Students held a protest against sexual assault at Southwestern Community College on Thursday, May 18th. The group gathered in front of Mayan Hall and several speakers made demands on the administration, after which they marched to the Student Center.

The protest was ignited by a special April edition of the college newspaper The Sun, which devoted itself entirely to sexual assault.

On the front page, The Sun editorial board reported, “A stunning lawsuit by a former student worker in the SWC Campus Police Department accuses three male employees of systemic sexual harassment over a two-year period, culminating in an attempted gang rape of the woman by police employees inside SWCPD headquarters. Even more stunning is her description of how the situation was mishandled by campus police chief Michael Cash. According to the lawsuit brief, she reported the harassment and misogynistic behavior to Cash, who then violated her confidence and told the defendants. They were not investigated or punished.”   [Read more…]

The loss of Susan Luzzaro comes during a time when the entire country faces a crisis in journalism. With the Trump Administration waging a “fake news” war on most major news outlets — including the Washington Post, which supports an ever-decreasing number of investigative journalists — the South Bay has also taken several hits.

I can identify only two full-time paid journalists whose focus is to exclusively cover the South Bay (defined as anything South of the I-54 to the border): Robert Moreno, who is the only full-time journalist at the Chula Vista Star News and Allison Sampite-Montecalvo at the San Diego Union Tribune.

Think on that for a moment. One full-time paid journalist (Robert Moreno) is hired to cover all of Chula Vista & National City which make up approximately 250,000 and 60,000 residents respectively. The Chula Vista Elementary School District is the largest elementary school district in the state of California.   [Read more…]

Today is Cinco de Mayo and if you think it’s Mexico’s Independence Day — you’re wrong. Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Lauryn Mascareñaz at Teaching Tolerance gives a description of the holiday and then, importantly, explains the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation.

That said, let’s celebrate! After a four year absence, Chula Vista will host a Cinco de Mayo Music Festival. Twenty musical and cultural dance performances will be showcased on Sunday, May 7th from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at J Street Marina Park (550 Marina Parkway). The event is FREE.   [Read more…]

BIG news: Chula Vista — the second largest city in San Diego County — had its City Council vote unanimously to have the city become part of the Welcoming America Network. Although, as news outlets reported, there’s no strict definition of a welcoming city, the declaration is a symbolic gesture meant to make people, in particular immigrants, feel welcome.

The new Chula Vista Police Captain, Roxana Kennedy, spoke during public comments and affirmed that the CVPD would not enforce immigration laws because it was the responsibility of the federal government. Instead, she explained that everyone in Chula Vista would receive equal enforcement of the law and would be fairly treated.   [Read more…]

San Diego Business Journal reported last week that the Chula Vista City Council approved the transfer from ownership from Seven Mile Casino to Stones South Bay Corp.

The old casino opened in 1946 as the Village Club on Broadway. In 2014, the casino moved into a lush 14,000-square-foot space along Bay Boulevard. In that same year, the Village Club Card Room had been raided by the FBI.

New problems have arisen this month. On April 10, a class-action lawsuit was electronically filed against South Bay Stone, VC Cardroom, Christopher Hart, David Jocis and Harvey Souza. Card-dealers who were employed at the casino are alleging: failure to provide rest periods, failure to provide meal periods, failure to convert gratuities under Labor Code section 350, failure to pay waiting time penalties, violation of California Labor Code and unfair business practices.   [Read more…]

On Tuesday, the Chula Vista City Council faced numerous public comments asking for Hector Gastelum’s resignation and for an investigation of the Otay Water Board.

Fayaz Nawabi, a leader in the movement for Gastelum to resign, explained he is a proud refugee of Afghanistan. His family was welcomed to the United States during the Ronald Reagan administration. Now he is concerned because a public official like Gastelum — Director of the Otay Water District 4 — tweeted numerous racist comments from his personal account calling Muslims “subhuman” and “scum.”   [Read more…]

Chula Vista City Council Chambers saw a full-house as about 50 speakers gave public testimony on whether Chula Vista should be designated a “sanctuary city.” The Council decided to support a state sanctuary bill and sign on to a legal brief challenging President Trump’s executive order to strip funding form sanctuary jurisdictions. The vote was 3-2 with Councilmembers McCann and Diaz opposed.   [Read more…]

The Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce reported in their newsletter:

The City is proposing a residential development with more than 4,000 homes along Cactus Road and Siempre Viva.

The access for this new village is Britannia, which of course is an existing truck route. The Chamber has requested the City to explore requiring then housing developers to either build or contribute to adding the Heritage Intersection to SR-905. The City Council is considering adopting the Central Village Plan next Tuesday April 2nd. at 2:00 pm.   [Read more…]

San Diego Free Press Doug Porter broke the story yesterday on a man by the name of Lawrence Deshawn Silva Nathaniel with “We Are One Foundation” who organized a rally that, in the end, did not include local grass roots border organizations. Instead, he made sure to contact Border Patrol, the SDPD and ICE and said any undocumented participants of the rally could rally in a specific ‘safe space’. Wha-huh? The March 25 rally has been cancelled.

And:
— California Assembly Bill ‘Resist the Wall Act’
— Hector Gastelum Won’t Resign
— South Bay Leadership PAC Asks: How Do We Progressives Work Together Moving Forward?
— Proctor Valley Ghosts & Monsters   [Read more…]

Chula Vista is the second largest city in San Diego County. The South Bay has approximately 450,000 residents. If San Diegans mean to say, “The biggest hurdle has been trying to get someone from Carlsbad to come down to National City and Chula Vista to drink beer.” Okay. Fair Enough.

I’d then ask: When was the last time people from the South Bay went North of downtown San Diego? It’s too far. There’s very little culture up there — very little to do.   [Read more…]