Grassroots and Progressive views on local, national and world news

A Statue in Absentia

by Ernie McCray on October 20, 2020 · 0 comments

in Civil Rights, History, San Diego

by Ernie McCray

Pete Wilson’s statue near Horton Plaza was removed and I feel a little more at ease with my world.

I mean, for a long time, I’ve been tired of looking at his likeness when I’d be out and about downtown to eat or catch a play, or to just stroll and enjoy a beautiful San Diego day.

Every time I came upon that image of him, standing bronzed, smiling, with his hands in his pockets, like he’s your friend, I’d think back on a day in the mid-70’s when he told me “Make yourself in absentia, Mr. McCray” – after I had laid something out I thought he and his City Council should and could do something about.

His response kind of cracked me up, at first, because I had never been dismissed in Latin, but I was deeply disturbed because the mayor asked me to leave just after I had copped a plea for human decency.

I wanted our city to join a movement back then that involved taking a stand against South Africa’s institutionalized racist apartheid system of segregation by divesting from corporations doing business there.

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‘We Need Parks, Not High-Rise Housing — Vote ‘No’ on Measure E’

by Source on October 20, 2020 · 0 comments

in Election, Ocean Beach

By John McNab / Times of San Diego / October 16, 2020

Record heat has punished San Diego over the last three months. Coastal beaches and parks have been overwhelmed. By 8:30 a.m. on weekends, beach parking lots are full and access roads clogged. The need for more, not less, coastal parks has never been more apparent. The one perfect spot for such a park is the Midway-Sports Arena-Marine Corps Recruit Depot-NAVWAR district.

This district, sitting in the coastal zone between two bays, is the historic outfall of the San Diego River. Even today, river water runs under the land into San Diego Bay. The year-round climate is as good as anywhere in the world for outdoor sports and recreation.

This is the opportunity to create a River Trail Park extending from San Diego Bay up to the Sports Arena, with a spur to the Old Town Transit Hub. This takes outdoor adventures on our coast to another level. The spur to Old Town does what no city plan has ever imagined — creating a small water craft channel flanked by bike, skating, and walking paths from a transit hub to the beach.

From there, a journey can lead downstream into San Diego Bay or upstream to a terminal at Sports Arena. A pedestrian bridge or tunnel can connect to Mission Bay.

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Peninsula Planning Meeting: Bry Opposed to Campbell’s Proposal on Short-Term Rentals

by Staff on October 20, 2020 · 4 comments

in Ocean Beach

By Geoff Page

The regular monthly Peninsula Community Planning Board meeting October 15 had its highs and, as usual, its lows. The on-line meeting was held last Thursday at 6:00 p.m.

First, the highlights. The lowlight will be left to the end.

Barbara Bry

Councilmember Bry made an appearance as a council representative, not as the mayoral candidate. Bry was careful to make this distinction and declined to comment on any of the political races. She was there to give her opinion on short-term vacation rentals (STVRs) and Point Loma’s councilperson’s proposal. In a nutshell, Bry stated that the law needs to be enforced, STVRs are not legal.

Bry opposed what Jennifer Campbell is pushing, an agreement between a private travel industry giant and the local hotel workers union. Bry said the illegal vacation rental stock needs to be returned to regular housing, especially considering the current housing shortage. Bry said there were 16,000 STVRs in the city, the same figure that Campbell also used. Bry said those 16,000 units would go a long way toward relieving the housing shortage.

Bry also explained that the housing shortage numbers being used to push the housing initiatives are flawed. The state has said San Diego needs 172,000 new units. A study by the Embarcadero Institute said the accurate figure would be 112,000.

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‘No on E’ Video

by Source on October 19, 2020 · 11 comments

in Election, Ocean Beach

Decades in the making, the attempt to make an “exception” to the 30 foot height restriction in the Sports Arena area, Proposition E is a very real and direct threat to the California Coastal Preservation Act of 1972 and all of California’s Coast. Make no mistake about that!

There is a lot at stake with Proposition E. This informational video will educate San Diegans about the relationships between housing policy makers and campaign contributions that continuously accelerate the homeless catastrophes that our communities are being forced to tolerate and endure throughout our state.

These heavily subsidized mega sprawling high density luxury apartments flush the rental housing market with unsustainable high end rents that are accelerating further displacement of thousands of Californians on the 31st of every month.

