San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Coastal Commission Halts Carlsbad Mayor’s Land Use Shell Game

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Find the Hidden Mega Mall

By Richard Riehl / The Riehl World

Regional shopping centers and mixed use residential developments were not allowed to sneak past the California Coastal Commission, thanks to the vigilance of Olga Diaz, the organization’s commissioner, and the leadership of Cori Schumacher, a candidate forCarlsbad City Council.

The attempted scheme was halted during the Coastal Commission’s May 11 meeting to approve a Local Coastal Plan (LCP) Amendment to the city’s General Plan Update.   [Read more…]

Refugee Planet: There Have Never Been This Many Displaced People on Earth

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Half of refugees worldwide are children, new United Nations report finds.

By Nadia Prupis / Common Dreams

An unprecedented 65.3 million people have been displaced around the world due to war and persecution, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on Monday.

The new figure is not only a 21st century record, it is also the first time that the numbers have surpassed 60 million—which means one in every 113 people worldwide is now either an asylum-seeker, internally displaced, or a refugee, the UN said. Half of them are children.   [Read more…]

A Primal Scream From Gun Violence Reaches Congress

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History was made yesterday. The primal scream of the families of gun violence victims echoed through the halls of Congress.

One hundred sixty-eight Democrats from the House of Representatives and thirty-four of their colleagues from the Senate are staging an ongoing sit-in, making a statement aimed at reducing the incidence of gun violence in the United States.

Just as Black students staging sit-ins at lunch counters in the 20th century didn’t reverse decades of legal discrimination or centuries of racism, the actions of Congressional Democrats aren’t likely to end with legislation signed by the President. Things will never be the same again, and that’s the point. It may take months. It will more likely take years. To paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr., the long arc of the moral universe bent in the direction of justice on Capitol Hill yesterday.   [Read more…]

Overpassing the Value of Public Space

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By Howard M. Blackson III / SanDiego.UrbDeZine.com

“Caltrans does not restrict the right of free speech with handheld banners, but attaching flags or banners is not allowed,” a Caltrans-Spokesman told the San Jose Mercury News. He added, “We are concerned that people waving handheld banners could cause driver distraction — putting their safety or that of the motoring public at risk.”

Today, we have prioritized the ‘motoring public’ over all other aspects of public life.

Our failure to cultivate the value and quality of our public spaces and public life is found in this picture of protesters and political advocates on a freeway overpass. Our cities are made up of public buildings, streets, squares and private lots, blocks and buildings. But when people want to be heard, seen, and get their message out to as many people as possible, they now gather on freeway bridge overpasses… for it’s on the freeways where everyone else can be found today, and not on our public street corners and squares.   [Read more…]

Dear Mayor Faulconer: We Need Equity in San Diego’s Climate Action Plan

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By Monique G. López / Environmental Health Coalition

While pollution affects all of us, it hits low-income communities first and worst.

The City of San Diego has unveiled a plan to reduce our city’s pollution over the next 50 years and in the spring of 2016, Mayor Kevin Faulconer released a strategy for meeting the plan’s goals.

The proposed plan lacks a strong focus on social equity – protecting our neighborhoods that already suffer disproportionately more than other neighborhoods.

That’s why Policy Advocate Monique López delivered this letter to Mayor Faulconer on the importance of equity in San Diego’s climate action plan …   [Read more…]

Defined-Contribution Plans are Inadequate Substitutes for Pensions

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By Ben Valdepena / Californians for Retirement Security

In testimony to the Democratic National Committee’s Platform Committee, Californians for Retirement Security called for national action to address the nation’s retirement security crisis.

Hello, my name is Ben Valdepena. I’ve been a custodian with the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District. California since 1983. Today I represent the 1.6 million teachers, firefighters, nurses, classified schools employees and other public servants who are members of Californians for Retirement Security. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to submit testimony to the Platform Committee.

