OB Rag — Grassroots and Progressive views on local, national and world news

‘Mixed Results’ from Influx of Unprecedented Amounts of Cash in Primary for San Diego City Council

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 20:46:30 +0200

David Garrick at the San Diego U-T wrote an analysis of the current City Council races on July 12th, and here is a summary of some of his findings. First, they "attracted an unprecedented amount of cash this year from groups funded by labor unions, business interests and statewide organizations," and he found "the results were decidedly mixed." For example, in the District 2 race, "A committee supporting Josh Coyne ... spent $300,000, but Coyne didn’t come close to making the November runoff." In contrast, "Richard Bailey finished first in District 2 thanks partly to more than $200,000 in committee support." Yet, candidate Rafael Perez in the District 8 race finished last despite $150,000 in committee support. One of the candidates who made the primary run-off was Gerardo Ramirez "after benefiting from more than $200,000 in committee support...." Overall, the monies spent on these races "are dramatically higher than typical San Diego council race contributions from independent committees, which allow supporters to exceed the $800 maximum an individual can contribute directly to a campaign," reports Garrick.

Squatters Took Over Vacant Homes Owned by San Diego’s ‘King of ADUs’ and Brought Chaos and Crime to Encanto

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:38:22 +0200

By Dorian Hargrove and Andrew Keatts / Times of San Diego / July 16, 2026 A 40-yard green dumpster sits in front of 1461 Hilger in Encanto. Trash and debris tower over the railing. Less than 40 feet below sits a dilapidated wooden shed, or, as neighbors describe it, the makeshift garage where stolen cars are stored and disassembled throughout the night. The two-story house on the other side of the dumpster is littered with appliances and trash. At least, that was the scene at the home until Wednesday morning, when the property owner, San Diego police and code enforcement officers executed a massive clean-up on the property two days after Times of San Diego asked for comment on the derelict property. Squatters had been living there and engaging in lawless behavior for nearly 8 months, neighbors say. The home, and a neighboring property that was also occupied by squatters, are owned by a company formed by Christian Spicer, whose companies have been at the forefront of capitalizing on the city of San Diego’s accessory dwelling unit regulations, which are among the most permissive in all of California. His companies have specialized in converting single-family properties into large apartment complexes, capitalizing on the city’s ADU rules. That includes the Chalcifica project in Pacific Beach, which would have turned two parcels into 136 units. In an investor brochure for SDRE, Spicer’s company, before he rebranded it to Infill Innovation, the ADU developer promoted his plans to convert 53 single-family homes spread throughout San Diego into 1,178 total units. The total cost to acquire the 53 properties, according to the brochure, was just under $62.8 million. If all of his projects were built according to plan, Spicer predicted revenue from adding the 1,100-plus ADUs would be more than $538.8 million, a 750 percent increase. But Spicer’s plan hit snags. Residents in Encanto, Pacific Beach, and the College Area pushed back, delaying the projects from starting, and in some cases, such as the Chalcifica project in Pacific Beach, the projects wound up in court, where a judge temporarily halted the project from moving forward until a trial is held.

Movies in the Park All Season Long – Summer 2026 – Begins Sat., July 25 at Sunset

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:25:40 +0200

Major League Pickleball Is Back at Barnes in Ocean Beach This Weekend

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:16:19 +0200

By: Ben Higgins / 10News / July 16-17, 2026 Major League Pickleball is back in San Diego, bringing professional competition to Barnes Tennis Center in Point Loma this weekend [July 18-19]. The event marks year two of Major League Pickleball in San Diego. Day one drew local fans to the venue while cameras and commentators streamed and broadcast matches for viewers around the world as pickleball's popularity has continued to grow over the past decade. The So Cal Hard Eights swept the Florida Smash on the opening day of competition. Among those leading the charge was Murrieta native Meghan Dizon, a pickleball pro who said the sport caught her attention during the pandemic.

