Here's something you might be interested in.
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Readers attack clandestine marketplces
Lorena Gonzalez drops F bombs
Most rideshare drivers say that the freedom of working as independent contractors who set their own hours is one the work’s biggest attractions. But Assembly Bill 5, which became law on January 1, seeks to force Lyft and Uber to make such drivers employees thereby eliminating their independence.
Unhelpful directions
Hey SD Reader...instead of publishing a city by city directory of where to get sex, drugs, and guns (“San Diego’s illegal marketplaces,” Cover Stories, February 19)...why don’t you do an investigation about what’s being done (or not done) to get rid of this stuff! Your story did nothing to help the situation.
- Michael Scalise
- Kearny Mesa
The price of weed
Good Job. If people in San Diego didn’t know where to buy or sell their Narcotics before, they sure do now. On the outside looking in, I don’t have a problem with Prostitutes (other than prostitution is not regulated) or Pot Smokers (other than it is cloned and regulated by the state) but to advertise where Narcotics can be bought and sold is completely irresponsible. In case you forgot, they’re highly addictive and have and will continue to ruin countless lives. I wonder how many young people decided to try it for the first time because of your article. One is too many. And I doubt people pay $15-20 a Gram for Weed at the foot of Newport when it’s half that price at the Dispensaries
- Noah Godson
- The Universe
Map of Temptation
Why are you putting out this trash? It’s a roadmap for anyone to follow and find. You should be ashamed. There are a lot of people with drug problems and this is not helpful.
- Joe
- Lemon Grove
Plugging depravity
Who’s is paying you for the free advertisement of all things depraved? I was horrified to see the front page of this magazine. Why would you be promoting this crap? These addictions and evils destroy lives, families, our neighborhoods and society, how do we or YOU benefit from this knowledge? If people want to find these clandestine marketplaces, I’m sure they can do it just fine on their own, they don’t need your help. If people are mildly curious, congratulations, you’ve just given them the blueprint for making the worst decision of their lives. I’m hoping that the majority of your readers don’t want/need to know this and are using the magazine for the litter box (like we are now). Disgusted and disappointed
- Deanna Lee
- Chula Vista
Terrible and shocking
I was shocked to read [about] the clandestine market places here around town. It’s terrible, absolutely terrible, and it was eye-opening to the fact how terrible it is. My only concern with the article sir by Mr. Arnold is I am so poor and homeless and living in my car and have been for some months now in the Grand Avenue area, Pacific Beach. I’ve struggled with drug addiction in the past and I have some feelings about this article. I feel like it criminalizes those of us who are out here who are poor who don’t wanna live in the shelter because of the filthiness and the inability of the system to get us what we need. I feel like the the article kind of rings an alarm, you know, of things that aren’t being handled. I wouldn’t even know where to begin you know except for to the abstain from this kind of behavior myself, but I have seen people that do this kinda stuff and how dangerous they are and can be, and it’s frightening. I feel like the only thing the article really did was raise my fear level and that’s my personal opinion, sir.
- Corey Jones
- Pacific Beach
San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez has taken a lot of heat for sponsoring the law which illegalizes much of California’s gig economy.
Lorena’s folly
2020 started with the promise of new possibilities (“Lorena Gonzalez law damages local workers,” City Lights, February 19). I had fresh, new plans for my La Jolla upstart business in arts education. The new year also brought with it divisive new state legislation, Assembly Bill 5, also known as AB5. This “gig worker bill” aims to reclassify millions of independent contractors as employees and to restructure the entire workforce in California. Self-employment is more common in California than anywhere else in America.
It was inconceivable that one piece of legislation meant to protect workers could sweep across the state with the force of a wildfire, destroying most every freelance occupation in its path. In hindsight, my initial reaction to the bill was naive. I trusted that my state government would have my back. Why wouldn’t I? The collateral damage hit me last week. I lost a summer teaching job. The sting of my disappointment prompted me to call the office of Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzales, author of the bill. They hung up on me. Click.
Gonzales is known to drop F Bombs at people who question her about the law. Since when had freelancers become a menace to society? For people who are self employed, your work is not your job, it is who you are. Mandating that people cannot design their own lives feels paralyzing and degrading. Council President Pro Tem, Barbara Bry, candidate for Mayor says, “The new economy is diverse. People don’t work in the same way they used to. They need a legal system that is responsive to our current economy.”
Understanding the legal background of AB5 requires a proficiency in law that laypeople do not have; understanding The Dynamex Decision, interpreting The ABC Test and The Borello Test, expertise in business law, tax codes and countless other areas beyond my scope of knowledge. Apparently that scope of that knowledge also seemed too great for Assemblyman Todd Gloria, co-author of the bill and candidate for Mayor. When I spoke to him about my inability to work, he looked at me bewildered and said “I don’t understand, why you can’t work?”
I joined a social media group known as Freelancers Against AB5. The collective has grown to more than 12,000 members from across the state. The core mission is the full REPEAL of AB5. Group founder, Karen Anderson, has become a modern day folk hero. Her recent podcast is a comprehensive report about the bill and the devastation it has caused. She’s also been archiving Personal stories. Politics make strange bedfellows. The Freelancers group is bi-partisan and members must adhere to community rules of mutual respect in order to stay in the group. In this era of divisiveness and unrest, this has been invaluable and very healing. Yes, we all can get along.
On February 27, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley will initiate a Floor Vote on Assembly Bill 1928, an urgency measure to suspend AB 5 while corrective legislation is under consideration. As we prepare for our upcoming tax deadlines, thousands have been forced to bid farewell to their 1099’s until further notice.
- Elizabeth Tobias
- La Jolla
Here's something you might be interested in.