Over the last few decades, as pensions have all but disappeared for private sector workers, retirement security has been sliding further and further out of reach for many Americans. The shift toward 401(k)s has proved a failure for providing retirement security for all except the very wealthy. This trend has been particularly harmful to women, people of color, low-income workers, and young people who are already burdened with student loan debt.   [Read more…]

San Diego North County Coastal Cities Moving Forward On Clean Energy Initiatives

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By John Garcia / SD350.org

During the past year, the San Diego North County Coastal cities have taken steps forward in implementing their Climate Action Plans (CAP) and studying Community Choice Energy (CCE) initiatives, which will enhance their ability to significantly increase their use of Clean Energy in the future.

Three of the cities – Encinitas, Carlsbad, and Del Mar – have formally approved their Climate Action Plans. The Encinitas Climate Action Plan was approved in March 2011. It was not tied to a General Plan and therefore had purely voluntary measures. This month however, the Encinitas City Council voted to draft a new, enforceable Climate Action Plan as mitigation for the housing element of their General Plan and to allocate $100,000 towards its development.
  [Read more…]

Trump’s Toxic Trickledown Leaves Rep. Issa Vulnerable

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Republican Congressman Darrell Issa took to the stage at the San Diego Regional Chamber annual congressional luncheon earlier this week to express buyers remorse over his high-profile support for presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump.

In May, Issa proudly introduced presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in San Diego. A few weeks later he was surprised by primary election results showed a surprisingly close contest with ex-Marine Doug Applegate.

Now a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee poll finds the Congressman in a dead heat with his Democratic opponent. After coasting to re-election for eight terms in Congress in what was considered a safe Republican district, Issa’s support is showing signs of crumbling.   [Read more…]

Veterans Talk Pathologies of Hate and Violence After Orlando Nightclub Tragedy

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By Brian Trautman

It is becoming increasingly clear that one of the shooter’s perceived justifications for perpetrating the murderous rampage may have been intense psychological and emotional pain over his sexual orientation – a catastrophic blend of deep shame, humiliation and bitterness over his possible queerness.

Besides his apparent queer inclinations, there were several noteworthy details about the shooter’s life that were omitted during many discussions about motives: his history of domestic violence, both as a victimizer and a witness to it in childhood; his employment with, one of the largest private security firms in the world, for which he rendered services that included the imprisonment and mistreatment of juvenile offenders; and, his fascination with the NYPD, which he apparently idolized as a would-be police officer.   [Read more…]

The High Costs of Policy Shortfalls in Housing

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By Murtaza Baxamusa / Rooflines

The high cost of housing is one of the most challenging planning issues of our time. The meager supply of affordable housing is a major contributor to the problem, yet the policy tools to address the shortfall often seem to worsen the problem. But this is because they ignore the underlying infrastructure and financing to support growth.

Housing affordability is really about two things: income and cost. The building industry is doing very little about the former, oftentimes opposing prevailing wages for construction workers. On the latter, the key question (being debated in California now) is whether deregulation of market rate housing projects will somehow “trickle down” to households, enabling them to afford rising rents and mortgages.   [Read more…]

The Swamp Cedars and the Nevada Water Grab

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The Swamp Cedars in Spring Valley, Nevada have grown long memories. They stand on the valley floor under the bright Great Basin stars where the skies are still unspoiled by the encroaching glow of electricity. Beneath the trees’ branches, the blue petals of wild irises flutter in the breeze. All of them – the trees, the flowers, the stars – sway to the soft melodies played by the valley’s bubbling springs.

The Swamp Cedars are under attack. Close to 300 miles south of Spring Valley, the City of Las Vegas sprang up in the desert. Las Vegas’ population continues to grow in an arid landscape and the city is running out of water. Instead of restricting development, Sin City encourages residents and businesses to move to the city promising them access to the water they’ll need.   [Read more…]

Closure of Diablo Nuclear Plant

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In landmark agreement, California’s last remaining nuclear plant will be replaced by greenhouse-gas-free energy sources

By Lauren McCauley / Common Dreams

A plan to shutter the last remaining nuclear power plant in California and replace it with renewable energy is being heralded widely as “a clear blueprint for fighting climate change,” which environmentalists hope will serve as “a model” for the nation.

“The end of an atomic era,” is how the San Francisco Chronicle described the announcement, made Tuesday by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), which operates the aging Diablo Canyon power plant situated on California’s central coast.   [Read more…]

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