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A Big Blue Wave Is Building In San Diego | Progressive Activist Calendar August 24 – September 3, 2018

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The stretch run for general elections is supposed to start after Labor Day. At least that’s the way it used to be. Activists countywide aren’t waiting for Septemeber this year. Instead, they’re canvassing, phone-banking, and organizing at a level I’ve never seen before. My first campaign volunteer work was for Senator Eugene McCarthy’s 1968 presidential run, and while I’ve taken a year off now and then, suffice it to say I’ve seen a few elections. This one is special.

There are 17 events for progressive-leaning candidates (that I’m aware of) that are directly campaign-related in this week’s calendar. Best of all, there’s a healthy mix of bigger and lesser name candidates: Monica Montgomery (SD City Council D4),  Dr. Akilah Weber (La Mesa City Council), Dr. Jen Campbell (SD City Council D2), Ammar Campa-Najjar (50th Congressional District), Consuelo Martinez (Escondido City Council D1), Tommy Hough (SD City Council D6), Nathan Fletcher (County Supervisor D4), Mike Levin (49th Congressional District), Alan Geraci (State Assembly 75th), Michelle Gomez (County Supervisor D5), Jeff Griffith (State Senate 38th), Tazheen Nizam (Vista City Council D4), and James Elia (State Assembly 71st). Do check out these candidates at the links embedded in their listings.

Lest we become solely focused on electoral politics, there are three activist events that jump out at me as especially important. The UNITE for Justice rally (Sunday, August 26) to protest the runaway train that is Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court,  the National City Council Meeting (September 4) provides yet another opportunity to keep the pressure up over the death of Earl McNeil at the hands of police, and the September 8th Rise for Climate Action rally at the Civic Center (September 8) is a necessary reminder of the incredible damage the Trump administration is doing to the environment.

Let’s do this thing, folks! The persistence of our resistance is starting to pay off.   [Read more…]

After the Day San Diego’s Establishment Shattered; Lessons to Be Learned and a Way Forward

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By Cory Briggs

Something really good for San Diegans happened last Thursday: The rabid, asinine pursuit of a convention center expansion on the waterfront hit a concrete wall at 100 miles per hour.  But that wasn’t the best part about Kevin Faulconer’s last-minute effort to put a “citizens’ initiative” on the November 2018 ballot after an “unprecedented coalition” failed in its “Herculean effort” to gather enough signatures to clear the mark. 

For San Diegans, the best thing that could have happened was for The Establishment – the usual special-interest suspects on the right and the left who run City Hall – to break into a thousand tiny pieces.  That is indeed what happened.  Hallelujah!

I’m sure that my Twitter feed and e-mail inbox will start blowing up as soon as people read that last paragraph, if not before they finish this one.  I’m going to be accused of being anti-worker because, as those who had front-row seats to The Establishment’s demise last week know, some of the biggest names in San Diego’s labor movement were part of the “unprecedented coalition” that crashed and burned.  Many of them I consider good friends; outside City Hall, if I needed the shirts off their backs, they’d give them to me without hesitation (and vice-versa).   [Read more…]

Truth and Justice in San Diego Takes Second Place in Quest for Police Oversight

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Two recent episodes give proof to my belief that the Police Department is the most powerful government agency in San Diego with the least amount of taxpayer oversight.

This is nothing new. America’s Finest City has gone through decades of scandal and corruption being followed by hollow promises of reform. The point I’m making today is that things still haven’t changed, despite two changes of leadership, lawsuits, and political posturing.

What makes these political games more serious than say, the machinations around Civic San Diego, are the practical implications and applications for those with less privilege (and more melatonin) as they live their lives.   [Read more…]

San Diego Needs a Citizen Commission on Refugee and Immigrant Affairs

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By Rebecca Paida

The saying goes, if you are not at the table, you are on the menu! This statement suggests that advocacy by supporters is essential but that lived experiences also matter. If people with first-hand experiences of a particular phenomenon are not part of decision making processes, then they will likely get left out. For many underrepresented and under-served populations, including refugees and immigrants in the San Diego region, this is a reality that they must confront. While some residents actively participate in civic discourse at the community level, that is the extent of their contributions. This is in part because they have little or no opportunities to affect policies at the City level and beyond, due to a lack of inclusion.

  [Read more…]

Text of Senator Kamala Harris’ Speech Outside Core Civic Otay Mesa Detention Center

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Following is a speech given by U.S. Senator Kamala Harris on Friday.

So let’s shout for the children and families. Let’s shout for them. So, first of all, I want to thank everyone for coming out and for all the work that everyone has been doing to give voice to these families, to these children, and to this issue.