America’s Death by a Thousand Cuts; Trump’s Efforts to Remake Our Elections

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 23:49:03 +0200

From Calling a "National Emergency" Due to "Foreign Intervention in Elections" to ICE Agents at the Polls, to Attacks on Leftists, Trump's Speech Tonight Has Myriad of Authoritarian Possibilities

By Maggie Miller, Gregory Svirnovskiy and Aaron Pellish / Politico / July 16, 2026 President Donald Trump seemingly has a plan for the nation’s election apparatus: Dismantle the existing system with a series of cuts, firings and threats, rather than a sledgehammer blow. Just last week Trump eviscerated the relatively obscure Election Assistance Commission, alarming state election officials across the country who warned it could undermine cybersecurity resources for states and localities. That was just one of the moves the White House has made since Trump returned to office. The president has repeatedly tried to change American election policy via executive order, only to be rebuffed by the courts. And he continues to squeeze congressional Republicans to pass legislation that would force voters to show proof of citizenship at the polls. Elsewhere, the Justice Department has demanded states hand over their voter rolls, and sent letters last week to state officials threatening prosecution if they allowed any non-citizen voting, a move that voting rights advocates say is meant to sow distrust and is already illegal under several existing statutes. The DOJ’s efforts to compel states to turn over voting rolls has been rejected by more than a dozen courts. They’re all parts of a strategy that spans the entirety of the existing system. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security threatened federal election security money for states if they don’t use a federal system to verify voter citizenship. And the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency was forced to cut its election security programs after DOGE-led layoffs. And now, Trump is set to deliver a speech Thursday evening that his allies have claimed will validate his long-held conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from him. It’s the latest attempt by the president to undermine confidence in the electoral system, as he continues to obsess over 2020 and insist that elections both federal and local are rigged across the country. “This is a concerted effort of death by a thousand cuts,” said Ingham County, Michigan, Clerk Barb Byrum, a Democrat. “Every day is another battle, but the war that we’re fighting is to maintain our democracy.”

Pacific Beach: In the Beginning, There Were Trailer Parks

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 20:00:04 +0200

By Debbie Sklar / Beach & Bay Press / July 15, 2026 In 1941, Pacific Beach still looked like a place waiting for its future. A photograph from that year — photographer unknown — captures a trailer camp set within the coastal landscape at a time when the neighborhood still held more open ground than development. It preserves a moment when San Diego’s shoreline suburbs were still evolving, long before postwar growth reshaped them into the communities known today. By then, Pacific Beach had already been established, but it remained lightly developed. The coastal strip between La Jolla and Mission Beach had not yet filled in, and much of what is now dense residential and commercial space remained open or only lightly used. The photograph captures that in-between stage. The trailer camp appears temporary by design — simple structures placed within a coastal landscape that had not yet taken its modern form. It sits in a version of Pacific Beach that feels familiar in geography but very different in scale and pace. Trailer living during this period reflected a broader trend during that time across Southern California. Mobility, affordability, and seasonal work all helped shape small, temporary communities like this one. In coastal areas, trailer camps often appeared on open lots or undeveloped stretches near the ocean, where land had not yet been fully subdivided. What makes the image stand out is not just what it shows, but what it doesn’t. There are no crowded streets, no busy commercial corridors, and no dense residential blocks pressing toward the shoreline. Instead, there is space — open land still waiting to be built. That would change quickly after World War II.