Come inside to view video

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Bry and Gloria on Sports Arena Development and Measure E

by Frank Gormlie on October 19, 2020 · 4 comments

in Election, Ocean Beach, San Diego

Mayoral candidates Barbara Bry and Todd Gloria were interviewed via email by the San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board, and their responses were published in today’s U-T, Monday, Oct. 19.

Here are Bry’s and Gloria’s responses to the question about the Sports Arena redevelopment and Measure E.

The question asked of both candidates was this:

Q: Will —and how will—you accept and evaluate Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s proposal to redevelop the sports arena site?

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Are We Ready for a Biodegradable Water Bottle?

October 19, 2020 by Source

By Ronald D. White / Los Angeles Times / Oct 6, 2020

Does the world really need another brand of bottled water?

Alex Totterman believes it does, if the packaging is completely odegradable.

And his Culver City, Calif., start-up has the backing of some environmentally woke celebrities and business leaders, including actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Salesforce Chief Executive Marc Benioff and former News Corp. executive James Murdoch, who has invested a tiny but undisclosed portion of the approximately $2 billion he netted when his family sold most of 21st Century Fox to the Walt Disney Co.

Cove’s new water bottle, which is scheduled to get a small pilot launch in December and hit store shelves more broadly in January, is the first to be made entirely from biodegradable materials, the company contends, including the bottle cap, label and adhesive.

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OB Resister Sisters Strike Again

October 19, 2020 by Source

Looks like the OB Resister Sisters have struck again.

So I Went to the Chump Protest in Orange County …

October 19, 2020 by Source

By Green Asteroid / Daily Kos / October 18, 2020

And we found a place on one side of the bridge that goes over Newport Harbor and takes you onto the Newport Peninsula.

Little did I know that it would be a major wildlife crossing for that most dangerous of animals — the Trump fanatic — for over two hours as they made their way toward Lido Isle.

So what kind of species behaviors did we see? I’ll tell you.

The toxic male — One guy for no reason starts spouting off expletives like they’re going out of style, yelling at us, while mothers with strollers walked behind him. Another guy kept video recording us closer than 3 feet at times, walking the line like we’re some specimen of human he had never encountered before, again using expletives this time directed at Biden. BTW, at this point we were doing nothing but holding signs that were fairly tame in nature. Political more than personal. Next time he tried this one of the younger, burlier guys on our side used his mini-bullhorn and starts a “Two more weeks!” chant and followed him until he went away. This kind of menacing, direct harassment ended when younger, bigger dudes on our side arrived.

Is the American Right Winning the Long War With Amy Coney Barrett?

October 19, 2020 by Jim Miller

Charles Koch’s Big Bet on Barrett Despite GOP’s Potential Big Loss in 2020 Electoral Battle

By Jim Miller

With all the ink spilled and word hoards unleashed on Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination, perhaps the only person who really clarified the big picture significance of her likely confirmation was Christopher Leonard, the author of Kochland, who put Barrett’s nomination in the context of the billionaire Right’s long war against democracy. In his New York Times column, “Charles Koch’s Big Bet on Barrett,” he explains how:

Since the early 1970s, Mr. Koch has sought to dismantle most federal regulatory institutions, and the federal courts have been central to that battle. In 1974, Mr. Koch gave a blistering speech to a libertarian think tank, called the Institute for Humane Studies, in which he outlined his vision of the American regulatory state, and the strategy he would employ over the ensuing decades to realize that vision.

Ocean Beach News – Mid-October 2020

October 16, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

“Citizens Patrol” Formed to Control Homeless in Ocean Beach

A so-called “Citizens Patrol” has been formed in Ocean Beach to ostensibly control the homeless, who they contend are out of control. They say it’s worse than ever. …They did not deny they were vigilantes.

House Fire on Niagara

California research institute files application for yellowtail tuna fish farm

Positive COVID Cases Grow at Point Loma Nazarene

Bassist Benjamin Wanicur Revives San Diego’s Underground at Robb Field – With Masks, of Course

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The Over-Hype of Students’ Learning Loss Due to COVID

October 16, 2020 by Source

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican / October 15, 2020

Warnings about learning losses due to the pandemic dominate education media; especially the media created and financed by billionaires. Based on a briefing by NWEA, McKinsey & Company claims “the average K–12 student in the United States could lose $61,000 to $82,000 in lifetime earnings (in constant 2020 dollars) … solely as a result of COVID-19–related learning losses.” The Hoover Institute’s CREDO warns “the findings are chilling.”

