I come not to bury the San Diego Free Press, but to praise it.
I believe in the resurrection of the soul of this Press for the people of San Diego, and the world.
Brief, shining moments have a way of sticking round in our hearts, like Camelot. [Read more…]
By Karin Brennan
First, congratulations on your achievement. All your hard work has paid off. Take a breath and enjoy the moment. Now, for those of you who beat the odds, “flipped” your seats, and maybe even “shocked the world”, I have a special message. [Read more…]
By Mona Rios
It’s been a big year for transportation in the San Diego region. Major transit lines have opened up, the public has been exploring new transportation technologies, and our transportation governing agencies have been overhauled for the better.
The year started with a bang as Assembly Bill 805 went into effect in January. This bill, authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher and signed by Governor Jerry Brown, brought needed changes to the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). It’s made our agencies more democratic, more representative of voters, and it provided more oversight of our tax dollars.
At MTS, it required the chairperson to be a democratically-elected official. The Board of MTS selected city of San Diego Councilmember Georgette Gomez as Chairperson and myself as Vice Chair. It’s been an honor to serve National City and the region as Vice Chair of MTS.
On Monday night, District Attorney Summer Stephan attended the vigil at the Congregation Beth Israel for the victims of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. She stood on stage and sat in the front row.
However, when asked by a reporter from Times of San Diego about the anti-Semitic website that her campaign launched attacking George Soros during the June primary election, Ms. Stephan refused to answer any questions or acknowledge the issue.
As the leadership team of the campaign for Geneviéve Jones-Wright, the target of Ms. Stephan’s race-baiting and fear mongering, we watched in horror as the voters of San Diego fell for hateful scare tactics.
By Michael Flanders
By Ignacio Hernandez V. / ACCE
Today, more Californians are paying more than half their income on rent. Every day, the number of families struggling to make ends meet increases. According to the Los Angeles Times, every 5 percent of rent increase in Los Angeles today leads to 2,000 people becoming homeless. Seniors, families, workers, teachers, and all others on fixed incomes who have lived in their homes for years are being forced out due to unscrupulous real estate speculators.
We need a solution — and that solution is voting Yes on Proposition 10.
Passing Prop. 10 this November 6 is an easy, fair, and necessary step to help tackle the affordable housing crisis. We need to give back the right of local communities to make rental policy that’s right for them, not just for corporate landlords. Our local communities need all the tools at their disposal to address skyrocketing housing costs. [Read more…]
By R. Zamora
In San Diego 897 people have been killed by law-enforcement since the 1950s. My cousin, Jonathon Coronel, is among these statistics. My cousin was unarmed and surrendered on the ground, yet still shot 22 times by San Diego Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Villanueva.
As if riddling one body with 22 hollow-point bullets wasn’t terrorizing to our community enough, Christopher Villanueva tortured another human being to death, Sergio Weick, just eleven months prior to murdering Jonathon Coronel. Villanueva fired 26 gunshots onto Sergio Weick. Someone who is firing excessive shots, so excessive that he had to reload his gun, onto one human being clearly does not fear for his life but rather enjoys asserting his deadly power.
Officers like him have been empowered to continue their terrorizing behavior thanks to the District Attorney’s refusal to charge any officers that have overstepped their boundaries for murder. Between 2005 – 2015 there have been 155 police killings and all have been deemed “justified” by the District Attorney’s office. Summer Stephan is continuing this legacy by refusing to hold police officers accountable for illegal behavior, ultimately condoning the stripping of due process. She is expanding police officer’s role into one of judge, jury, and executioner. [Read more…]
By Drew Douglas
My family lived five blocks from the ocean in the heart of Imperial Beach when I was born, and there I was raised for most of my formative years. Life in our beach town was always closely tied to the waves and the tides, and it still is. It defined much of my childhood. Skateboarding or riding our bikes to the beach wasn’t just a ritual, it was a luxury we took for granted.
Walking home from the beach on a sunny summer afternoon, wearing a bathing suit, draped in a towel, the warm sun on your skin still freckled with dried salt and sand from the ocean — this is quintessential Imperial Beach. But we have continually battled a constant threat to this tranquility. And it hasn’t just hampered our way of life, it has hindered the economic growth of the community.
They say “all politics are local” but too often we become so engrossed in national political spectacles that we forget about our own backyard. I spent many a summer and winter day on the beaches of I.B. swimming, bodyboarding, fishing with my father from the pier, climbing on the rocks of the jetties to watch the sunset with friends or just soaking up the sun in the sand. [Read more…]
By Wendy Wilson / Alianza North County
Most people in Escondido are not required to meet with the mayor. I had to and was outraged. The following account is all from one meeting with Sam Abed. It gives you a good idea of who he is and what drives his policies.
As the local arts agency representative, my task was to present data about cultural tourism in Escondido and North County.
At the start of my meeting with Mayor Abed, he told me right off…My first priority as mayor is my personal finances. [Read more…]
By Donna Frye
Last week I officially endorsed Vivian Moreno to serve as the next Council District 8 City Councilmember. Vivian is someone who has strong core beliefs and values that will not change based on politics. She is honest and straightforward- she tells it like it is and I appreciate that.
Vivian and I agree about what it takes to be a public servant. It means listening to others with an open mind, understanding what people are saying about their positions on issues and the reasons people believe as they do and working hard to find equitable and reasonable solutions. Vivian was active in serving her community long before she ever thought about running for office. Her passion to serve is a result of her upbringing and strong family ties. Vivian is a lifelong resident of South San Diego and knows firsthand the challenges facing the community. [Read more…]
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors (BOS) cannot decide wisely when it relies on poor staff information.
Need an example? Look at the BOS October 10, 2018, McClellan-Palomar Airport, Agenda Item. Palomar is in the city of Carlsbad.
County staff recommends that the Board approve a 20-Year Palomar Master Plan (PMP) to spend up to $112,000,000 to extend the 4900-foot runway up to 900 feet and to relocate the runway about 100 feet to the north before 2036. [Read more…]
Nothing that these Establishment politicians (Republican and Democrat alike) do surprise me anymore, but it still disgusts me. I pray we learn our lesson from June’s election.
Remember when then-candidate, Summer Stephan suggested to the Union-Tribune she was a reformer? Remember when she told voters that she believed law enforcement officers were not above the law? Remember when she said she cared deeply for victims and victims’ families?
All lies. Since being in that seat, she’s cleared every officer involved in the shootings and deaths of San Diegans. Most recently, on September 21, she cleared every officer involved in the death of Earl McNeil although the Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide. [Read more…]
