On Nov. 7, a group of of local business owners and supporters, some estimated at approaching 100, assembled in front of the Barbarella restaurant on Avenida de la Playa to protest San Diego’s Sewage and Water Department’s management of an ongoing project to replace the drain pipes in the street to minimize the flooding on the street during La Jolla’s rainy season. The protestors were not so much opposed to the improvement project as they were the Department’s failure to establish a firm completion date and to meet that date. One of those assembled indicated that they had witnessed construction crew members in bright yellow and orange jackets, staring at their iPhones or just standing around. According to talk among the group, the project has been dragging on for a number of years and each year they are promised a completion. That has not happened and as a result, the protestors, mostly small business owners in the Shores have suffered a loss of business. One business owner estimated their loss at almost 30 percent. Further protests are planned if the city does not act to set a firm completion date and to meet that date.