OB Rag

By Karen Pearlman / East County Magazine / July 9, 2025

…”I have never seen such a destructive project with such negative impacts on the people who live in a community.” — former Supervisor Dianne Jacob, a Jamul resident

The Cottonwood Sand Mine is a wash, at least for now.

After nearly six hours of testimony, presentations and discussion, the San Diego County Planning Commission on Wednesday voted to disapprove a permit for the planned private sand mining operation in Rancho San Diego.

The six-member Planning Commission deadlocked to approve the project, and its tie vote constituted a no-go for mining about 215 acres of the 280-acre golf course site.

“We had a big win today, and it was a little too close for comfort, but 3-3 is a denial,” said Barry Jantz, part of the Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine Group.

From Peninsula Beacon

Thousands of people came out on a sunny Saturday for the OB Street Fair and Chili Cook-Off on June 28, and a good amount of those fest-goers filled their bellies with chili. After all the tastings were done (and the Tums were taken), the judges announced the results:

Amateur Division

For the Judge’s Choice category, the panel of judges found two amateur chili cookers worthy of top accolades:

• First place went to Shaka Chili Brah, and
• second place to Not Joe Mama’s Chili.

The People’s Choice Award, decided by community tasters, went to the following chili teams:

• First place for California Wild Ales,
• second place to Grate Full Chili, and
• third to Kane’s K-9 Animal Rescue.

By Kate Callen / July 10, 2025

You would think that before the City of San Diego endorsed a contentious state housing measure like Senate Bill 79, which aims to turbocharge urban density, the Mayor and the City Council would deliberate the issue in full public view.

You would be wrong.

Assemblymember Chris Ward’s July 2 announcement that the City of San Diego `has formally endorsed SB 79 caught San Diegans by surprise. The Mayor never announced any endorsement, and the City Council never discussed the bill or sought public input. What happened?

The mystery was solved by the release of a baffling two-page letter sent on June 3 to State Senator Scott Weiner, author of SB79. The letter was signed by Sacramento lobbyist Moira Topp of Topp Strategies. The first page is on official City of San Diego letterhead. The second page is on Topp Strategies corporate letterhead. [See letter below.]

Topp begins the letter by stating, “On behalf of my client, the City of San Diego, I am writing in support of your measure, SB 79.” She ends with, “The City of San Diego applauds Senator Wiener’s leadership in advancing this forward-thinking legislation and urges the Legislature to support SB 79. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.”

Well, we at the Rag have several questions.

By Geoff Page

It seems that City Hall – Todd Gloria – has found a new golden egg called “surplus lands.” This term first surfaced during the Midway redevelopment debacle. The city declared the 40 plus acres as surplus land so it could make a deal with a developer.

The term “surplus” land does not make sense, intuitively, when commercial and entertainment businesses cover the land, all making lease payments to the city. Surplus brings to mind unimproved scrub land not anything like the Midway property.

City Hall now wants to designate as “surplus lands” 23 acres at Marina Village, 1936 Quivera Way, 4.5 acres at Dana Landing, 1617 Quivera Way, and 0.8 acres at 2590 Ingraham Street, where Sportsmen’s Seafood is now.

The June 23, 2025 city staff report states:

The City intends to issue a NOA [Notice of Availability] for the lease of the Properties. In the NOA, the City will indicate that the following steps would be required to allow for the development of affordable housing on the Properties

Housing in Mission Bay Park? Affordable housing? Does this mean a hi-rise of multimillion-dollar condos with a few small, affordable apartments in the basement?

From Neighbors for a Better San Diego

WATCH: SB 79 Will Undo Everything

It’s bad, real bad, and it’s making its way through the State legislature.

SB 79 would allow 6-story apartment buildings to be built IN OVER HALF OF SAN DIEGO’s RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS. (Much worse than SB 10!)

We ask that you watch this short video on Senate Bill 79

By Tyler Faurot / Point Loma – OB Monthly (SDU-T) / July 9, 2025 

A community that already has several civic activism groups now has another one — Protect Point Loma.

The 501(c)(4) nonprofit and self-described grassroots organization was formed earlier this year, spurred primarily by opposition to a plan to develop the lot at 1004 Rosecrans St. into a four-story, 56-unit apartment building with 1,700 square feet of commercial space on the first floor and basement parking with up to 45 spaces.  The site was formerly occupied by the San Diego County Credit Union.