Readers attack clandestine marketplces
Lorena Gonzalez drops F bombs
Readers attack clandestine marketplces
Lorena Gonzalez drops F bombs
Most rideshare drivers say that the freedom of working as independent contractors who set their own hours is one the work’s biggest attractions. But Assembly Bill 5, which became law on January 1, seeks to force Lyft and Uber to make such drivers employees thereby eliminating their independence.
Unhelpful directions
Hey SD Reader...instead of publishing a city by city directory of where to get sex, drugs, and guns (“San Diego’s illegal marketplaces,” Cover Stories, February 19)...why don’t you do an investigation about what’s being done (or not done) to get rid of this stuff! Your story did nothing to help the situation.
- Michael Scalise
- Kearny Mesa
The price of weed
Good Job. If people in San Diego didn’t know where to buy or sell their Narcotics before, they sure do now. On the outside looking in, I don’t have a problem with Prostitutes (other than prostitution is not regulated) or Pot Smokers (other than it is cloned and regulated by the state) but to advertise where Narcotics can be bought and sold is completely irresponsible. In case you forgot, they’re highly addictive and have and will continue to ruin countless lives. I wonder how many young people decided to try it for the first time because of your article. One is too many. And I doubt people pay $15-20 a Gram for Weed at the foot of Newport when it’s half that price at the Dispensaries
- Noah Godson
- The Universe
Map of Temptation
Why are you putting out this trash? It’s a roadmap for anyone to follow and find. You should be ashamed. There are a lot of people with drug problems and this is not helpful.
- Joe
- Lemon Grove
Plugging depravity
Who’s is paying you for the free advertisement of all things depraved? I was horrified to see the front page of this magazine. Why would you be promoting this crap? These addictions and evils destroy lives, families, our neighborhoods and society, how do we or YOU benefit from this knowledge? If people want to find these clandestine marketplaces, I’m sure they can do it just fine on their own, they don’t need your help. If people are mildly curious, congratulations, you’ve just given them the blueprint for making the worst decision of their lives. I’m hoping that the majority of your readers don’t want/need to know this and are using the magazine for the litter box (like we are now). Disgusted and disappointed
- Deanna Lee
- Chula Vista
Terrible and shocking
I was shocked to read [about] the clandestine market places here around town. It’s terrible, absolutely terrible, and it was eye-opening to the fact how terrible it is. My only concern with the article sir by Mr. Arnold is I am so poor and homeless and living in my car and have been for some months now in the Grand Avenue area, Pacific Beach. I’ve struggled with drug addiction in the past and I have some feelings about this article. I feel like it criminalizes those of us who are out here who are poor who don’t wanna live in the shelter because of the filthiness and the inability of the system to get us what we need. I feel like the the article kind of rings an alarm, you know, of things that aren’t being handled. I wouldn’t even know where to begin you know except for to the abstain from this kind of behavior myself, but I have seen people that do this kinda stuff and how dangerous they are and can be, and it’s frightening. I feel like the only thing the article really did was raise my fear level and that’s my personal opinion, sir.
- Corey Jones
- Pacific Beach
San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez has taken a lot of heat for sponsoring the law which illegalizes much of California’s gig economy.
Lorena’s folly
2020 started with the promise of new possibilities (“Lorena Gonzalez law damages local workers,” City Lights, February 19). I had fresh, new plans for my La Jolla upstart business in arts education. The new year also brought with it divisive new state legislation, Assembly Bill 5, also known as AB5. This “gig worker bill” aims to reclassify millions of independent contractors as employees and to restructure the entire workforce in California. Self-employment is more common in California than anywhere else in America.
It was inconceivable that one piece of legislation meant to protect workers could sweep across the state with the force of a wildfire, destroying most every freelance occupation in its path. In hindsight, my initial reaction to the bill was naive. I trusted that my state government would have my back. Why wouldn’t I? The collateral damage hit me last week. I lost a summer teaching job. The sting of my disappointment prompted me to call the office of Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzales, author of the bill. They hung up on me. Click.
Gonzales is known to drop F Bombs at people who question her about the law. Since when had freelancers become a menace to society? For people who are self employed, your work is not your job, it is who you are. Mandating that people cannot design their own lives feels paralyzing and degrading. Council President Pro Tem, Barbara Bry, candidate for Mayor says, “The new economy is diverse. People don’t work in the same way they used to. They need a legal system that is responsive to our current economy.”
Understanding the legal background of AB5 requires a proficiency in law that laypeople do not have; understanding The Dynamex Decision, interpreting The ABC Test and The Borello Test, expertise in business law, tax codes and countless other areas beyond my scope of knowledge. Apparently that scope of that knowledge also seemed too great for Assemblyman Todd Gloria, co-author of the bill and candidate for Mayor. When I spoke to him about my inability to work, he looked at me bewildered and said “I don’t understand, why you can’t work?”
I joined a social media group known as Freelancers Against AB5. The collective has grown to more than 12,000 members from across the state. The core mission is the full REPEAL of AB5. Group founder, Karen Anderson, has become a modern day folk hero. Her recent podcast is a comprehensive report about the bill and the devastation it has caused. She’s also been archiving Personal stories. Politics make strange bedfellows. The Freelancers group is bi-partisan and members must adhere to community rules of mutual respect in order to stay in the group. In this era of divisiveness and unrest, this has been invaluable and very healing. Yes, we all can get along.
On February 27, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley will initiate a Floor Vote on Assembly Bill 1928, an urgency measure to suspend AB 5 while corrective legislation is under consideration. As we prepare for our upcoming tax deadlines, thousands have been forced to bid farewell to their 1099’s until further notice.
- Elizabeth Tobias
- La Jolla