One of my favorite education bloggers, Nancy Flanagan, says it well,

“Test-data estimates, alarmist language and shady research do nothing to help us with the most critical problem we have right now: keeping kids connected to their schoolwork and their teachers. However that’s offered and as imperfect as it may be.”

A Dozen Cases of Coronavirus at Point Loma Nazarene University

October 15, 2020 by Source

Times of Media / October 15, 2020

A dozen Point Loma Nazarene University students tested positive for COVID-19 this week and 50 others were identified as “close contacts,” people who were within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes, school officials said Wednesday.

The surge raised the total number of active cases among students to 19 — five of whom are living off-campus. PLNU also says 66 students are in quarantine or isolation.

As of Wednesday, the university was awaiting test results on 98 students.

How to Handle Customers Who Refuse to Wear a Mask

October 15, 2020 by Staff

Straight-up With a Twist

By Edwin Decker

Dear Ed,

As a manager of a [501(c)(3)] non-profit organization, I am frequently confronted about us enforcing our state’s mask mandate. We will refuse access to our building to anyone if they will not wear a mask. . . I have been called names, screamed at, and even threatened. My question is how as the manager can I politely tell them to fuck off?

Sincerely, Barbara Curry
Cherryville, NC

Thanks for the question Barbara. Even though I have never been in a position to enforce a mask mandate, I have seen many-a YouTube video featuring customers throwing anti-mask tantrums so I do have an idea about what you, and others, are going through.

Now, I’m not going to get into the controversy over mask-wearing itself – whether it is unconstitutional for the government to mandate them, or if the COVID risk has been exaggerated or even if the pandemic is a straight-up hoax concocted by our alien overlords – because none of this matters when it comes to private organizations such as yours. Every privately-owned business, including a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has the right to refuse service

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41 States Where COVID-19 Cases Are Rising

October 14, 2020 by Source

Healthline

Reuters reports there are 41 states where new COVID-19 cases have increased the past week. That’s up from 33 the previous week. And by the looks of it, the country could be heading into a “third wave” or surge.

It’s the October surge of new COVID-19 cases – as businesses and colleges reopen and as people gather at political rallies and other events. The higher numbers are being driven by a surge in parts of the Upper Midwest and Rocky Mountain region.

The New York Times reports the daily average of new cases in the United States this past week topped 50,000, a 19 percent increase from the average 2 weeks ago.

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Meet the Newest Residents of Sunset Cliffs

October 14, 2020 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They heard it was a great place to vacation – food is plentiful; many different kinds available, although they might have to look for it under mounds of trash being deposited by other vacationers, residents, dog walkers, etc., but it a great place to raise their children, and their children’s children.

Sometimes it is pizza, sometimes it is hamburger, sometimes it is even dog food or food that has been left for the birds. Sometimes the bounty is so good that they can survive for days.

And how does all this wonderful food come to Sunset Cliffs? To paraphrase Elizabeth Barrett Browning – “let me count the ways.” There are tourists that come to the Cliffs to watch the sunset and leave their trash behind. There are locals

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OB Public Service Announcement: Drop Off Your Ballot at the OB Library Lawn

October 13, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

Thank you Friends of the OB Library

OB Rag’s Progressive City, County and State Ballot Recommendations for November 2020

October 5, 2020 by Staff

Here are the OB Rag 2020 Election recommendations. Basically, we took Doug Porter’s recommendations – which we generally agree with – but reversed three of his recommendations. We recommend a “No” on Measure E which would erase the 30 foot height limit in the Midway District. We recommend Barbara Bry for Mayor and in the toss-up for City Attorney for San Diego, we recommend incumbent Mara Elliott. But thanks to Doug, who did a lot of research work, most of the other candidates and proposals we agree with are also outlined below.

San Diego Ballot Measures

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October 2020 Events From the Ocean Beach Green Center

October 2, 2020 by Source

From the Ocean Beach Green Center,
4862 Voltaire Street,
Ocean Beach 92107
oceanbeachgreencenter@gmail.com
619-613 5616

Events – All events are online and free unless stated otherwise.

Every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Climate Mobilization Coalition Zoom Meeting. October 3rd, 10th,17th 24th and 31st.

