By Doug Porter
A ruling by Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal yesterday may well mean the end of the road for the C.H.E. Cafe, a student run cooperative at UCSD.
The co-op will have five calendar days to vacate once a written order is signed by the judge and the university files a writ of possession, meaning the group could be evicted by the middle of next week.
Supporters of the C.H.E.were vague about their future plans when speaking with the news media following the court decision, saying they were considering further legal actions and promising to continue protest activity and lobbying.
The fight is not done. Don’t say RIP. The Che Cafe is not dead
— Che Cafe (@thechecafe) October 21, 2014
Founded in 1980, the C.H.E. Café (originally “Cheap Healthy Eats”)has operated as a student-run cooperative, vegan café, venue, and creative space, hosting hundreds of independent artists and musicians over its 34-year history.
Things came to a head with the University late last spring. From the CHE website:
On May 1, 2014, University Centers Director Sharon van Bruggencalled the Ché Café into a meeting. She had a “proposal”: the Ché building would be closed at the end of the school year and the Ché Café Collective would become a “booking agent,” hosting shows at the on-campus bar Porter’s Pub. Sharon claimed that the Ché Café building was dangerous and unoccupiable without renovations and that UCSD could not afford to pay for these renovations.
In early June, UCSD administrators asked the members of the Ché Café to attend a meeting with them. They said the meeting had “no agenda,” and was an “open-ended conversation about the Ché Cafe’s future.” In reality, it was an ambush. At this meeting, the Ché Café received a formal notice of eviction. There would be no negotiation or compromise, we have thirty days to vacate and that was that.
This notice, given on the Friday of finals week, was clearly timed so that students would be away for summer and unable to organize to support the Ché Café. The UCSD slumlord administrators want to evict the Ché, but we can fight back. This is the website of the Ché Café Support Network; it contains the true facts about the eviction of the Ché & how you can help support this invaluable community space.
The school seems to be on a course to get this messy business over quickly. UCSD spokesman Jeff Gattas issued a statement later in the day:
“The university appreciates the court’s decision today. We are hopeful that we will have a smooth transition as we move forward. The university is committed to supporting UC San Diego’s student organizations and providing a broad range of cultural and artistic events and activities on our campus.”
Given the history (a great read from the archives of the OBRag) of the University’s attempts to rid themselves of the C.H.E Cafe and the group’s stubborn resistance I don’t think this will be resolved easily.
To read comments from supporters, show your support, and/or donate to the C.H.E., please visit:
http://thechecafe.blogspot.
Barrio Logan Planning Group Approved
Despite opposition from maritime industry groups, the City Council has unanimously approved the creation of a 17-member Barrio Logan Community Planning Group to advise the City Council on development in their neighborhood.
UT-San Diego, along with other reactionary political interests, objected to the formation of the group without inclusion of representatives from the shipbuilding industry. Maritime-related corporations funded a deceptive campaign earlier this year leading to a city wide veto on a proposed community plan for Barrio Logan.
City Councilman David Alvarez opted to exclude both industry interests and representatives of the organizations that were proponents of the plan.
From UT-San Diego:
“Major industries in Barrio Logan are not represented,” said William Hall, chairman of the San Diego Port Tenants Association board, who noted they take up 58 percent of the community’s planning area on land controlled by Navy and port district. The port and Navy will have nonvoting representation.
But Alvarez said in light of the “ugly situation” that led to the plan’s defeat, he wanted the planning group to begin its work and not end in failure once again. The Environmental Health Coalition, which led the drive in support of the plan, also was excluded from membership.
He said he picked the panel from business owners, community leaders and residents who attended a town hall recently or expressed interest in serving in recent months. When Councilman Mark Kersey said three additional members from the maritime interests should be added, Alvarez objected.
“We need healing and don’t know that adding any specific sectors would bring that at this point,” he said.
San Diego Free Press editorial board member Brent Beltran is among those selected for the group. I asked him for a quote:
“I’m grateful that the City Council has finally decided to create a planning group for my community of Barrio Logan. It is long overdue. Barrio Logan is one of the most marginalized communities in San Diego as well as one of the most polluted. If any community needs good planning it is this one. I am honored to have been appointed by Councilman David Alvarez and look forward to serving Barrio Logan as a member of this planning group and in the various ways I already do.”
