C I T Y L I G H T S


Streets crumble


continued from page 3


roads were safe. “I hate to state the obvi-


ous, but this is completely avoidable — both the dan- gerous road conditions that harm bicycle riders, pedes- trians, and drivers, along with the settlements the city has to keep making,” says Ollinger. To address the increased


number of complaints, a spokesperson for the city says the city has increased the number of repair crews from eight two-person crews to ten crews per day. “We don’t know at this


time what [budgetary] changes, if any, will need to be made as a direct response to 2017’s bold increase in precipitation,” city spokes- person Anthony Santac- roce wrote in a February 6 email.


■


NEWS TICKER continued from page 2


crowd gathered in front of the county administration building. “We come as Amer- icans in every hue from every country as one in the values we believe in.” Imam Taha Hassane of


the Islamic Center of San Diego, protesting a presiden- tial travel ban against seven predominantly Muslim coun- tries that has successfully been challenged in court, said that “Muslims have been here since the begin- ning of this nation.” “My story is simple,”


Hassane said. “I’m just an immigrant who fell in love with America.” The crowd, which rally


leaders said numbered between 5000 to 10,000 (police estimated partici- pation closer to 4000), marched down Harbor Drive and up Broadway, waving signs and shouting chants such as, “Hey Trump, hey Pence, we’ll tear down your fence!” The march ended in front of the federal buildings downtown, where speeches continued as the crowd


C I T Y L I G H T S


began to dwindle in the early afternoon. Rally organizer Indivisible


San Diego — connected to a larger movement likened by supporters to Tea Party activists and described by Trump press secretary Sean Spicer as “a very paid, Astro- turf-type movement” — says they plan to continue agitat- ing to oppose the policies of the new administration. Dave Rice


Dalai Lama causes a stir at UCSD Chinese students don’t want him as commencement speaker According to the publication Inside Higher Ed, Chinese students at the University of California/San Diego are complaining that the uni- versity is having the Dalai Lama as this year’s com- mencement speaker. Lhamo Dondrub (the Dalai Lama) is an exiled Tibetan spiritual leader who is persona non grata in China, despite his 1989 Nobel Peace Prize and the worldwide respect he has gained. Some Chinese students


“have condemned the choice of commencement speaker as culturally disrespectful,” says the publication. Chi- nese students call him “a separatist leader intent on dividing their home country.” On February 7, student


Ruixuan Wang wrote in UCSD’s Guardian, “Our fam- ily members are coming all the way from China, flying for more than 10 hours to celebrate with us. The Dalai Lama, as a political icon, is viewed differently in our country.” But other students


reacted negatively to Wang and the protests by other Chinese students. “The Chinese students [who are protesting] are acting on behalf of a clearly fascist, violent communist regime,” said one in comments follow- ing Wang’s article. “Go back to China


and experience your free- dom of choice there,” wrote ImamAzol.


C I T Y L I G H T S A less articulate person,


calling himself Joe Schmoe, remarked, “F..k off, you Com- mie scum.”


Don Bauder


House of Lebanon a victim of prejudice? House of Pacific Relations accused of discrimination The House of Pacific Relations International Cottages in Balboa Park says it is a “near utopian multicul- tural organization” that was launched in the 1930s “to create a spirit of understand- ing, tolerance, and goodwill” among various national and ethnic groups. The House of Lebanon,


a longtime member, says it isn’t so. For many years, sev- eral members of the House of Pacific Relations have sought to build additional cottages. They include the House of Lebanon, House of Mexico, House of India, and several others. In November, House of Lebanon filed a suit in superior court claim- ing that New International Cottages, an affiliate of the House of Pacific Relations, was refusing to recognize the House of Lebanon’s inter- est in the project. In December, the City of


San Diego, one of the defen- dants, denied every claim by the House of Lebanon. On February 7, House


of Lebanon stepped up the action: it claimed it is a victim of discrimination — a bombshell for the House of Pacific Relations Inter- national Cottages, which boasts of its educational mission of promoting under- standing among nations and cultures. Since this involved federal laws, the case was moved to federal court. The House of Pacific


Relations International Cot- tages “demonstrated their animus and discriminations toward House of Lebanon,” said the suit. The alleged discrimination was “due to the Lebanese national origin of the members of the House of Lebanon,” said the suit, specifically citing that its


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president, Camil Saab, was a victim. In an interview, Saab said


he believes that the other houses single out him as a problem. It could be his religious affiliations or his background, he said. He wondered if the House of Palestine may be involved in the alleged animus, but he had no specific information on that possibility. Douglas Jaffe, the lawyer


for the House of Lebanon, said the groups wanting to build more cottages “want to put a different house in there — not these Lebanese people,” says Jaffe. “They wouldn’t even shake their hands, and told them they didn’t want them part of the project.” I asked Jaffe if this


alleged discrimination was a result of the sectarian strife in Lebanon. He said it was “anti-Lebanon prejudice.” He would not specifically say


this is anti-Muslim prejudice, perhaps because House of Turkey is one of the defen- dants. (Turkey is overwhelm- ingly Muslim.)


Don Bauder


Under the radar


continued from page 3


Qualcomm Stadium with a soccer venue and high-end commercial and housing development is turn- ing into a full-employment proj- ect for the city’s corps of influence peddlers. Latest to join the fray is H.G. Fenton, the family-owned Mission Valley real estate giant that seeks to “monitor and provide input” on the deal, per a Febru- ary 14 lobbyist disclosure filing with the city clerk. Fenton execu- tives John La Raia and Michael P. Neal have both been out rais- ing campaign cash for GOP city councilman Scott Sherman, the document says. Yet another lob- bying shop joining the prospective land rush on behalf of FS Inves-


C I T Y L I G H T S


tors is California Strategies, the Sacramento-based firm founded by former Pete Wilson aide Bob White. A January 13 disclosure report says the company, popu- larly known as Cal Strats, is lob- bying for “entitlement and repur- posing of Qualcomm Stadium site and former Charger practice facility in Mission Valley for a mixed-use stadium development project.” The firm’s Craig Bene- detto and Ben Haddad have both conducted fundraising efforts for mayor Kevin Faulconer and city councilmen Mark Kersey, Scott Sherman, and Chris Ward, the filing shows. FS has also retained the lobbying services of the law firm of Latham & Watkins, as revealed by a January 19 disclo- sure report.


— Matt Potter (@sdmattpotter)


The Reader offers $25 for news tips published in this column. Call our voice mail at 619-235- 3000, ext. 440, or sandiegoreader. com/staff/matt-potter/contact/.


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