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Is Affordable Housing in the City of San Diego an Oxymoron? Part 1

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The City has squirreled away millions of dollars in off-budget funds which could be used for affordable housing and housing for the homeless

By Katheryn Rhodes and John Lawrence

In the City of Palo Alto, if you make less than $250,000 a year, you’re eligible for a housing subsidy. The city council has voted to study a housing proposal that would essentially subsidize new housing for what qualifies as middle-class nowadays, families making from $150,000 to $250,000 a year.

Here in San Diego the situation is not much better as teachers, police and government workers cannot afford to live in the city they work in. So if middle class, college educated professionals can’t afford to live here, how can anyone else lower on the economic ladder afford to live here either? In particular those on the bottom most rung, the homeless, can’t even afford a foot in the door.   [Read more…]

Replacing Rasputin: A Subtext of the Election Contest for City Attorney

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Termed-out City Attorney Jan Goldsmith felt free to drop the pretense of serving all the public last week during his introduction of Texas Senator Ted Cruz at a campaign rally in Mission Valley.

“We believe in jobs, freedom and security. You know something? The Democrats don’t believe in these values,” Goldsmith said. So much for my theory that he wasn’t an ideologue.

The point here is that the current occupant of that office has utilized the resources available to him to protect political allies, namely the ones who believe that a plurality of the electorate owes its allegiance to a political party in the city engaged in undermining “jobs, freedom and security.”   [Read more…]

Listen Liberal: What’s the Matter with the Democratic Party?

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Thomas Frank has written the most important political book of 2016, and one that should disturb and hopefully influence progressives for years to come. If you have ever found yourself not just horrified by the lunatic right but also frustrated by the hapless and compromised “left,” Frank is your man. If you want to feel good about “your side” but are still troubled by the fact that economic inequality remains at historically high levels despite the last eight years of Democratic Presidential rule, Frank has some uncomfortable truths for you to ponder.

And it’s not just about those damn Republicans.

In his new book, Listen Liberal: What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?, Frank does his usual stellar job of research and analysis where he painstakingly makes his case by using the words of his subjects to illustrate his argument.   [Read more…]

San Diego’s Earth Fair 2016: All in for the Environment

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Sunday, April 17th. EarthFair Day.

Having heard all the warnings about trying to drive to Earth Fair–not to mention the irony–, I took the bus.

The Number 7 bus was a half hour late and it dropped me on the corner of Park & University. It wasn’t going anywhere near that mess in Balboa Park. Eventually, the Balboa Park “shuttle” appeared. After quibbling with the driver when he asked for another fare, we sped three blocks south only to get in line. Hurry up and wait.   [Read more…]

The Early Years of Norma Hernandez: Life Outside the Comfort Zone

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Norma Hernandez’ road to becoming a Chicana activist is different than that of the other Latinos and Latinas I have written about. Norma was born in Tijuana in 1938 and lived there until she was fifteen years old. She is an only child born to Mr. and Mrs. Arce. Fortunately, there were a large number of cousin, aunts and uncles that provided an extended family experience.

Her great-grandmother Valeria was an Otomi Indian who lived in San Luis Potosí Mexico on a little ranchito. Norma’s mother was born in Johnson, Arizona, a small mining town near Bisbee Arizona which no longer exists today.

When her mother was a year old, Norma’s grandparents moved to Mexico. The United states was experiencing a chicken pox epidemic. Fearing for the health of his family her grandfather moved them to Tijuana where he would own a barber shop and later a movie theater.   [Read more…]

Primary Update: California Democrats Get Ready for Hillary vs. Bernie and Beyond

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There was no knockout blow thrown at last night’s Brawl in Brooklyn between Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Sanders threw haymakers, never quite connecting. Clinton responded with deft political footwork and an ongoing series of jabs. Both were hoping to draw support from New York voters in next week’s primary.

“Does Secretary Clinton have the experience, the intelligence to be president? Of course she does,” Sanders said. He pivoted, pointing out her ties to Wall Street and her vote for the war in Iraq, closing with, “I don’t believe that is the kind of judgment we need.”   [Read more…]

Candidates Summary for Chula Vista’s Struggling District 4

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By Barbara Zaragoza

I’ve been covering South Bay elections all week, but the most important in the June 7 primary is Chula Vista’s City Council seat for District 4.

In July 2015, the City Council approved 4 Districts for Chula Vista. That means Chula Vista residents will only be able to vote for people running within the boundaries of our specific districts. It also means our council representative must live in the District for which they are running.

Two District Seats are up for election in 2016: District 3 and District 4. Because only two candidates qualified for the District 3 elections–Steve Padilla and Jason Paguio–they will go directly to the November ballot.

That leaves District 4.   [Read more…]

Justice Stalled: Backlog of 2,873 San Diego Rape Kits

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By Suzanne E. Morse/ Heartfelt Voices United

There is a hidden number in San Diego, one that barely anyone ever speaks about. That Number: 2,873. What is that number?

As of June, 2015, that is the amount of rape kits that lie unprocessed in storage facilities in San Diego, backlogged. That means there are 2,873 rape victims that have never received justice. And that upsets me. Does it upset you?   [Read more…]

Bonds are Like Manure: The Flood Gates are Opening

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By William Richter / Focus On Chula Vista

Bonds are basically huge loans which are advertised as needed to repair crucial infrastructure or build new construction but are, unfortunately, often misspent. Some misspending comes from gold-plated projects, and/or contractors who are able to change the costs easily after they get the contract. Regrettably, there is no accountability for the misspending after the money has already been spent and the elected officials have already moved on.   [Read more…]

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Improv Street Theater in San Diego

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“We’re here to comfort those who are disturbed and disturb those who are comfortable.”

By Barbara Zaragoza

The Sisters, above all, are a spiritual group. Their work has a calling. As Sister Kali explains, “We function within our community as the sacred clown. We go out and by acting contrary through our various means, we give the community an opportunity to find its own answers, their own questions even…We can define the extremes so that people know where the middle ground is and that way they feel a little bit more comfortable in that space.”   [Read more…]

Housed to Homeless in San Diego: Could It Happen to You?

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Quick— imagine a homeless person. Did you conjure up the image of an utterly ordinary looking seventy year old white woman attending classes at SDSU? or a neatly dressed young Latino waiting at a bus stop? or a pregnant African American woman passing by your house? or a neighborhood kid who disappears and reappears and seems disconnected, rootless?

We don’t hear much about these men and women, young and old, who are homeless. Instead, we read about the uptrodden who have to deal with homeless people crapping on the sidewalk in front of their expensive condos downtown or the bad optics and shabby aesthetics of the tents and battered pieces of cardboard where the homeless visibly bed down every night, also downtown.

The reflexive stereotyping of the homeless demands little of us individually and collectively. It is therefore no surprise that our civic efforts in housing the homeless in San Diego have been such a dismal failure.   [Read more…]

The New Liberty Station Public Market – A First Look

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As a recognized “foodie” I have anxiously awaited the opening of the Liberty Public Market. The one thing I miss most about living in the Bay Area is the “Berkeley Bowl” – a converted bowling alley turned into a multitude of food shops. From all I had heard, this new venture was a cross between the Bowl and the Seattle “Pike Place Market.” Even at my age I have not yet learned not to expect too much.

My friend Irene and I decided to take a look at this new venture on a Friday morning during the first week it was opened. Parking was relatively easy – but we noted it was packed when we left shortly after noon. We also found that most of “stores” did not open until 11:00am. But that suited our purpose, because we were just “lookie-loos” this first time around. Unfortunately, it might just be my “last time around.”   [Read more…]

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