OB Rag

It is very true: top officials in the Trump administration — including Vice-President Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House senior advisor Steven Miller — and Trump himself — are using the horrific killing of Charlie Kirk a week ago as America’s version of the Reichstag fire that broke out in Berlin, Germany in 1933.

What’s this? you may ask. What was the Reichstag fire?

Turning immediately to Wikipedia, we find the following:

The Reichstag fire was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday, 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. …The Nazis attributed the fire to a group of Communist agitators, used it as a pretext to claim that Communists were plotting against the German government, and induced President Paul von Hindenburg to issue the Reichstag Fire Decree suspending civil liberties and pursue a “ruthless confrontation” with the Communists.This made the fire pivotal in the establishment of Nazi Germany. …

After the Fire Decree was issued, the police – now controlled by Hitler’s Nazi Party – made mass arrests of communists, including all of the communist Reichstag delegates. This severely crippled communist participation in the 5 March elections. After the 5 March elections, the absence of the communists allowed the Nazi Party to expand their plurality in the Reichstag, greatly assisting the Nazi seizure of total power. Wikipedia

by Giovanni Moujaes / inewsource / September 7, 2025

If you’re a North Park resident, there’s a good chance you or someone you know has received a daylighting ticket this year.

The city of San Diego wrote more than 8,000 of them in the first half of 2025, the vast majority issued in neighborhoods where parking is in short supply, according to an inewsource analysis.

Enforcement officers began ticketing drivers across the city this year for parking next to a curb within 20 feet of any crosswalk — marked or not.

Officials first issued warnings before enforcing a $77.50 fine. A month later, the citation rose to $117 — an increase that came as San Diego sought additional revenue to cover its quarter billion-dollar budget deficit.

Daylighting, explained: The state Legislature passed AB-413 with the goal of reducing traffic accidents. The practice, known as daylighting, is meant to increase visibility for drivers to see around the corners at intersections. Forty-three states already have a similar law.

13 nonprofits control access to public sports land—without competition or review. It’s time for a more open and equitable approach.

by Stefan Boyland /  Voice of San Diego / September 10, 2025

As San Diego reflects on its past and imagines its future, there’s one small but powerful lever that could reshape how our parks serve the public: reforming the city’s outdated system of “special-use permits.”

Special-use permits are long-term agreements the city grants to select nonprofits, giving them exclusive control over public sports facilities for years at a time. Unlike day-use permits that anyone can request for a single event, these permits function more like private leases — the operator manages the site, collects revenue and sets the rules. But unlike leases, they’re rent-free and involve no public application or competition.

With demand for recreational space growing, the city has a responsibility to modernize how it manages long-term access. Right now, the system leaves huge potential untapped.

Today, just 13 sports organizations hold these permits: 12 are tennis clubs and one is a youth baseball league. All receive rent-free control of public land for years at a time, with no public application, virtually no performance review and no opportunity for others to compete.

By Dave Schwab / Times of San Diego / Sept. 16, 2025

You can have your wish – a magically cleaned car – granted at the revitalized Genie Car Wash in Point Loma. Customers may not recognize the new and improved automatic car wash at 3949 W. Point Loma Boulevard, which recently reopened after extensive remodeling.

“This [car wash] was the first one [my family] bought, and they just expanded little by little. This was the last one to convert to this [high-tech] style,” said Genie Car Wash vice president Zaid “Z” Daymia, whose family has 40 years of experience in the industry.

“My dad and his partners bought [Genie] in 1983, and the car wash has been here since the 1960s,” he said.

What changed about his family’s operation of the car wash? “Attention to detail, focus on customer service,” said Daymia, pointing out that Genie has been closed for almost a year, since last October, to accommodate all the upgrades for its customers. “Now, we’re open and we’re happy,” he said. Discussing changes in Genie’s business model, Daymia noted: “Before, what we used to offer was a full-service wash where we would dry and clean it and do everything for you.”

By Kate Callen

At the September 15 hearing on parking fees in Balboa Park, weary San Diego City Councilmembers knew they would be hammered by volunteers, arts patrons, bridge players, lawn bowlers, square dancers, and other regular park users who skew elderly.

But they didn’t see the high school students coming.

