San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

You are here: Home / Archives for Government

The Day After the Election Was Just Another Day in Barrio Logan

by

Desde la Logan: The Day After …

By Brent E. Beltrán

Sometimes we get caught up in it all, including myself. I voted for Barack Obama again. The only times I voted Democrat for president was for this man. In previous elections I voted third party, either Green or Peace and Freedom. I think the re-election of President Obama was a good thing. Not a great thing (I have a buttload of issues with his presidency, far too many to go into here). The alternative though, electing corporate stooge Mitt Romney, would have been terrible for nonwhites, the poor and working class, women, and gays and lesbians. Unfortunately, the status quo remains. Fortunately, it didn’t get worse. In Barrio Logan, the song remains the same.

In my neighborhood, the day after the election was the same as the day before the election. And the day before that and the day before that. And tomorrow it will be the same. Nothing changed. Most of my neighbors went back to work at low paying service jobs. Back to watching other people’s children or back to cleaning other people’s homes. Some didn’t even go back to work because there is no work to go back to. The youth went back to inferior schools. Adults took the trolley or the bus to wherever they needed to go because they can not afford a car. Or they can’t get a license because of their immigration status.
  [Read more…]

The Dawning of the New Progressive Era in San Diego

by

The Most Liberal Administration in San Diego History About to Take Its Seat

With the election of Congressman Bob Filner to fill San Diego’s mayoral seat, coupled with a now 5 to 4 Democratic majority on the city’s Council as Sheri Lightner has defeated Ray Ellis – we can now claim the dawning of San Diego’s New Progressive Era.

Filner’s victory reflects President Obama’s re-election on the national level, perhaps a new dawn of a similar era across the country. Indeed, San Diego voters across the County went for President Obama over Mitt Romney, 51% to 47%.

At least in San Diego, Tuesdays election results reflect changes in our local demographics and subsequent changes in local politics.

These changes and the voter turnout have ushered in the most liberal administration in San Diego’s history, the first Democratic mayor in over 30 years …   [Read more…]

San Diego for Free: America’s National Parks – Free Admission to Our Greatest Natural Treasures

by

A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

America’s National Parks – Free Admission to Our Greatest Natural Treasures

Here is their Website.

Best For: Hikers, bikers, bird watchers, wanderers, weekend warriors

The United States is fortunate to have many areas across the nation protected from development and preserved and enhanced by the National Park Service. Throughout the year there are a few select days when admission to all of the 398 national parks is waived. This upcoming weekend, Veterans Day weekend, is one such free admission period. Also, of the 398 national parks, 264 of them are free everyday.
  [Read more…]

California Swings More Democratic; State Legislature Now Fully Two-Thirds in Dem Hands

by

Republican incumbents Bono-Mack, Lungren, and Bilbray down in their re-election bids; GOP further marginalized in California

Lost in the wake of President Barack Obama’s sizeable win over Mitt Romney and the high profile Congressional races in California were the gains California Democrats made in both houses of the State Legislature. During the wave midterm election in 2010, where California bucked the national trend that went Tea Party wild, California swung even deeper blue, with Democrats winning every statewide election and solidified their majorities in the Legislature.
  [Read more…]

Filner Wins – DeMaio Concedes !

by

It’s official! Bob Filner has won the mayor’s seat in San Diego.  Carl DeMaio has conceded, local media report. The Registrar of Voters has reported the result, with 100 percent of precincts reporting.  The Congressman, the former City Councilman and former School Board member, U.S. Rep. Bob Filner has come out on top after a grueling […]

The Starting Line –A Very Good Night for Progressives in San Diego and California (With Election Results!)

by

Although there remain over 400,000 provisional ballots to be counted in San Diego County, it would appear that most politically progressive candidates and causes were triumphant on Election Day. A huge Get Out the Vote effort on the Democratic side of the equation appears to have yielded victories in just about every race where the changing demographics of the region made a win possible.

  [Read more…]

The Most Important Election Day in Our Lifetime

by

Nov. 6, 2012: A defining moment in San Diego’s—and the country’s—history. Some final election day thoughts on the Presidential, 52nd Congressional District, and San Diego Mayoral races.

It’s been a long and sometimes grueling process, one that has caused even the most enthusiastic of politifiles (yes, I just made that up) to want to tear their hair out. But today it all comes to an end (we hope). The 2012 election, which really started more than a year-and-a-half ago, culminates tonight with the official vote tallies to determine who our national and local leaders will be; who will be our next president, our next members of Congress, and who will be San Diego’s next mayor.

  [Read more…]

Election Day 2012 – Progressive Election News and Views from a San Diego Point of View (w/ Regular Updates)

by

DeMaio Floods Colleges with Anti-Filner Flyer We’ve received a copy of the flyers that were distributed on college campuses throughout San Diego today by young people hoping to dissuade young voters from casting their ballots for Bob Filner by saying that he was proposing to shut down bars.  One source told me that students were seen carrying armfuls of […]

The Starting Line –It Ain’t Over ‘Till It’s Over – Make Sure Every San Diegan Gets the Opportunity to Vote

by

Contrary to what you might think from reports in the media, no candidate or issue has ever been decided by a poll, a pollster, a TV ad or even a Super Pac.

While races for the top jobs grab the most headlines, there are dozens of other choices to be made, all of which will have an impact on virtually every part of our lives.

  [Read more…]

Debunking the Opposition to Proposition Z, San Diego Schools’ Opportunity to Keep Moving into the 21st Century

by

San Diego voters are being asked to authorize $2.8 million in bonds for school repair and construction in this fall’s election via Proposition Z.  This initiative should be a straight up or down deal; whether or not to raise property taxes to support this vital part of our infrastructure.

Instead, a coterie of right wing groups with a barely disguised extremist agenda have turned the discussion on Proposition Z into a battlefield, mined with half-truths, pock marked by a barrage of lies and overrun by waves of tea party types convinced that they are stopping an assault on common sense itself.

  [Read more…]

Pacific Beach Sub-Committee Report: October 2012

by

By Sub-Committee/Special to the San Diego Free Press

The Destiny of Density

Shoulders were shrugged as the Pacific Beach sub-committee for commercial and residential projects approved a new 4 bedroom+den/4 bath single family town house, with 2 “carport” parking spaces, on Oliver Avenue by the bay. No closed “garage” as to allow the maximum square footage for the habitation. Minimum required “yard.” Discussion as to how many cars will actually be “living there” ensued, but as the plans were in compliance with the existing building codes, shoulders were shrugged, and plans were approved. All expectations are for an increase in density in this zone.   [Read more…]

Extreme Weather Watch: Super Storm Sandy – the New Normal?

by

Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and larger in scale. As Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York said, “We’re getting a 100 year storm every 2 years.” It used to be that a hurricane just hit a state. Then along came Katrina that hit 2 or 3 states. The latest Category 1 hurricane was a massive weather system that hit 10 states, a whole region. The scale of these large storms is getting larger and larger. 60% of the entire population of the United States was involved.   [Read more…]

©2010-2017 SanDiegoFreePress.org

Code is Poetry