When City Officials Stonewall the Public’s Information Requests, They Show Bad Faith; This Is Happening Now in Real Time re: San Diego’s Trash Fee

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 19:33:22 +0200

By Paul Krueger Bad government policies can have serious consequences. They can cost taxpayers money, and frustrate citizens who want access to public information that tells us why those policies failed and the price of those failures. That’s happening now with the city of San Diego’s trash fee. Instead of designing a budget for the new trash program that stayed within the estimated $29 monthly fee, a City Council majority last year added unnecessary new services and additional employees that increased the fee to $43.60. Taxpayers revolted. Facing both a ballot measure and a lawsuit that could have invalidated any trash service fee, the council in May approved a compromise that significantly reduced both the fee and the scope of service. But the road to compromise has been expensive. It required thousands of hours of staff time, and the legal settlement includes a $1 million payment to plaintiffs’ attorneys Mike Aguirre and Mia Severson. Taxpayers will also shoulder the cost of an outside law firm that assisted the city attorney’s defense of that legal challenge. Getting even basic information about those payments has been a frustrating exercise. Like too many other city officials, City Attorney Heather Ferbert routinely erects roadblocks to avoid disclosing public records that should be available for the asking.

Two ICE Murders of Innocents in One Week Happened on Our Watch; We Are Responsible for What Our Government Does

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 19:34:27 +0200

Say his name: Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero. The second murder of an innocent man -- this one in Biddeford, Maine -- in one week by ICE agents -- throws the entire nation in an uproar. These murders are sanctioned by our government, are performed on our watch and ... we are responsible. It's on us, the rest of America. From CNN on July 15:

A simple memorial of flowers and candles has gone up near the spot on a Maine street where Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero’s partner fell to her knees and his 3-year-old daughter cried after he was fatally shot by an ICE officer on Monday.

Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old food delivery driver from Colombia, died Monday in the historic Atlantic coast city of Biddeford, where neighbors remembered him as a good man and hard worker.

“Immigrants make Biddeford great,” read a sign at the makeshift memorial.

It was the second fatal shooting by a federal officer within a week, leading Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make a major reversal and direct officers to largely suspend vehicle stops until further notice, according to a source familiar with the guidance.

An ICE officer fired his weapon “fearing for public safety” as Durán Guerrero, in a vehicle, “attempted to flee the scene,” the Department of Homeland Security said in its first official statement nearly 12 hours after the shooting. He was not the target of the enforcement operation.

Prime Time Address Thursday Night: Trump to Spread Baseless Lies about 2020 Election and Foreign Interference in Effort to Control Midterms

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 19:08:09 +0200

By Associated Press / npr / July 15, 2026 President Donald Trump will deliver a primetime address this week that he says will include a focus on elections, suggesting he could revisit long-debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The speech comes as he's escalated calls for Republicans to pass tighter federal voting rules for November's midterm elections. The Republican president has been guarded about what he plans to say in the 9 p.m. Thursday speech, scheduled as he confronts a collapsing deal to end the war with Iran. He also faces numerous domestic issues, including recent deadly shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Asked for a preview of the speech on Tuesday, Trump offered scant detail but said he has "really big news." "It doesn't get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don't have a country," Trump said in the Oval Office. He refused to go further, saying he wanted to "save it" for the moment, though he also hinted he would be talking about a hodgepodge of issues. "We'll be discussing other things, too," Trump said, without elaborating. "It's going to be a very big announcement." Trump has used the power of the primetime presidential address — typically reserved for milestones — to deliver politically charged speeches before, including one in December when he sought to blame the challenging economic climate on Democrats. But Thursday's address seems poised to go even further, using the moment to amplify election lies before an audience of millions in an effort to boost Republican prospects before midterms that threaten to hobble Trump for the remainder of his term. On Monday, when asked about the speech, Trump repeated baseless claims of voter fraud in the Los Angeles primary race for mayor. During the interview with conservative outlet Newsmax, Trump said Republican Spencer Pratt lost his primary bid because of fraud, citing in part California's slow vote count.