Nearly 200 San Diego High students marched from their campus to City Hall with courtesy escorts from City and School District police. The Inspiration Point parking lot is walking distance from their classrooms. Under the new fee system, these students from mostly low-income families would now have to pay to park there.

The sight of gray-haired and teenage constituents teaming up to rebuke City officials made this one of the most enthralling Council hearings in recent memory.

After four hours of deliberation, the Council chose to delay the new fees until January 1. City residents will pay less; out-of-town visitors will pay more. An annual resident parking pass, which the mayor’s staff claimed was impossible, is on the table. The yearly fee will likely be $150.

Join the Ocean Beach Historical Society on Thursday, September 18, 2025, at 6:00 PM, for a Tour of Liberty Station by Lisa Johnson

We will meet on the back side of the NTC Command Center (see the photo inside).

Want to protest against the 2 biggest developers of huge ADU backyard apartment complexes in our City — Mr. Christian Spicer — “King of San Diego’s ADU Mega projects — and Mr. Daniel Skholnik?

Want to give Mr. Gary Geiler of the City’s Development Services Department or the San Diego Housing Commission a piece of your mind?

How about the state branch of the national group YIMBY’s or the Casita Coalition?

These are just a few of the speakers at one of the BIGGEST ADU CONVENTIONS in our City.

And here is your chance to do it in STYLE.

Pam has chartered what is called a LIMO BUS to take the first 50 people who sign up at this email: ADUBonus@gmail.com

Here are the details:

By Jan Hintzman / Special to the OB Rag

In our community’s relentless nine-year struggle to restore access to the College-Rolando Branch Library, we are no stranger to city two-facedness. Our case was strong. When opportunities arose, the City needed to recover necessary library parking. The opportunities arose, but the city did not rise to help us!

The City had built generous library parking on part of the church property next door. In the deal, the City made a formal commitment to our community to purchase that property for a park, should it come up for sale, given that our older communities were built without public amenities.

The library was our jewel, the only major city investment on the horizon. And it came with promises for more. But instead of more, we got less. The property was in fact offered for sale to the City, and the City refused to purchase it.

Thus, the library lost its main driveway and most of its parking….and an astute investor scooped up the opportunity.  His plan was to convert the property, having a land use potential of Low/Medium Residential and General Commercial with Residential, into a profitable student housing project.  And ultimately he did, with the cooperation of the city and at the expense of the library.

Editordude: as a long-time resident of OB I’ve watch countless businesses move in – and then move out — of the space at 4689 Voltaire; it’s one of the most difficult storefront spaces in all Ocean Beach. This happened for years and years … until Aaron Null moved in 5 years ago. 

by Dave Schwab / Times of San Diego / Sept. 16, 2025

Little did Ocean Beach graphic artist Aaron Null realize that his search for office space during COVID would lead him to become a boutique owner celebrating local creativity, craftsmanship, and community.

Now, Vervor Shop at 4689 Voltaire St. is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a party on Saturday, Sept. 27, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. featuring a DJ, food, and drinks.

“Since we opened, we have grown from 40 to 365 local artists and makers,” said Null. “I found this space that was not really in the middle of the business district. But it was in a part of town I thought was pretty cool and walkable from my house.

“Then I thought, ‘Shouldn’t OB have an art store, a real art nexus that’s low barrier of entry?’ Weren’t there people here who were just doing their own creative thing? Of course there were, they’re in every nook and cranny.”

From SOHO (Save Our Heritage Org.)

SOME PEOPLE KEEP HISTORY ALIVE by retelling it, some by writing it, some by advocating for and protecting the places that hold it, and a rare few do all three. Eric DuVall is one of those rare few.

As president of the Ocean Beach Historical Society and a board member and past president of the La Playa Trail Association, Eric DuVall has become a leading steward of Ocean Beach and Point Loma’s historical and cultural identity and one of the community’s most engaging advocates for local history. Through his storytelling, lectures, community organizing, and advocacy, he has deepened public knowledge and affection for the architectural and cultural heritage of Ocean Beach and Point Loma.

Born and raised in San Diego, Eric has a deep personal connection to the peninsula, and it is evident in everything he does. His childhood spent roaming the cliffs and streets of Point Loma laid the foundation for a lifelong curiosity about the places, people, and stories that shape these coastal neighborhoods.

A gifted writer and editor by profession and training, Eric’s journalism roots run deep.