San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

When Students Stand Against Border Patrol Presence at Career Fairs, Administrators Should Take Their Direction

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By Pedro Rios

In late April at San Diego City College over two-dozen students quickly mobilized after learning that Border Patrol agents would have a booth at the career fair. The students solicited support from their professors, who also reached out to community organizations, and planned a public demonstration at the Quad where the career fair would be held. On the morning of the career fair, several students reported seeing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials setting up a booth at the Quad – (CBP is the Border Patrol’s parent agency). By midday, however, Macy’s store representatives occupied the booth originally assigned to the CBP officials. Border Patrol and Customs recruitment agents were nowhere to be seen.   [Read more…]

Uncommon Victories for the Common Good

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By Donald Cohen / Capital & Main

One thing I’ve learned from decades of fighting for the public good is that winning comes in different forms. Let me share some good news about recent victories.

Sometimes winning is a unanimous decision. Last week, officials in Gary, Indiana, voted unanimously against allowing the private prison company GEO Group to build a for-profit immigration detention center in the city. The decision follows months of organizing by a diverse coalition of faith leaders and residents against the publicly traded corporation, which profited $139 million in taxpayer dollars nationwide in 2015.

Sometimes winning is the end of a contract. New York City officials have announced that they will not renew a multimillion dollar contract with Veolia, a private French conglomerate, to manage the city’s waste­water treatment plants.   [Read more…]

Trump Quietly Hires a Hardcore Anti-Abortion Crusader, Christian Right Delivers Heavy Applause

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In play for right-wing votes, Trump hires a champion of Christian conservatism

By Elizabeth Preza / AlterNet

As the realization dawns on social conservatives that Donald Trump will be crowned the Republican nominee at the Grand Old Party’s convention in July, the reality TV star-turned-politician is making a play for hardline right-wingers, hiring staunch conservative John Mashburn as his campaign’s policy director.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the prominent antichoice organization Susan B. Anthony List, heralded the move as an “excellent hire, especially for the pro-life movement and our legislative priorities.”   [Read more…]

Much Ado About Money – County Supervisors on the Primary Ballot

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Back in 2010, San Diego became the seventh county in California to impose term limits on its Board of Supervisors. Voters approved of the idea by better than a two to one margin. Unions, which typically oppose term limits, actually funded the effort.

This electoral groundswell happened for a reason, namely the billions in funding flowing through (and overly generous reserges in) county coffers. The ability of just five elected officials to shape the county’s priorities in big and small ways amounted to a ticket to lifetime tenure in part because supervisors also draw their own district lines.

There are two contests for County Supervisor appearing on 2016 primary ballots in San Diego. They only appear on ballots for voters living in the districts involved. (First District Supervisor Greg Cox is unopposed and therefore, won’t be on the ballot)   [Read more…]

Having Fun Watching my Grandson Having Fun

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The other day, for some reason, a wonderful memory rose in my mind of times when my grandson, Marlon, was dancing on the stage at SCPA (School of Creative and Performing Arts) to the hooting and hollering sounds of girls who were swooning from the very sight of him.

As I remembered those days I couldn’t help but think about how I had never experienced anything like that. Ever. I mean I’ve wondered a few times how somebody in my bloodline came out looking as fine as he does.

Since those days, he’s evolved into ML Wilson, performer, rapper, actor, a hip-hop-beat-maker. Living in San Francisco, pursuing his showbiz dreams.   [Read more…]

“As a California Primary Voter – I’m Pretty Pissed Off!”

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By OB Joe / OB Rag

You know it. I’m a California Primary voter and I’m pretty pissed off!

The Primary is already over – and I haven’t even voted yet. And neither have my fellow 8 million California voters.

The candidates have been selected – yet, the largest state in the Union has not spoken.

Oh, I know, there are some who still think Bernie can get the nomination – but the real math is not there – and I’m a Bernie supporter! I observed an MSNBC breakdown of the numbers – and Sanders would have to score REAL big in all the remaining primaries – short of a miracle – it will be Hillary Clinton for the Democrats.

I really wanted to vote for Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Socialist – and I was among the 13,000 San Diegans who came out to support him when he was in town not too long ago. But by now, it’s been decided.

