OB Rag

By Scott Lewis / Voice of San Diego / Oct. 20, 2025

Wednesday [morning, today, Oct. 22], the Rules Committee for the San Diego City Council will consider Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera’s push for a tax on empty second homes and vacation rentals. He and his supporters have polled the issue and asked whether voters supported an up-to $5,000 per bedroom annual tax on vacation rentals.

The business community and AirBnB seem to see it as an existential threat.

First, the argument for: As announced at Politifest, Elo-Rivera wants the city to start seeing tourism differently: not as a precious industry that needs to be coddled and nurtured but instead like oil in Norway: An incredibly valuable resource that the city should extract more social benefits from.

“The city needs resources to provide residents the things they want and need,” he said. “That conversation should begin with those with most means who do not live here.”

By Kat Schuster / Patch San Diego / Tue, Oct 21, 2025 

Californians who rely on food assistance are being urged to prepare for possible delays, as the ongoing federal shutdown could halt benefits starting Nov. 1 if it isn’t resolved by Thursday, Oct 23.

On Monday, the California Department of Social Services directed counties statewide to brace for disruptions, noting that benefits — which are fully federally funded — cannot be distributed until the shutdown ends. CalFresh, the state’s food benefits program, currently serves about 5.5 million residents.

Some state-funded food assistance programs could also be affected, the agency said.

What to Do if you suspect your dog has ingested meth.

By Steffi Roche / CBS8 / Oct. 21, 2025

Some San Diego dog owners reported that their dogs became ill and, in one case, died after being exposed to methamphetamine at Dog Beach in Ocean Beach early October.

One owner, Mark Smith, brought his one-and-a-half-year-old dog Trouble to Dog Beach on Oct. 8. After “Trouble” ran around and played, Smith said he noticed she was behaving abnormally. Smith told CBS 8 he took her to a veterinarian at ABC Veterinary Hospital in Pacific Beach.

“There’s certain head movements they might do. They might act restless. They might be pacing… There’s a lot just based on those symptoms where we’re like, ‘Ok I have a feeling like what’s going on,'” Liz Noppinger, an associate veterinarian at ABC Veterinary Hospital, said.

By Kate Callen

The Golden Hill community scored an astonishing win Friday, October 17, in its battle against an eight-story apartment project when a Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order to halt further development on the site.

The decision is believed to be the first successful legal salvo against Mayor Todd Gloria’s Complete Communities densification program. It was the second victory on the same day for land use attorney Everett Delano, whose client Save Our Access won a state appeals decision Friday that reinstates the 30-foot-height limit in the Midway district.

The ruling by Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil also undermined a key component of Complete Communities: “transit-oriented development” near bus stops, some of which don’t exist and might never exist.

Preserve Greater Golden Hill went to court to stop CEDARst from speed-building “The Lawson,” a 186-unit complex at 2935-2961 A Street that would be the largest high-rise building directly under the final approach into San Diego Airport.

“We knew we had a strong case,” said Richard Santini, President of Preserve Golden Hill. “This decision makes it clear that Complete Communities isn’t about affordable housing. This building is more of a luxury tower.”

Senate Bill 79 is the latest legislation aimed at spurring housing construction that so far have had little or no impact on bringing down prices

By Michael Smolens / The San Diego Union-Tribune / October 17, 2025 

It’s been happening for years.

Gov. Gavin Newsom last week signed another “historic” bill aimed at making it easier and faster to build high-density housing in an effort to bring down the high cost of homes in California. The reaction to the success of Senate Bill 79 was also familiar.

Supporters lauded the new law, which allows tall buildings along transit corridors, as a breakthrough in the state’s protracted housing crisis. Community groups and some municipal officials condemned the measure, maintaining it will force too much housing in some areas that can’t handle it, change the character of neighborhoods and ride roughshod over local governments by usurping their land-use authority.

As with other pro-housing bills, the hopes on one side and fears on the other likely won’t be realized, at least not for a good while.

The city of San Diego for years has paralleled the state’s approach on housing, allowing more density, streamlining development regulations and pushing high-rise projects near transit lines. So the city may be less affected by SB 79 than other municipalities in the county.

Yet despite its gung-ho attitude, San Diego’s record on housing has been spotty.

“I’m not 14 years old anymore, and her music will be a lot better when she realizes she isn’t either.”

By Milla Kuiper / The Point – PL Nazarene University / Oct 21, 2025

Taylor Swift, to me, used to represent the idea that womanhood could be both glamorous and innocent. Her lyrics were whimsical and clever, the music was fun and my juvenile voice could keep up with hers.