OB Brewery Up for Sale — Owner Mike Tajran Ready to Retire

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:35:12 +0200

By Beth Demmon / San Diego Magazine / July 14, 2026 After 10 years of rooftop dining and brewing award-winning beers, OB Brewery is for sale. A local fixture on Newport Avenue, OB Brewery owner Mike Tajran is ready to retire and hand over the reins. “It’s got so much potential,” he says, pointing to the accolades the brewpub has collected throughout the last decade (it’s more than a few). At the 2017 Great American Beer Festival, OB’s Hidden Gem Dunkelweizen won silver in the German-Style Wheat Ale category, followed by a World Beer Cup silver medal as a South German-Style Dunkel Weizen in 2026. In 2018, GABF named OB Brewery Small Brewpub of the Year, brewer Jim Millea earned Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year, and the B. Right On pale ale nabbed a gold medal in the American-Style Pale Ale category. The Elevator Red IPA also took bronze that year at the San Diego International Beer Festival, and earlier this year, they won gold for Couple’s Therapy chili beer and silver for Rauch Me smoked beer at San Diego County Fair Craft Brew Competition. It’s a solid foundation for the right buyer, he says—someone with brewing and business chops ready for a turnkey operation in a favorable location a block from the beach on Ocean Beach’s busiest street. (And while he’s letting go of the brewpub business, he’s also open to selling the building as part of the deal.)

A civic partnership can provide the stewardship Mission Bay deserves

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:25:22 +0200

by Bradley A. Schnell / Beach & Bay Press / July 14, 2026, 10:00 a.m. Thirteen public restrooms in Mission Bay Park are now closed. Last year the city tried to remove more than 180 fire rings. The Mission Beach Lifeguard Station deteriorated to the point that a structural evaluation called for its immediate closure. And across multiple parking lots, the city’s response to after-hours activity and maintenance challenges has been to install gates and impose timed overnight closures. These unfortunate decisions are not isolated incidents. They are predictable results of a system that has lost the ability to deliver basic, consistent care for one of San Diego’s most important public assets. Mission Bay Park was granted by the state of california as tidelands trust property and permanently dedicated as a public park for the benefit of all San Diegans over 80 years ago. It was conceived as a generational public asset — a place of open beaches, boating and shared enjoyment that would serve the region for decades to come. As trustee of these tidelands, the city of San Diego carries a legal and fiduciary responsibility to maintain the park for public benefit. For most of its history the park largely fulfilled its promise, despite chronic underfunding. But it has never been as neglected as it is today.

Changes Coming to Ocean Beach and Point Loma — 5 Commercial Properties Up for Sale

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:06:57 +0200

By Michael Hernandez With all of the ongoing major neighborhood shifts taking place in Ocean Beach, from the plan to replace the 60-year old Ocean Beach Pier to the addition of time limits and overnight closing to coastal parking, it’s easy to let some other changes in OB and Point Loma slip through the cracks. Here’s a look at five local properties up for grabs which could spell change for the communities in the near future: Ocean Beach Upholstery - 4838 Voltaire St The first of the five properties going up for sale is the long-standing local specialty shop Ocean Beach Upholstery, located in the heart of Ocean Beach at 4838 Voltaire St. Just three blocks from the beach, OB Upholstery has occupied the property for almost 50 years where it has specialized in custom marine/ auto interiors, and the restoration and replacement of soft tops, classic car seats, and boat covers. The property is currently being marketed as an approximately 3,800 square foot retail storefront on a 5,000 square foot lot. A marketing brochure from investment management company, Colliers, notes the “tenant is on a month-to-month lease allowing for an owner-user or investor to raise rent substantially”. Listed for sale alongside the upholstery shop is the adjacent property at 4826 Voltaire St. Built in the 1920s, the three-bedroom two-bath single family residence is also currently inhabited by a tenant on a month-to-month lease.

