OB Rag

On Friday, Oct. 31, a dozen of us crowded around a long table at NewBreak Cafe on Abbott Street in OB to discuss and learn how to support OB’s historical district, which is on the City of San Diego’s chopping block. All our eyes were on the presenters, Bruce and Alana Coons from SOHO (Save Our Heritage Organization) who had traveled all the way from Point Loma to teach us the basics and guide us through the process.

Formerly entitled the Ocean Beach Cottage Emerging Historical District — which has been around since 1999 — it was on the chopping block as a city staff recommendation because a little over a year ago, the San Diego Planning Commission voted to spare OB from a horrendous development project of 24 ADUs on Point Loma Avenue precisely because of the existence of OB’s historic district. And at the end of the hearing on August 29, 2024, one of the commissioners turned to staff and urged them to change the city’s Municipal Code to get rid of the district as a basis for exempting OB from some of the worse housing policies of Todd Gloria’s administration, called “Complete Communities.”

And a year later, the staff did just that: they came up a “fix”

Every Saturday at 10:30 am. San Diego Climate Mobilization Coalition Meetings
Every Saturday 10 am – 12 pm Peace Vigil for Palestine:

The San Diego River Park Foundation has volunteer opportunities in Ocean Beach: Point Loma Native Plant Garden Club on the 2nd and 4th Sundays

November 3rd Monday 12 pm – 1 pm Interfaith Vigil for Earth Justice

November 4th Tuesday Vote for Prop 50 and fight fire with fire, resist Republicans’ efforts at rigging 2026 electiion.

November 4th Tuesday Reject USDG Protest
November 5th Wednesday 7:20 am – 8:30 am 5pm Resist Trump Flash Banner Action Normal Heights
November 6th Thursday 9 a.m. Testify and / or support the OB Emerging Cottage Historic District at San Diego Housing Commission hearing,
November 6th Thursday 7 pm – 8:30 pm Oceans of Bach – A Science Music Experience  

By South OB Girl

Dear San Diego Planning Commission and City’s Development Services Department:

I would like to know how many of the new apartment buildings along highway 8 are full and have no vacancies.  I am curious if construction is complete for all of the buildings being built to replace what was formerly the golf course in Mission Valley.

Is construction of those buildings complete and are all of the dwelling units now occupied?  How many of those units are expected to facilitate solving the housing crisis?  I recently saw some new apartment buildings off Clairemont Drive.  Are they full to capacity?  How many of all these new structures throughout the city – in Mission Valley, Clairemont, and elsewhere – qualify as affordable housing?

The City’s answer in response to most new plans for construction and ADUs these days is that there is a housing crisis.  The City and developers believe they are creating housing solutions and promote the mission that their plans are providing housing solutions in response to the housing crisis.  So in support of that mission, is there a status report somewhere? Some quantitative data?

Like any federal, state, or city project, there should be a status report or something that resembles a status report detailing how far along we are as a city

By Donna Frye

An update to the 2025-2026 City of San Diego’s Legislative Platform will be heard Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at the  Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee meeting. It is Item-5 on the agenda.

According to the city, “The 2025-2026 State and Federal Legislative Platform defines the City of San Diego’s Guiding Principles and Policy Priorities and provides a means to advance and protect the City’s interests on issues at the federal and state levels.”

The legislative platform has three guiding principles and seven policy priorities. The policy priorities include over 290 state policies and 270 federal policies dealing with issues such as homelessness, housing affordability and community services and sustainability, environmental quality and infrastructure.

The issues in the legislative platform are all important, however, the  “preserve local control” principle and the state surplus land housing policy stand out due to recent experiences over housing development issues.

‘Join me Monday morning to remind the City Council that providing constituents with basic info on government process is a core responsibility.’

By Paul Krueger

On Wednesday, October 29, someone placed an item about a City of San Diego legal battle on the City Council’s Closed Session Agenda for Monday, November 3.

On Thursday, someone took it off.

We don’t know who put the item on the agenda. And we don’t know who removed it. Neither the Mayor’s office, Council President Joe La Cava’s staff, nor the independently elected City Attorney’s office will answer any questions about the process.

This was not a routine item. The City is ready to double down on its continuing efforts to circumvent the voter-approved 30-foot height limit west of Interstate 5. And, as usual, it is operating in stealth.

In a strongly-worded unanimous decision issued October 17, California’s 4th District Court of Appeal said the city failed to produce an adequate environmental study of the negative impacts of high-density, high-rise development throughout the Midway District.

By San Diego Monitor News Staff / San Diego Monitor / Oct. 30, 2025

After more than a decade in Congress, Scott Peters is being mentioned as a potential candidate for Mayor of San Diego in 2028. The longtime representative, who first served on the San Diego City Council before being elected to Congress in 2012, has built a reputation as a pragmatic policymaker—someone who favors compromise and long-term solutions over sharp rhetoric.