Mondays 9:30 pm – 12:30 pm Volunteering at Wild Willow Farm

COME INSIDE FOR ALL DETAILS

Granny Flats Unhinged

October 14, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

On Tuesday, granny flats in San Diego became unhinged. They will no longer require any parking – none, zilch, nada, nunca.

Up to now, granny flats – or “accessory dwelling units” as San Diego calls them – were required to have one parking space per unit. Unless it is smaller than 500 square feet, in a historical area, within a residential parking district, or the granny flat is near a transit line or ride-sharing station.

The San Diego City Council Tuesday unanimously approved the new rules as part of a package of reforms to boost housing construction. Another new regulation allows property owners to construct extra – or “bonus” – granny flats if they agree to rent restrictions on at least one of them. For granny flats within a half-mile of an existing or planned transit line, the number of bonus units is unlimited. For granny flats not near transit lines, a maximum of one bonus unit is allowed.

Granny flats are popular these days. Over the last couple of years, many have been approved, for instance, by the Ocean Beach Planning Board.

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San Diego Deserves a Real Mayoral Debate: KPBS Should Make it Happen

October 14, 2020 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

The current Mayoral election will determine more than just a winner. It will determine the post-pandemic future of this City.

Having “remote” virtual forums is not enough. Having massive, expensive, often deceitful mailings is not enough. And Having no way to view the character of the two challengers (alongside each other) is definitely not enough.

Yes. Character.

That is the most important trait in any leader. And San Diego is about to choose a leader for the 68h largest city in the nation; with 1. 4 million residents.

How can we judge their character unless it is under pressure? Easy to be clever and even appear honest when not challenged. Easier still to hide behind anonymous political action committees who commit falsehoods on a candidate’s behalf.

Pray for Trump?

October 14, 2020 by Ernie McCray

Pray for Trump?

by Ernie McCray

There are folks praying
for the president
to get well
and I can only exclaim,
“What the hell?”
considering that
when I got word that
that he had covid
after he has recklessly
in line with his modus operandi
laughed at it
and scoffed at it
and lied about it,

Who Gets the Last Laugh? It’s Time to Decide on the San Diego Mayor

October 14, 2020 by Source

By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner / October 13, 2020

Well, what do. you know? The Union Tribune announced that Todd Gloria is their choice for mayor. No surprise here!

San Diego’s growth machine—the entrenched coalition of influential players who profit handsomely from urban growth and development (our banks, hotels, convention center, newspapers, shopping centers, sports stadiums, building trades unions, realtor associations, builders and developers)–continues to exercise outsized control over local political decisions.

The U-T acknowledges that Barbara Bry would be a superior mayor/manager of San Diego at a time when we are in desperate need of professional and ethical management.

But… Barbara Bry is not a member of San Diego’s old-boy network. And Todd Gloria is.

He’s a tried and true pinch hitter, adept at scoring the deals and policies that typically enrich our city’s lobbyists, campaign donors, unions, and business elites–usually at public expense.

Love or Hate: The Daisies, Eucalyptus, and Native Plants of Sunset Cliffs – It’s All History!

October 13, 2020 by Staff

By Kathy Blavatt

What do you think of when you think of Sunset Cliffs Natural Park: Daisies, Native Plants, and Eucalyptus Trees?

As I was writing San Diego’s Sunset Cliffs: A History, over the last couple of years, I was surprised that the number one thing people were most passionate about was the park’s plants.

Just telling people I was writing a book about Sunset Cliffs Park’s history seemed to be a trigger to many people when it came to the park’s plants. The impassioned comments I received included: “Why are they taking out the daisies?” “Why did they cut down the eucalyptus trees?” and “The park should be native plants!”

Sunset Cliffs Park and the surrounding community have a unique and extraordinary history of horticulture, landscape, the development of food crops, and the propagation of plants that grow in coastal zones.

A Review of ‘San Diego’s Sunset Cliffs Park, a History’

October 13, 2020 by Staff

by Bob Edwards

This month has seen the publication of a wonderful new book, San Diego’s Sunset Cliffs Park, A History. Published by The History Press, the book tells the complex and interesting history of Sunset Cliffs Park.

Written by Kathy Blavatt, local author, historian, photographer and garden columnist for the OB Rag, the book provides a detailed history of the park and includes dozens of photos, many from the author’s private collection, complemented by additional pictures from the OB Historical Society and family photos from local residents.

