”

City Code prohibits construction on 3rd Monday in January; See What Is Closed and Open today, Jan. 19

By Susan Narucki

First off, I want to thank you all for the great work that the OB Rag does for our community.  I am a faithful reader and I appreciate the reporting that Paul Krueger, Kate Callen, and many others do to keep us informed and hold our elected officials accountable.

I write to you on January 19, 2026, a federal holiday in which we celebrate the life and accomplishments of Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  We live on Normal Street, directly across from the Normal Street Promenade project.

Since 7:00 a.m., I have been listening to the sound of construction on the city of San Diego’s Normal Street Promenade, across the street from my home. The sound of heavy equipment and jackhammers is ongoing.

According to the San Diego municipal code, construction is prohibited on the 3rd Monday of January.  I spoke to the representatives from Griffith Construction, and they said that they were “allowed” to work on this day because the city gave them permission.

OB Rag Staff Report

When the Rag began our 2026 San Diego City Council election coverage, we promised to “scrutinize the candidates in the June primary: who they are, what they’ve done, what they say, and most importantly, where their money comes from.”

Our first post reviewed Campaign Disclosure Reports (Series 400) for three District 2 candidates and listed their top contributors. This post focuses on three candidates in the District 8 primary.