If Peters enters the race, he would join a growing group of California leaders returning from Washington to local office. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and former Congresswoman Barbara Lee of Oakland have both turned their congressional experience into a platform for local leadership. For Peters, the same move could mark a return to the city where he began his political career.

During his time in Washington, Peters has focused on issues closely tied to San Diego’s economy and environment—clean energy, coastal resilience, innovation, and veterans’ health care. He’s supported bipartisan legislation to strengthen mental health services for veterans and secure infrastructure funding for the city’s coastline and water systems. Those accomplishments have helped shape San Diego’s national profile as both a military and innovation hub. However, a run for mayor would not be without obstacles.

The Trump administration’s murderous strikes on small boats at sea constitute unlawful extrajudicial killings.

By Marjorie Cohn / Truthout / October 30, 2025

As the Trump administration continues to murder people in small boats on the high seas and mounts the largest U.S. military buildup in decades in the Caribbean, it is moving inexorably toward an all-out, illegal attack and forcible regime change in Venezuela.

Despite Team Trump’s feeble attempts to legally justify its ocean strikes, which have now killed 57 people since early September, those extrajudicial killings are also unlawful.

Donald Trump’s murderous campaign came into focus on February 20, when the State Department designated eight drug trafficking organizations, including Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations. Although the administration has attempted — so far unsuccessfully — to use that designation to justify sending immigrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador, Trump is now invoking it in an effort to validate his illegal strikes at sea.

Moreover, on March 15, Trump issued “A Proclamation,” alleging that Tren de Aragua has been engaged, in association with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in “irregular warfare” in the United States, with no explanation of what is meant by irregular warfare. But on February 26, most U.S. intelligence agencies had made a finding that Tren de Aragua was neither controlled by the Venezuelan government, nor was it committing crimes in the United States on its orders.

Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry and others can remain after ownership of the site formerly known as Point Loma United Methodist Church and Water’s Edge Faith Community is transferred to the Methodist South District

By Eric DuVall / Point Loma-OB Monthly (SDU-T) / October 30, 2025

Congregation members of First United Methodist Church of San Diego have voted to transfer ownership of a longtime church site in Ocean Beach to the South District of the California Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church.

The move had been anticipated since March, when the district effectively scuttled First United Methodist Church’s plan to raze the 96-year-old landmark at 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. in favor of a large apartment complex.

The FUMC congregation members voted 46-0 on Oct. 26 to proceed with the property transfer. Ownership of a church-owned duplex next door on Saratoga Avenue also will transfer to the South District.

The church building, known for many years as Point Loma United Methodist Church and more recently as Water’s Edge Faith Community, has not been used as a church since the Water’s Edge congregation was terminated on Christmas Eve 2023.

By Kate Callen

When I entered the 2024 primary for the San Diego City Council District 3 seat, I knew I had very little chance of winning. I knew the race would be financially costly and physically grueling. I dreaded the long slog of speaking at forums and knocking on doors.

But I felt compelled to do it. I was furious that D3 constituents were disrespected by their representatives. I had tried everything else: protesting, speaking out at public meetings, organizing grassroots activist groups. Running for office was the only course of action left.

I’ve read a lot about Theodore Roosevelt – his life story has the sweep of an epic novel – and his best-known quote pushed me to set aside my qualms and make the decision to run:

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena … who spends himself in a worthy cause … who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”

Richard Bailey appears ready to enter the arena. If you keep up with local politics, you are hearing a lot about him.

From SOHO / October Newsletter

San Diego’s Historical Resources Board (HRB) plays a vital and crucial role in protecting our city’s cultural and architectural heritage. The board is made up of community volunteers—historians, architects, designers, archaeologists, environmental specialists, and academics—who contribute considerable time, effort, and expertise.

It is not an easy job. Their decisions carry weight, and their efforts are both technical and public in nature. Their work requires hours of reading, site visits, and thoughtful analysis. It is complex, sometimes contentious, and always essential. Their decisions carry lasting consequences. Once a resource is gone, it is gone forever.

In recent years, however, the HRB’s role has begun to erode and diminish. City staff interpretations, advice, and positions have too often overshadowed the board’s authority, sometimes leaving members to think or feel they have less independence than they truly do. The reality is that the HRB is much more than advisory. It is quasi-judicial and independent, entrusted with applying preservation law and established standards, safeguarding the public interest, and ensuring that San Diego’s legacy endures.

By City News Service – 7NBC / October 28, 2025

Water rates for San Diegans will rise 14.7% next year and 14.5% the following year after the San Diego City Council Tuesday passed an amended water and wastewater rate hike.

A staff proposal before the council was to increase water rates by 63% through 2029 and wastewater rates by 31% in the same period. The much-reduced, two-year plan passed by a 5-4 majority Tuesday was proposed by Councilman Stephen Whitburn.

In a back-and-forth with Lisa Celaya, executive assistant director for the city, and Jordan More of the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst, Whitburn repeatedly tried to figure out the lowest possible rate increase to keep water flowing amid increased costs from the San Diego County Water Authority and asked the consequences of not meeting that number.