I feel totally disenfranchised and disheartened. Our California votes just don’t count. And neither do the votes in the other 4 states that have their Primaries on June 7th: New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota and Montana.   [Read more…]

Swaggerin’ Donald Reaches Out to the Free Press

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Donald Trump is finally reaching out to the readers of the San Diego Free Press in an attempt to cover all the bases and pick up Bernie Sanders voters. After all, they agree on many issues including fair trade rather than free trade. They both want to bring those jobs home. Here is what he had to say:

Hi true Americans. It’s the Donald here. I’m gonna make America great again. We’re going to have the strongest military and NATO is going to pay for it. That’s right. We’ve been giving them free protection for years so they can sit around in their bistros drinking lattes and eating gelato. They can whoop it up in their biergartens while we sit here paying a trillion dollars a year to protect them. From whom? From Russia? Give me a break.   [Read more…]

Feeling #theBern AND the Burn in San Diego Politics

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Who Are the Democrats Who Aren’t Really Democrats?

This started out to be a column addressing the increasing awareness of the Bernie movement on finding like-minded progressive candidates on the ballot. It ended up be an exploration of the Dark Side of both local politics and the newly ascendant supporters of the Democratic Socialist from Vermont.

For those of interested in short lists for city offices, here it is: if you like Bernie, then Lori Saldaña for Mayor, Bryan Pease for City Attorney, Sara Saez for D9 City Council, and Jose Caballero for D7 City Council…

…Except that the Progressive Democratic Club says if you support Bernie you should vote for Ed Harris for Mayor.

Later this week, the San Diego Free Press will publish the Progressive Voter Guide, which will include endorsements. In the meantime, you can view all our articles on the upcoming primary by clicking here.   [Read more…]

City Attorney Candidate Forum and San Diego’s Fault Line

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Land use, wealth and the smart city

The League of Women Voters and community radio station KNSJ hosted a city attorney candidate forum at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in downtown San Diego on Saturday May 14. I had been asked to participate as a media representative on the panel asking questions of the candidates.

The 94 freeway exit that my husband and I took downtown to the event dumps cars on a surface street on the fringe of East Village. We drove through a convulsed urban landscape created by CalTrans engineering, deteriorating Victorian era houses, new apartments and temporarily re-purposed vacant lots. This entry point reflects how San Diego’s decision makers have approached land use and development in the area over many decades and to wildly different effect.

  [Read more…]

The California Way of Poverty

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Last week, I pondered the obscene spectacle of holding a mega-concert catering to the wealthy in the Southern California desert town of Indio where a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. The truth is that events like this that underline the contrast between the heedless luxury of the affluent with the deprivation of the poor are not the exception to the rule, but rather, a basic fact of everyday life in our era of historic economic inequality. It’s just the way we live now.

And in sunny California, San Diego in particular, the poor are accustomed to watching the party from the outside. As a community college professor at City College, I am particularly attuned to the painful realities of economic and racial inequality because I see the costs of poverty on a daily basis in the classroom and in the lives of my students who frequently struggle to balance the hard economics of survival and academic success. Sometimes the choice is between books and groceries or rent; in other instances, it’s between childcare and study time. The list goes on and on.   [Read more…]

Much Ado About Raised Fists

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By Denise Oliver Velez / Daily Kos

Black women have a long and often unrecognized history of serving in our military. But this tempest in a tea party pot is really not about the military, except for the fact that the armed forces are symbolic of our nation’s strength and have traditionally been a male domain and preserve. The criticism is simply part of a historical continuum that attempts to repress any and all expressions of black pride, and our solidarity and success against the odds.   [Read more…]

Looking Back at the Week: May 8-14

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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: the June Primary contests, oligarchy taking a desert trip, our old scumbag still feeling the Bern, implementing a carbon tax, feminism in San Diego, Our Lady Kibeho, roller skating nuns, the struggle of an asylum seeker, oxymoronic affordable housing, the DMV improving voter registration, and lots of other inspiring (and sometimes depressing), grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s friendly, neighborhood, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site.   [Read more…]

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