Month: September 2015

By Frank Gormlie

To outsiders, Mission Valley at times feels like it’s in its own intense universe. Other times, it seems like San Diego’s own “black hole”- once you enter Mission Valley, you immediately get swept into its traffic craziness and gird-lock.

But what happens in Mission Valley deeply affects the rest of San Diego, especially the coastal areas directly to the west – like Ocean Beach, the Peninsula, Mission Beach, PB – but also other nearby communities such as Clairemont and Grantville. Because of this close proximity these other communities are impacted by both the increases in population and density in Mission Valley and – due to the lack of infrastructure in the valley – are also impacted by strains on their infrastructure.

Because of these – let’s call them – interconnections – …

Members of the Ocean Beach Town Council just elected four brand new board members and returned another four to the board.

Eight seats were open and there were 11 candidates. Eligible OBTC members voted over a month’s time and for 8 candidates. On September 18th, the results of the election were made public, having been certified by the council’s election committee. It was an unusual situation, the OB Rag was told, as during most of the annual OBTC elections, there is no competition for the seats – as there was this time.

The brand new board members are Kameron Coleman, Keith Fink, Mel Roark, and Mark Winkie. Their first meeting as board members will take place on Tuesday, October 13.

Returned to the board are Jenn Avoledo, Marin Green, Gretchen Newsom, and Rebecca Taylor.

As published by the original San Diego Free Press (circa 1968), we reprint the rundown on the Stadium in Mission Valley. Outside of the names and a few little details, you’ll be surprised how little has changed.

Original byline “By Jim Knastick”

Hi sports fans. Big Jim, again.

Well, fans, last issue – – when we looked into that great muskmelon in Mission Valley – – we found a bill for $52 million addressed for the little taxpayer in San Diego and nothing but profits for local sports czars (your druggist knows them as merchants, financiers and industrialists).

Current vignette, fans: Taking Care of Barron.

The Boys Club

The story of our stadium goes back to late 1959 when Lamar Hunt, son of the right-wing zealot billionaire H.L. Hunt, Bud Adams, Jr., son of the chairman of the Phillips Petroleum company, and Barron Hilton, son of the hotel magnate Conrad, pitched together several million dollars to create the American Football League.

Opportunity to provide citizen input at September 23 meeting

By Jeeni Criscenzo / San Diego Free Press

Four years ago today (September 17, 2011) the Occupy movement began in New York City’s Zuccotti Park in Wall Street. Like wildfire the movement that defined Us (the 99%) vs Them (the 1%) spread from city to city.

Three weeks later a large and exuberant crowd gathered in San Diego’s Children’s Park before marching defiantly to Civic Center Plaza, and Occupy San Diego was born.

And from that emerged a group of mostly “mature” women (of which I was one) who used our experience and energy to advance the movement long after the camps in cities throughout the nation had been aggressively dismantled by an organized police campaign.

Community Forum Monday Night for Public Discussion

Tonight, September 21st, there is a Community Forum in Ocean Beach on short term vacation rentals. It will be held at the OB Woman’s Club, located at 2160 Bacon Street and begins at 6 pm. It is a joint forum of the OB Town Council and the OB Planning Board.

The forum will be facilitated by the Planning Board and will include a public discussion of the vacation rental issue and will also include a review the Draft Framework for Vacation Rentals put forward by the City of San Diego.

Please take a moment to review the attached agenda and draft code framework for regulating short term vacation rentals prepared by the City of San Diego. Click here to read the agenda and the draft policy.

Here are recent posts of the OB Rag on the short term vacation rental issue: …

The OB Rag would like to make this Public Service Announcement: Please Do Not Nail or Tack Any Notice of…

As published by the original San Diego Free Press (circa 1968), we reprint the rundown on the Stadium in Mission Valley. Outside of the names and a few little details, you’ll be surprised how little has changed. Part One of Two…

Original byline “By Jim Knastic“

Transcribed by John Lawrence and initially posted at our sister site, the modern San Diego Free Press.
_____________________

Hi, sports fans. Big Jim here.

Well, fans, there is a big spat brewing in major league San Diego and from this experienced observer’s view the losers in this main event are going to be the city’s middle- and lower-income taxpayers.

This whole new controversy is revolving around that great concrete muskmelon in Mission Valley, the San Diego Stadium.

More from the Sunset Cliffs Natural Park Council Meeting of Monday September 14, 2015

By Lois Lane

The Sunset Cliffs Natural Park Council meeting on September 14th featured a special guest speaker, Wayne Chiu, Water Resource Control Engineer for the Storm Water Management Unit, California Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region (Region 9).

What he had to say was important to Sunset Cliffs, and also Ocean Beach. As we all know, water flows down-hill, and particularly in the Peninsula communities; this means it ends up at the beach or in the bay.

This speaker was present because a Point Loma activist, Dr. Craig Barilotti, had requested that Sunset Cliffs Natural Park be added to the Regional MS4 (“Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems”) permit.

By Jim Miller

Drawing inspiration from Pope Francis’s encyclical, the San Diego Coalition to Preserve our Common Home (SDCPCH) is holding an interfaith forum on climate justice this Thursday, September 24th at 7:00 PM at St. Paul’s Cathedral.

The SDCPCH is comprised of people from many faith traditions as well as activists from local environmental, labor, and social justice organizations.

We’re presenting this forum in the face of increasing opposition to climate action on the part of those linked to fossil fuel interests. As Joe Romm recently pointed out in Climate Progress, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and his allies now “apparently believe the role of the ‘exceptional’ and ‘indispensable’ nation is to actively work to undermine the world’s best chance to save billions of people — including generations of Americans — from needless misery.” This is, Romm rightly notes, extraordinary:

Joint OB Town Council and OB Planning Board Forum at Woman’s Club

In a rare but wonderful occurrence, the OB Town Council and the OB Planning Board have coalesced and organized a Community Forum on short term vacation rentals.

On Monday, September 21st , the OB Planning Board will facilitate the discussion at the meeting which the OB Town Council is hosting.

And it’s all happening at the OB Woman’s Club at 6:00 pm, located at 2160 Bacon St, San Diego, CA 92107.

Originally published September 18, 2015

Prof. Carrico’s Presentation on the Kumeyaay Universe Covers Their Coastal Lifestyles

By John Loughlin / Special to the OB Rag

OB Historical Society’s September talk from last night – Thursday, Sept 17th – was given by Professor Richard Carrico titled “Kumeyaay on the Coast – Overlooked Aspects of Native Fishing and Maritime.”

A ‘recovering archaeologist’ Prof Carrico explained how anthropology and oral traditions are combined with the analysis of historical artifacts to draw a more complete understanding of the Kumeyaay/Diegueño tribes.

By Terry Ratner

Shooting pictures has been a part of my life for years, beginning as a component for most of my writing.

Over the course of my life, I’ve experienced both the democratizing and the addictive natures of photography.