I was just in there, I got a tour of that detention facility and then I sat down and spoke for some time and visited with the mothers who are there. And my heart is broken. These mothers, these mothers have given testimony, if you will, have given the stories, have shared their stories, their personal stories that are a story of a human rights abuse being committed by the United States government.

And we are so much better than this and what we have got to do is fight against this. This is contrary to all of the principles that we hold dear and that give us a sense of who we are when we are proud to be Americans, but we have no reason to be proud of this. We have no reason to be proud of this.

This is a situation where the United States government and this administration brought upon itself and the reputation of the American public, brought upon us, without a request, shame. Shame.

  [Read more…]

San Diego Protests Are Still On: Trump’s Immigration Action Just Makes Things Worse

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This article has three parts, a simple explanation of what’s coming up from the government, a listing of San Diego responses to Trump’s immigration policies over the next 10 days, and an analysis of what’s likely going to happen on the legal and political fronts in the coming days.

I cobbled these sections together from other people’s work to make the situation more understandable for our readers.

You need to know the only things changed today were the details. Your voice is needed more than ever to stop these abominations.   [Read more…]

Pelosi to Visit San Diego as DC Ratchets Up the Racism

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As the administration’s war on immigrants and brown people reached new lows, it was announced that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will visit San Diego next week, with a delegation of 15 Democrats organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Things are looking bad, really bad, right now. Just about every part of the government is actively working hard to inflict cruel and unusual punishment on human beings who happen to lack identity papers.

We can only hope Pelosi’s trip to the border region will generate enough awareness to stimulate opposition to government actions that should be seen as violating international law and basic moral conduct.   [Read more…]

Tina Real: San Diego Talent Agency Trailblazer

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When Tina Real opened Tina Real Talent Agency in 1972 the successful San Diego businesswoman drew upon her experiences and contacts as a John Robert Powers model and employee of John Alessio at the Agua Caliente Racetrack. She also continued the legacy of strong independent women established by her mother Priscilla Yanez and maternal grandmother Mercedes Murgia Morales. Tina’s path to this success was not always easy, but she persisted.   [Read more…]

Santa Fe High Shooting Makes It 22 This Year [So Far] – Progressive Activist Calendar, May 18 – 31, 2018

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The latest victims of America’s gun madness are students at Santa Fe High School, about 30 miles outside of Houston, Texas. As I’m writing this, the death count is at ten, with more at local hospitals being treated for injuries. 

The shooter, who is in custody, was found with an AR-15 style rifle, a pistol, a shotgun, and pipe bombs.
 

Today’s outrage raises the count to twenty-two school shooting events in 2018. Ten of these have happened since the February massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Today’s outrage happened just one week after NRA President (and felon) Oliver North called the Parkland kids terrorists, and two weeks after Donald Trump and Mike Pence were shilling at the NRA convention and inciting violence.   [Read more…]

SanDiego350 Educates Southwest High School Students on Urgency of Climate Action

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SanDiego350’s Presentation Team has been busy spreading the word about climate change throughout communities in the San Diego area. Team volunteers Beverly Harju, Ron Schneider, and Nancy Cottingham spent April 11 with students in Michelle Roberts’ Biology classes at Southwest High School. Michelle is a SanDiego350 member and is dedicated to teaching the next generation about the serious issues facing our planet and the concrete steps they can take toward building solutions.   [Read more…]

When We Vote, We Win. Will We Vote in San Diego?

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Over one million registered voters in San Diego County can be expected not to vote in the upcoming election. To be precise, the number of ‘not voters’–if turnout is similar to 2014–will be 1,240,981.

According to the Public Policy Institute of California, voter turnout in the June 2014 primary was a mere 25% of those who registered. This number is even lower than the national average, which was only 36% of eligible voters actually voting.

Looking at the expected number of voters for San Diego compared to those are eligible to vote is even more depressing: 1,800,933 people will not cast a ballot.   [Read more…]

Will District 2 Voters Give Republican Lorie Zapf a Third Term? San Diego City Council District 2 Snapshot

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The San Diego City Council is moving to close a term limits loophole allowing incumbent District 2 Councilwoman Lorie Zapf to run for a third term in the upcoming elections.  Current law allows sitting council representatives to reset the clock on term limits when their districts shift due to redistricting.

The Council’s Rules Committee voted lasted week to have the City Attorney draw up a charter amendment closing the loophole for consideration by voters in the November elections. If approved, it would take effect in 2020.

Councilwoman Lorie Zapf would not be eligible for a third consecutive four-year council term if the proposed change was already in place. It’s been more than 25 years since an incumbent councilperson has lost an election in San Diego.   [Read more…]

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