Council Votes for Greater Transparency
Since the Supreme Court made the claim that money equals free speech back in 2010 political action committees have ruled the roost in elections. This week the San Diego City Council took a couple of important steps towards reining in some of their most boorish behaviors.
From UT-San Diego:
The rules would force political action committees to disclose their largest contributors earlier in a campaign so voters could weigh such information before casting ballots.
They would also make it harder for a committee to reproduce and distribute the exact same advertisements and campaign literature used by a candidate that the committee supports.
“The public will have a better understanding of who is paying for the campaign materials they receive,” said Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, praising the city’s Ethics Commission for modeling the new rules on federal campaign law.
Carl DeMaio Watch
Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis has put together a timeline of Carl’s greatest hits from the past year.
In 10 years covering San Diego politics, including the one where Bob Filner was mayor, I have never seen a more bizarre political scandal than the one surrounding Carl DeMaio’s congressional campaign over the last few weeks.
It’s a politically safe and easy to read overview of developments dating back to the plagiarism incident with the National Journal last spring. The conclusion it comes to:somebody’s lying. Are Carl DeMaio’s lips moving?
Meanwhile there seems to be a concerted campaign to sow doubt over the authenticity of DeMaio campaign emails dribbling out into the news media. The UT finally acknowledged the existence of a misogynist email sent about a Peter’s campaign staffer after it was reported on in Time Magazine. The story also included a claim not seen elsewhere by the DeMaio campaign saying that former staffer Todd Bosnich had forged the missive.
Bosnich has offered to provide access to his laptop computer and the original email to prove its authenticity. And experts with at least three media organizations have concluded the emails are likely authentic.
Today’s rumors include an upcoming NBC News story and claims that CNN is vetting yet another former DeMaio staffer to lend substance to its original story.
DeMaio was on KFMB yesterday telling the sympathetic interviewer that if a Democrat were accused of sexual harassment, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow would “don pearls so she could clutch them for the first time.”
I didn’t know what that phrase meant (Ok, I’m lame. My daughter already told me that), and suspect a few readers don’t either, so here’s what I found, from a January 2012 article in Slate:
“Clutch the pearls” first appeared on In Living Color in the show’s 1990 debut season in an April 15 “Men on Films” sketch. After Blaine Edwards (played by Damon Wayans) waxes about how “daring” producers were to cast a male actor as the “female” lead in Dangerous Liaisons, his sidekick Antoine Merriweather tells him that Glenn Close is actually a woman, prompting Blaine to gasp, “Clutch the pearls!” The sarcastic phrase and its many permutations existed prior to In Living Color, of course; for instance, “she clutches her pearls” appeared in a 1987 article in an Australian newspaper about ladies who lunch. But it was the “Men on …” sketches that brought the phrase into widespread, albeit sometimes too literal, use in the early ‘90s, appearing, for example, in a couple of Billboard album reviews as well as a Newsday piece about—who else?—Barbara Bush’s jewelry in 1993.
DeMaio’s barb aimed at Maddow is, as to be expected, misinformed. Here’s a video, uploaded to YouTube by current Mayor Kevin Faulconer of Maddow ripping Filner a new one and making fun of San Diego:
On This Day: 1811 – Composer Franz Liszt was born. 1934- Bank robber Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd is killed by FBI agents near East Liverpool, Ohio. He was a hero to the people of Oklahoma who saw him as a “Sagebrush Robin Hood,” stealing from banks and sharing some of the proceeds with the poor. 1975 – Air Force Technical Sergeant Leonard Matlovich was discharged after publicly declaring his homosexuality. His tombstone reads ” “A gay Vietnam Veteran. When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.”
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Doug Porter
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Seriously? Making a political issue out of juvenile intra-office emails sent by staff ? Demanding to see original Information to track who sent it, from where, and when?
(I’d be more curious to see a time stamp- were these late night, alcohol or Red Bull motivated missives? Campaign staff members work long hours…)
Similar things happened in my 2012 primary- only then it was Peters’ staff writing insulting messages about women on my campaign.
Women can also insult other women- it’s not always sexist, it’s just offensive.
They were leaked- they always are. These are often young people, not always displaying the best judgement. Some thought they were clever and shared them with others.
Our response: ignore them. Keep working. Don’t go running to the media to start a war over which office had the most insensitive “ha ha” messages that day.
But in a close race, where women voters appear to be the key: suddenly it’s newsworthy?
Please- both campaigns need to grow up.
The Che Cafe needs help!