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A Refugee from Nazi Germany Boo’ed, plus National City and San Ysidro Election Troubles

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Mayor Serge Dedina retracted the Welcoming City proclamation that had been issued in mid-August. The proclamation was meant to welcome immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers to IB. Why the change of heart?

Protestors at the September 21 IB City Council meeting booed the mayor’s father as he spoke about being a refugee from Nazi Germany and said the U.S. should let in more refugees. Many in the crowd held up “No ISIS” signs and one witness said there was a “riot” outside the council room, according to the San Diego Reader.   [Read more…]

The Third Debate Is Over. So Is the Race for President.

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(Unless YOU don’t vote!)

The third debate was by far the best of the three. Not that it was fun to watch. Or that voters were offered substantive policy ideas. As was true with all the debates, questions about climate change were left on the cutting room floor.

Moderator Chris Wallace ran a tight ship for the most part (more on this later). Donald Trump lasted for 30 minutes before his blood sugar crashed. And Hillary Clinton showed some real passion on a woman’s right to choose.

There were quips–“nasty woman”, “bad hombre.” There were slips– can somebody please explain GDP to Trump? And there was the drip, drip, drip of Hillary Clinton making the case that her opponent simply wasn’t fit for the job.

In the end, the debate will be remembered for Trump’s refusal at the end to commit to accepting the results of the election.   [Read more…]

Measures K and L Make Sense for San Diego

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Measures K and L are changes to the City Charter submitted through the efforts of the Alliance San Diego Mobilization Fund and the Independent Voter Project. Both groups have local experience in encouraging voter turnout.

These measures were championed by City Council President Sherri Lightner and placed on the November 2016 ballot by a vote of the City Council.

What they do in a nutshell is to shift the final decision making in elections to November. Measure K says the top two candidates as determined by primary voters for Mayor, City Council seats, and City Attorney advance to the general election. Measure L says citizen-sponsored initiatives and referendums belong on the November ballot.   [Read more…]

Measure J: The Mission Bay Park Money Shuffle

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Measure J seemed like another non-controversial proposal at first.

It extended the lifetime of an earlier ballot measure dedicating a portion of revenues from leases on properties at Mission Bay Park and shuffled the formula for allocating funds to include other regional parks.

The idea was for these revenues to pay for bonds to be used in capital improvement projects for Mission Bay Park and regional parks, including Balboa Park.

Needless to say, Balboa Park groups existing amidst crumbling buildings and other infrastructure shortcomings were thrilled.   [Read more…]

A Progressive Argument FOR Measure A

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Eds Note: Portions of this article appeared in Voice of San Diego By Michael Beck  It’s high stakes campaign time and you’re inundated with conflicting ballot arguments.  Measure A is no exception.  Following are the progressive, environmental, verifiable facts about Measure A. Climate change: Measure A would fund the most progressive transportation plan in the […]

Measure I Pits Balboa Park Advocates Against San Diego High’s Future

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Measure I started out as a seemingly non-controversial deal to maintain the status quo with two venerable San Diego institutions.

Now it has split the community between those who want to maintain the current location of the City’s oldest high school and those who say it should no longer occupy dedicated parkland.

The City Council placed Measure I on the ballot along with a package of reforms to the charter. It changes the language found in Section 55 of the foundational document governing the City’s use of dedicated parkland to allow a simple majority public vote to allow the existing use of that site to continue.   [Read more…]

Why Measure A is Bad on Climate and Bad for the Region

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Last week I ceded my column space to Jana Clark, a board member of both the Cleveland National Forest Foundation and Save Our Forest and Ranchlands who explained why environmentally-minded San Diegans should vote no on Measures A and B for a sustainable future for our region.

This followed a piece I co-authored with Nicole Capretz of the Climate Action Campaign and Nick Segura of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 569 explaining why progressives from labor, community, and environmental groups should say No Way to Measure A.

This week, I am pleased to share my usual spot with David Harris from SD 350 and Ruben Arizmendi, Chair of the San Diego Sierra Club, who will explain how Measure A is a manifestation of a “planning as usual” mindset that gave our region a transportation plan that “flagrantly disregards the State’s GHG [greenhouse gas] reduction mandates.”   [Read more…]

Looking Back at the Week: October 9-15

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This week’s edition of Looking Back at the Week features articles, commentaries, columns, toons, and other work by San Diego Free Press regulars, irregulars, columnists, at-large contributors, and sourced writers on: our ballot endorsements, Props 63-65 & 66, Measures E thru H, the second debate, developer dreams in Vista, El Cajon PD ordered to return medical cannabis, Chula Vista’s council election, SOHO’s endangered list, and lots of other grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s friendly, neighborhood, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site.   [Read more…]

Geo-Poetic Spaces: Leaf in River

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Falling in forest
floating upon sun’s gold leafed
treetops whirling home   [Read more…]

Weekly Progressive Calendar: Upcoming in San Diego

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I’m taking the day off. We published our San Diego 2016 Progressive Voter Guide this morning and I’m all tuckered out. It’s got links to our coverage on dozens of ballot measures, more than a hundred candidates, and, of course, endorsements.

I haven’t forgotten the weekly calendar…   [Read more…]

Chula Vista City Council Elections: Candidates Tackle Homeless, Housing

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On Sept. 7, 2016, Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce and the Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors hosted a Candidates Forum at Southwestern College. Four candidates — two for District 3 and two for District 4 — debated each other in hopes of gaining your vote for Chula Vista City Council on November 8.

Less than 100 people attended the event.

New Districts For Chula Vista: As the second largest city in San Diego County, Chula Vista has approximately 250,000 residents. The eastern part of the City anticipates an influx of over 60,000 more people within the next two decades, in particular with the coming of a new University and the Millenia Project.   [Read more…]

Cleaning Up the City Charter: Measures E thru H

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In the June primary election voters in the City of San Diego were presented with seven ballot measures aimed at what Council President Sherri Lightner called ‘house cleaning’ for the City Charter. All passed.

The November general election has eight more charter amendments for voters. Some of them go beyond housecleaning into the realm of political agendas. Today, I’ll cover four housecleaning measures in one column. In coming days the more controversial ballot items will get some individual attention.

For those of you with short attention spans– Vote Yes on Measures E thru H. There is no known opposition for any of these items. They’re not necessarily perfect, but nothing there rolls back the clock.   [Read more…]

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