Wag Your Tails, the Ocean Beach Dog Toy Library Is Open for Business

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 19:48:22 +0200

If you walk down the south side of West Point Loma Blvd. between Abbott and Bacon Street you might notice a cute and charming new addition to the neighborhood that celebrates OB’s love for our four-legged residents. With the words "Take a toy, leave a toy" written on the library door, fun artwork, and dog celebrating quotes, the Ocean Beach Dog Toy Library has been open since April 2026 and has quickly become wildly popular due to its location in a sweet spot between OB Dog Beach and OB's many parks. The Library, installed by Tracy Dezenzo (long-time community volunteer) and Bill Orvis (OB holiday tree Santa), celebrates OB's vibrant dog-loving community and encourages sharing and reuse vs consumerism and waste. Instead of letting gently used or ignored tennis balls, squeaky toys, and other chewies wind up in the garbage, neighbors can now drop them off for other dogs to enjoy.

Send the Rag Your Favorite King Tide Photo from this Year

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 19:02:12 +0200

The Rag will publish your great King Tide photos!! Just send (1000 pixels max) to obragblog@gmail.com and we'll post it.

Footnote 7: The Truth, the Corruption, the Timeline

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 23:42:12 +0200

More on the Emerald Hills Radio Towers Project

By Robert Campbell At the July 7th City Council hearing on the Emerald Hills Radio Towers project, Henry Foster’s Chief of Staff, Dan Horton entered his version of the Footnote 7 historical timeline into the record as “late arriving materials.” While his timeline begins on September 11, 2019, public records requests and review of City Council hearings have allowed me to plug the gaps and correct the record with missing facts. The true written record starts on April 16, 2019, when Development Services Department (DSD) Assistant Director Gary Geiler wrote to land use attorney and developer Dennis Dawson, saying, “It was nice meeting with you to go over the potential development… I will continue to discuss with the Planning Department the feasibility of the Rezone on a neighborhood basis… given the current density restrictions.” The following narrative is fully documented and supported by public records requests, public archives, and verified audio and video recordings. April – May 2019 Internal Reality: DSD Assistant Director Geiler meets privately with developer attorney Dennis Dawson. They discuss "potential development" and "rezone feasibility" for a "Broadway Site" under current density restrictions. Geiler provides Dawson with municipal codes for RS (Residential-Single) zones and Planned Development Permits to map out a strategy.

Linda Vista: The Wartime Neighborhood That Helped Build Modern San Diego

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 21:58:10 +0200

By Debbie L. Sklar / Special to the OB Rag Linda Vista may not always be the first San Diego neighborhood that comes to mind when people think about local history, but its story is deeply connected to the growth and transformation of the city itself. Located on a mesa overlooking Mission Valley, the neighborhood was born out of necessity during World War II, when San Diego was rapidly becoming one of the nation's most important defense and aviation centers. What began as a federal housing project for wartime workers eventually grew into a diverse community with its own identity, traditions, and history. The name Linda Vista, which means "pretty view" in Spanish, dates back to the late 1800s. But the Linda Vista we know today began taking shape in 1941, when the federal government purchased land to build housing for thousands of workers arriving in San Diego to support the war effort. At the time, companies such as Consolidated Aircraft were expanding rapidly, producing aircraft needed by the military. Workers poured into the city, creating an urgent need for housing. The answer was Linda Vista, one of the largest wartime housing projects in the United States.

California Cannabis Queen in Trouble With the Feds

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 21:13:01 +0200

By JW August Laurie Holcomb, founder of a multiple cannabis companies, has made serious errors in judgment, alleges the U.S.Attorney's Office in San Diego. The government announced last week it had filed a false claims act complaint against her, claiming that she had illegally obtained five pandemic loans from the federal government. Her companies were engaged in the "cultivation, distribution, and retail sale of recreational cannabis and cannabis products," according to the government's filing. As is commonly known, it's legal to plant, cultivate and smoke marijuana in California if you play by its rules. Not so with the federal government if it's sold for recreational use, it's still considered highly restricted Schedule I drug. Holcomb's mistake, the U.S. Attorney alleges, was when she asked the government for money. It was during the pandemic times and she borrowed from the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, which was created to help businesses during the pandemic. She convinced the government to give her $1.4 million. Holcolm's company claims to have generated $100 million in annual sales of cannabis, according to various media reports. The company also has a 100,000 square-foot cultivation campus in Los Angeles. The company is described in the media reports as one of the leading legal cannabis companies in the state, having distributed marijuana all over California, including numerous locations in San Diego. Debts and merger decisions forced her to file for bankruptcy protection in March of last year.

