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Joe Arpaio Meets With Tea Party Group and Supporters in Ramona

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Notorious sheriff’s posse gets unruly as police watch and do nothing

By Miguel Cid

About four years ago when Joe Arpaio visited San Diego, his reputation and stance on immigration policy earned him a booing from protesters and residents in the county. In short, San Diego did not receive him with open arms.

Nearly a month after protesters blocked buses in Murrieta, approximately 10:30 on Saturday morning, July 26th, in Ramona, our carpool passed the Joe Arpaio meet up location of the Ramona Mainstage, and out of the crowd I spotted a face; a face that resembled a skin tone similar to mine.

The man wearing the face held up a sign that read, “We Support You Joe”. I instantly thought that the signage must have been referring to him and his family, because I know he being the only seemingly brown face lined up in support of Sheriff Joe, he could not be referring to the Latino community, and especially not the Chicano community in the surrounding areas.   [Read more…]

Dude, Is It Legal Yet?

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The answer is ‘Yes!’  as Washington and Colorado have moved to legalization, nine states have decriminalized and twenty-three have introduced medical marijuana legislation.

By Marc Snelling / OB Rag

Dude, is it legal yet?

People have been saying this since the seventies.  Speaking to activists from this era, it seems many felt that legalization of marijuana in the US was imminent in the early seventies. But other than Alaska in 1975 (re-criminalized in 1991) the seventies did not see legalization of marijuana come to pass.

The activists of the seventies (Baby Boomers) have now been joined by the next generation – the children of the seventies (Gen X).  With these two generations working together public support for legal marijuana is now over 50% and is on the rise.  Victories in the battle to change US laws continue as both generations of activists work towards change.

Today the answer to ‘Dude, is it legal yet?’ is becoming ‘Yes!’ for more and more people as Washington and Colorado have moved to legalization, nine states have decriminalized and twenty-three have introduced medical marijuana legislation.   [Read more…]

From Village Building Convergence in Portland to Creative Place-Making In San Diego?

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The Art of Community

By Avital Aboody and Beryl Forman

Last month, Beryl Forman and I successfully launched the bi-national “Take Back the Alley” initiative in San Diego and Tijuana. These types of community-build projects are starting to gain traction in our region, but there is a lot of room for growth. So in an effort to learn more about sustainable place-making and build momentum for future projects in our region, we headed to Portland’s Village Building Convergence (VBC), where the inspiration for “Take Back the Alley” first germinated.

The Village Building Convergence is an annual event organized by City Repair, a local group in Portland that educates and inspires communities and individuals to creatively transform the places where they live. At the VBC, people of all ages and backgrounds work on projects together in neighborhoods throughout the city for ten straight days. During this time, neighbors construct benches and community kiosks, plant gardens, paint their streets, lay down tile mosaics, and more. They learn important skills around urban sustainability and social equity, while celebrating the creativity and diversity of their city.   [Read more…]

Reflections on the Mayoral Race . . .

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By Larry Remer

If it hadn’t already been apparent, the Mayoral Primary clearly demonstrated seismic shifts that have taken place in recent years on the local political landscape.

San Diego is now a very solidly Blue City and Democrat David Alvarez is well positioned to compete strongly in the February Mayoral runoff.

Just look at how stunningly strong the Democratic vote was last week. Despite an abysmally low voter turnout of barely 36%, more than 55% of the vote went to 3 clearly identified Democratic candidates (Alvarez, Fletcher and Aguirre). Republican Kevin Faulconer finished with less than 43%. In other words, the combined vote of the Democrats in the low turnout primary handily beat the anointed Republican candidate by more than 12 points.

This is consistent with the 14 point registration edge the Dems hold over the Reps in the city; and this result is clearly not a transient phenomenon. When San Diego went for Obama 2008 and 2012 and for Filner in 2012, most of the punditry ascribed it to the high voter turnouts (70%-plus) that accompany Presidential elections. After Filner resigned, the “conventional wisdom” was that Republicans are more likely to vote in off year elections and GOP dominance would emerge in a low-turnout Mayoral special election.   [Read more…]

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