Residential and commercial neighbors of the site argue the project lacks enough parking, which would further compound traffic along Rosecrans and Talbot streets and create safety problems for nearby Cabrillo Elementary School.

Others have voiced worries about the building’s size and how it would impact businesses during construction.

Protect Point Loma leaders say they seek to put pressure on the city of San Diego to address community concerns.

The group’s president, Eric Law, also is chairman of the Peninsula Community Planning Board, a group that advises the city on local land-use issues.

By Andrew Solender / Axios / July 7, 2025

At town halls in their districts and in one-on-one meetings with constituents and activists, Democratic members of Congress are facing a growing thrum of demands to break the rules, fight dirty — and not be afraid to get hurt.

Why it matters: House Democrats told Axios they see a growing anger among their base that has, in some cases, morphed into a disregard for American institutions, political traditions and even the rule of law.

“This idea that we’re going to save every norm and that we’re not going to play [Republicans’] game … I don’t think that’s resonating with voters anymore,” said one House Democrat.

Another told Axios that a “sense of fear and despair and anger” among voters “puts us in a different position where … we can’t keep following norms of decorum.”
Axios spoke to more than two dozen House Democrats for this story, with many requesting anonymity to offer candid insights about their interactions with constituents and activists.

Here are a few articles about ICE in San Diego.

ICE increasingly arresting San Diegans with no criminal record, data shows

Starting in May, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials dramatically ramped up arrests in the San Diego area and increasingly targeted immigrants without existing criminal histories, according to an inewsource analysis of arrest data.

ICE raids in San Diego foreshadowed the roundups, protests now spreading across California

Days before President Donald Trump unleashed federal immigration agents to raid sites spanning from California’s biggest cities to its agricultural heartland, sparking protests in L.A. and elsewhere, San Diego’s quaint South Park neighborhood was targeted. Two popular Italian restaurants were swarmed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on May 30, prompting a remarkable response from neighbors who rallied to the scene and forced a retreat under shouts of “shame.”

2 San Diego Women Charged with Assaulting ICE Agents

Two San Diego women have been charged with assaulting ICE agents during a July 2 immigration raid at a Linda Vista apartment complex.
According to the federal complaints, obtained by CBS 8, 46-year-old Trina Rupley and 55-year-old Jeane Wong were each charged with one felony count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers.

A was is raging within America — between the people and immigrants versus ICE and its enablers. Here is a collection of recent articles about ICE:

ICE Budget Makes It Larger than Most of World’s Militaries — and Largest Law Enforcement Agency in U.S.

The House and Senate have now passed a bill making Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the United States’ largest interior law enforcement agency, with funding for Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda higher than most of the world’s militaries, including Israel’s.Trump’s bill means a massive increase in ICE funding as part of an immigration enforcement agenda worth $150 billion over four years.

Will ICE Be Building Labor Camps in America?

One aspect of the Republicans’ big, ugly bill that didn’t get enough attention until Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez elevated it over the last few days is the massive amounts of money it directs to the apprehension and detention of immigrants. On Thursday, right after the bill passed the House, AOC posted on Bluesky:

This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion – making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined. It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.

County Planning Staff is Recommending the Project be Rejected

Following a nearly seven year process, including members of the public signing thousands of opposition petitions, expressing concerns at a dozen public meetings, and sending hundreds of letters detailing the many significant safety, environmental, and community impacts, the controversial Cottonwood Sand Mine proposal is now scheduled to be heard by the San Diego County Planning Commission at 9 a.m this Wednesday, July 9, 2025.

This was rescheduled from a month prior, when last minute technical difficulties forced the meeting’s cancelation.

The County’s Department of Planning & Development Services (PDS) has released its report and is recommending the project application be denied, noting that the significant legal findings required for a Major Use Permit cannot be made.

Surfrider San Diego has come up with their report on the amount of trash collected on July 5th — making it “America’s dirtiest beach day of the year” as after the fireworks and celebrations fade and the crowds go home, our beaches are left covered in trash.

They reported:

On Saturday morning, 866 volunteers gathered along the coast on Saturday morning to assist with the Surfrider Foundation San Diego’s 19th Annual “Morning After Mess” beach cleanup series — a post-Fourth of July effort to tackle the trash left behind after the holiday. In three hours, volunteers removed more than 2,617 pounds of trash, preventing it from ending up in our ocean and contributing to the growing pollution crisis impacting marine ecosystems.