OB Planners Construct Annual ‘Wish-List’ of Capital Improvement Projects — a List the City Annually Ignores

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 20:42:46 +0200

By Steven Mihailovich / Point Loma-OB Monthly / July 10, 2026 With ideas ranging from installing additional pedestrian beacon crossings to a complete replacement of the Ocean Beach recreation center, the Ocean Beach Planning Board unanimously approved a list of 14 capital improvement project requests to submit to the city of San Diego for consideration and execution, at its July 7 meeting. The creation of a CIP list by the OBPB is an annual exercise dictated by the city, which combines the list with input from the local councilmember and other qualified agencies and groups to direct limited city funding for projects that best meet the community’s wishes. And though the CIP requests were predominantly replays from last year’s list, the board adopted three more following public feedback at the OB Street Fair on June 27. Big Ticket Projects In composing the list, OBPB treasurer Tracy Dezenzo wondered whether perennially listing requests for large ticket items in the millions of dollars would serve any practical purpose. “The question is, do we want to again ask for the pier (to be replaced), ask for the lifeguard tower (to be replaced), just to make sure that’s on our list every single year?” she asked. “Or do we think that they know by now that we’ve asked for it every single year?” Thus, the conversation focused on the OB Pier.

San Diego Community Coalition Bulletin: This Week at City Hall — July 13–17, 2026

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 17:43:54 +0200

Monday & Tuesday: Last Chance to Speak Out Against Mission Bay Bathroom Closures

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members and the general public informed about important Council hearings and other city public meetings.

Tuesday, July 13: City Council, 10:00 a.m.

Agenda: Item 52: Sixth Amendment to Increase Expenditure Authority for the Procurement Contract Between the City of San Diego and Rehrig Pacific Company for Waste Carts, Recycling Cars, Cart Parts, Bins and Related Products Why it matters: This consent item reveals that the City’s haphazard effort to close its budget gap by charging for trash collection has so far cost a whopping $106,526,000. That expenditure is roughly *200* times the $546,000 the city will save by closing 13 (nearly half) of the 28 bathrooms at Mission Bay. Speaking of which…

Last Chance to Speak Out Against “Petty Assault” of Mission Bay Bathroom Closures

The Absurdity of ‘Exclusionary Zoning’ in Emerald Hills

Sat, 11 Jul 2026 17:55:45 +0200

By Robert Campbell On Tuesday, July 7th, we saw something spectacular. Councilmember Henry Foster III and County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe’s defense of the Emerald Hills "Radio Towers" development which relied heavily on a well-substantiated historical truth: that large lot zoning was historically used as an exclusionary tool to keep minorities out of wealthy, white neighborhoods. But applying that historical framework to the Radio Towers project is a profound misdirection. Their impassioned argument has left the community deeply puzzled, not because the history is wrong, but because the application of it in this instance is completely inverted. Selective Application of Housing Density The claim that dismantling large-lot restrictions is an act of racial and economic equity will leave you scratching your head when looking at a map of San Diego. The policy enacted here, Footnote 7, was a direct shot at Emerald Hills and Encanto, historically minority-majority neighborhoods. If the goal truly were to use smaller lot sizes to desegregate and dismantle historical exclusion, that policy would be aggressively targeted at the predominantly white, high-resource neighborhoods that actually practiced that exclusion. Instead, those wealthy neighborhoods in San Diego remain entirely intact and protected with their large lots, while two minority-majority neighborhoods are now forced to absorb density and lose their remaining open space to this density that white neighborhoods are not required to do.