But I’m not 14 years old anymore, and her music will be a lot better when she realizes she isn’t either.

Listening to “The Life of a Showgirl” feels like watching a teenager stand in front of her parents with her arms crossed and a hip popped, saying, “What’re you gonna do about it?”

This would be entertaining if it were Swift’s first stunt like this, if the music was good, and if she weren’t 35 years old.

She already did the “This is who I am now, mom,” thing with “reputation,” and back then, it mostly worked. But “reputation” was feisty, and every song was unique enough to be memorable. Not so with “The Life of a Showgirl.”

My first complaint is that I think the songs are boring, unmemorable, sad-girl pop. The album is called “The Life of a Showgirl,” but there is no hint of the loud, brassy burlesque music characteristic of the New York City showgirl scene in the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s.

By City News Press – Times of San Diego / October 20, 2025

Despite a Court of Appeals ruling once again denying the city of San Diego the ability to lift a 30-foot height limit in the Midway District, Mayor Todd Gloria said Monday the fight wasn’t over.

In a ruling issued Friday, the 4th District Court of Appeal determined the city hadn’t done its due diligence in completing an environmental study on the plan to raise the height limit in the neighborhood — part of an effort to greenlight the nearly $4 billion Midway Rising project.

This is the second time a court has overturned a voter-approved ballot measure to lift the coastal 30-foot limit for new construction in the area on a procedural technicality. San Diego’s voters approved “Measure E” to raise the limit in 2020 by a 13-point margin, 56.6% to 43.4%. [Editordude: In an even closer vote, the second effort to raise the limit, Measure C in 2022 barely passed with only 51%; it was opposed by a group called “Keep the Coast 30” which virtually had no money.]

By Lawrynce Cecio

San Diego, and specifically Mission Bay, has become a second home to many reggae, ska, and punk acts across the country. The sunshine, beaches, and general energy have attracted acts looking to capture the essence of the music they make in a singular location.

The increase in popularity has created a situation where once local bar bands now go on national tours with packed rooms of fans. This surge led to the perfect moment for Mission Bayfest: A local festival meant to capture all of the reasons that the area has always attracted musicians and talent

While attending the festival, one thing was clear: Mission Bayfest and its organizers did an exceptional job at combining national acts who got their start here in SoCal with emerging home-grown talent that encapsulates the spirit of the space they all inhabit.

The first day of Bayfest functioned as an ode to Ocean Beach and Mission Bay.

Save Our Access Urges San Diegans to Fight for Sustainable Development with Parks along San Diego River

By Paul Krueger

Expanding on their precedent-setting legal victory that at least temporarily halts high-density, high-rise development on more than 1,000 acres in the Sports Area/ Midway/MCRD/ NAVWAR area, members of Save Our Access are urging San Diegans to fight for smart, sustainable development with jogging and bike paths, pedestrian bridges spanning the San Diego River, and open space.

“The elected officials say this land (near) the coast is where we can get the most campaign contributions, so ‘let’s give it all away’,” said John McNab of Save Our Access at a press conference at the Penchanga Sports Arena, Monday, Oct. 20.

“What they didn’t tell (the public) is they’re going to cram 100,000 to 200,000 people in this area. And they don’t care if you have spend an extra hour — or two hours, which it will be — in your car, commuting (on Interstate 8 and 5).”

“They think, ‘development first, public last,'” McNab told reporters.

Community Dialogue
Hosted by Mira Mesa Community Champions
 Thursday, October 23, 2025 @6:00pm-7:30pm
Mira Mesa Senior Center
Join us

Agenda

1. Welcome & Introduction

Introduction of Mira Mesa Community Champions (MMCC) as a newly incorporated nonprofit public benefit corporation
2. Purpose & Vision Overview of MMCC’s specific purpose and long-term vision
3. Meet the Leadership Presentation of MMCC Board Members and Officers
4. Community Project for 2026 Mira Mesa 2026 4th of July Parade & Celebration

By Sheila Pell / San Diego Reader / Oct. 14, 2025

Paradise Point Resort in Mission Bay is facing more scrutiny of its latest proposed remodel, which includes over 100 modifications.

In a letter to the coastal commission, which postponed a vote on a coastal development permit for the project last week, the city called out a number of “discrepancies” between the application it received and the one submitted to the commission for review.

The 52-acre resort is situated on city-owned land and lies within the coastal zone, so the work has to be approved by both the commission and the city.