The book includes a chapter on the park’s animals, marine life, and habitat. Other chapters discuss the prehistory of the Point Loma Peninsula, the changes once Europeans arrived, and the string of events that followed

Prop E Is Part of ‘the Battle to Save Our San Diego Coast’

October 12, 2020 by Source

The folks at Save Our Access have published an online booklet which advocates a “No” on Proposition E – the measure that would eliminate the 30-foot height limit in the Midway District.

We’ve republished some of the pages here.

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OB’s Apple Tree Market Making Way for Krisp

October 12, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

The saga of OB’s Apple Tree Market has entered a new chapter. After more than 3 decades in Ocean Beach, it will be replaced with Krisp Beverages + Natural Foods.

Owner Saad Hirmez and his family turned over its operations to Krisp managment in mid-August and the new owners are slowly making changes. They plan to rebrand the 9,800 square foot building in the upcoming months. The new owners include Sadeer Mikhail, Evans Salem and Omar Mikhail, and the OB location will be their third for Krisp, which currently has stores in Golden Hill and San Diego’s East Village.

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The Halloween Special – The Final Season of the Trump Show

October 12, 2020 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

Afraid of ghosts and goblins? Can’t take the kids trick or treating? But, you can host a party?

Choose one of Trump’s and friends’ costumes for this Halloween. They are going fast. And more fun than apples or carrots.

Here are some suggestions still in stock.

How about a President, just out of the hospital, recovering from COIVD-19 infection, loaded with an almost combustible mix of drugs; (steroids and antibodies) hosting yet another Rose Garden event while orating from the White House balcony (ala’ Evita Peron)?

This after more than three dozen close White House aides, advisors, generals, and supporters have tested positive.

A completely authentic costume requires a mask that can be torn away quickly and dramatically. And tripod mounted video cameras to catch the salutes and waves.

Behind the Ad Wars: Why You Should Ignore the Fear Mongering and Vote Yes on Proposition 15

October 12, 2020 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

By now you’ve seen them all: the litany of ads and mailers against Proposition 15 featuring worried small business owners, angst-filled barbers, and other advocates for hire trying to scare you that Proposition 15 is aimed at small businesses. You’ve even seen a handful of craven local politicians parroting corporate talking points and throwing their communities under the bus in an effort to court the Chamber of Commerce set during campaign season by opposing a measure that would bring billions of dollars into education and vital social services.

What does Proposition 15 actually do? It will require that commercial property valued at more than $3 million be reassessed at fair market value every three years.

This closes a loophole that large corporations have used for decades to avoid paying their fair share of property taxes.
The richest 10% of corporate properties will provide 92% of the revenue.
Prop 15 specifically exempts all residential properties and agricultural land, maintaining full Prop 13 protections for homeowners, renters, and agriculture.

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Planning Commission Sends Campbell’s Short-Term Rental Proposal Back to Staff for Details

October 9, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

After more than a 3 hour hearing on Jen Campbell’s proposal for short-term vacation rentals, the San Diego Planning Commission Thursday, Oct. 8, decided to send it back to city staff to address mostly technical issues of how the regulations would be administered and enforced. Another hearing date before the Commission has been set for Thursday, Dec. 3.

But from the comments of the Commissioners, once tweaked, they very well could approve the proposal that Campbell engineered with the billionaire-dollar rental platform, Expedia, along with Unite HERE Local 30, the union that represents hotel workers.

The proposal could very well be approved despite the criticism from community groups in the coastal areas of District 2 – Jen Campbell’s district – that they were not genuinely consulted.

Report on OB Planning Meeting: Dog Beach Fencing, Parking Lot Limits, Del Monte Overlook, Ebers St. Park, Nimitz & W.Pt.Loma

October 9, 2020 by Staff

By Geoff Page

The Ocean Beach Planning Board on-line meeting Wednesday, October 7, did not have any OB projects to discuss but did have five interesting action items for the community.

Fencing at Dog Beach

The first one they covered was the following, taken directly from the agenda:

“Action Item #1: Ocean Beach Estuary Enhancement Project – The board will review a proposal from Parks and Rec. to improve the fencing of the estuary at the end of Dog Beach.”

The discussion that followed did not match the agenda description.

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News From OB Friends of the Library – October 2020

October 9, 2020 by Source

Here is the 5 page monthly newsletter from the Ocean Beach Friends of the Library for October 2020.