Month: November 2015

By Norma Damashek

In my previous commentary, Poor Mayor Faulconer I used words like inconsequential… vacuous… lightweight… ineffectual… to describe San Diego’s current mayor. Judging from readers’ responses, those adjectives seem to be right on target.

But the nagging question about how a political nonentity like Kevin Faulconer could run unopposed for a second term as mayor with nary a single qualified opponent willing to challenge him – has taken a new turn.

Gretchen Newsom ­– community activist, chairperson of the Ocean Beach town council, rejected contender for a temporary council appointment when Faulconer moved from his council office into the mayor’s office – shocked everyone at the recent County Democratic Party convention when she took the stage to declare that she would step into the void and challenge Faulconer in his run for reelection.

It was a strategic and gutsy decision that ought to put both the labor establishment and the local Democratic Party’s stagnant, bumbling, delinquent leadership to shame.

Are you familiar with the John Lennon song where he sings “remember, remember, the 5th of November….”?

I know you’re familiar with the “Anonymous” mask during the Occupy Wall Street” protest movement.

Well, November 5th – still celebrated in film, television and literature – is Guy Fawkes Day!

Who the heck is Guy Fawkes?

Guy Fawkes was one of the leaders in the infamous “Gunpowder Plot” – a plan to blow up the House of Lords in London in 1605. He was caught, tried and then hung and in England to this day Guy Fawkes’ execution is celebrated.

Yet – you may have seen the movie “V for Vendetta“. The film tells the other side to the story ( “V for Vendetta” – differently. ) The movie points out that Fawkes was not trying to blow up Parliament, but the House of Lords – the seat of autocratic rule and symbol of religious persecution in England at the time. (Remember the Pilgrims? They came to the New World because they were being persecuted for their religion.)

In polling run-offs with Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Gretchen Newsom did the best compared to other possible Democratic mayoral candidates.

We ran a series of polls for a week and over a hundred readers participated in most of them. We asked people to choose between big-name Democrats for their pick for a candidate, and then ran a poll on each probable Democrat candidate against Faulconer.

In every poll contest her name was listed, OB Town Council president Gretchen Newsom came out on top. Of course, this could be expected – a following for the local town girl.

These polls are not scientific and we cannot determine if participants live in the City of San Diego or not. But the results do reflect the opinions of our readers – and with Newsom being favored so clearly, it’s obvious that home-town readers predominant. (Although there was one poll with David Alvarez, where Newsom had just 2 percentage points more.)

It appears that the San Diego Police Department first announced the surveillance camera system they are installing along Ocean Beach’s waterfront back last June, along with a budget for the system.

A researcher associated with the OB Rag examined the minutes of recent meetings held by the OB Mainstreet Association and found that the June 2015 minutes recorded a report by Police Lt. William Carter that presented the camera system intended to monitor the seawall, the OB Pier and other locations along the beach. Carter also announced other police items that would be funded as well.

The minutes state:

“[Police] will also be investing in a camera system to monitor events at the seawall, under the pier, etc., where nefarious activities occur. The cameras will likely be positioned at Dog Beach, Santa Monica, Saratoga, under pier, and looking toward face of cliffs. More research is needed, but they will report back with more information once decisions are made.”

By Judi Curry

Once again we set our clocks back an hour last Sunday, but my dog Shadow cannot help but wonder why, just the other day, it was okay to have dinner at 6:00pm only to find that today he cannot have dinner at the same time. He said that he is not a farmer that needs more daylight to farm his crops.

In fact, my very intelligent dog said that there are very few small farms left in the entire United States that are maintained by Mom and Pop operations that need their children to help pull in the crops.

Many people, as well as animals, intensely dislike Daylight Saving Time.

Organic farming can be cutting-edge, too.

By Jill Richardson / OtherWords

When I first began researching agriculture, I had no idea how organic farming worked. I saw it as a somewhat backward yet non-toxic and desirable way to grow food.

Organic farmers didn’t use fertilizer, I figured, so maybe the plants would be smaller. And they didn’t use pesticides, so I’d have to settle for some damage to my food — and I’d pay more for the privilege.

As for the people who thought organic agriculture produced better, healthier food than conventional farming, I figured they were nuts. That sounded like magical thinking to me. Did organic farmers grow food using fairies and rainbows?

The notion that organic farming is at odds with modern science is an attitude I’ve heard repeated many times, even by organic activists. “We just need to go back and grow food how we used to,” they’ll say.

OB Planners have a lot on their plate for their Wednesday, Nov. 4th meeting.

There will be an update on the OB Community Plan going before the City Council on Monday, November 9th. There’s two presentations, one on an “enhancement plan” for the San Diego River Trail, and another on residential solar presentation.

But the two big items on the Board’s tight agenda is an application to convert 4 units on Long Branch to 4 condos, and then the Board is slated to “craft a policy” for how short-term vacation rentals are dealt with in Ocean Beach.

Quigley Building Back Up for Condo Conversions

The 4-unit building that Rob Quigley built on the last block of Long Branch Avenue is back before the Board for an authorization for converting all the units to condos.

Here’s a quick few pics of boulders at Sunset Cliffs – then and now.

Now 2015 – South OB Girl has been amazed at the size of the boulders being brought up to the top during the construction of a new seawall at the end of Bermuda Street.

And Larry O’Brien sent us these photos of the aftermath of a cliff fall back in April 2007.

By South OB Girl

Have you seen the KPBS round table footage from Friday Oct 30th, discussing Ocean Beach Town Council President Gretchen Newsom’s candidacy for mayor?

(Discussion of the mayoral campaign begins at 10:35 in the above link.)

One panelist, Tony Perry– San Diego Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times– referred to Ocean Beach as the People’s Republic of Ocean Beach (a long-time “nickname” favored by certain mainstream reporters). Perhaps some find that appealing. Perhaps some find that appalling.

The panel leader, Mark Sauer, commented that Gretchen Newsom and Gavin Newsom, California lieutenant governor, have the same last name. And he also commented that Ms. Newsom is “pretty,” like Gavin Newsom.

The Four Problems With Public Video Surveillance

From ACLU

Video cameras, or closed-circuit television (CCTV), are becoming a more and more widespread feature of American life. Fears of terrorism and the availability of ever-cheaper cameras have accelerated the trend even more. The use of sophisticated systems by police and other public security officials is particularly troubling in a democratic society.

By Ernie McCray

I just put down a nice read, “Rabbit on a Bumpy Road,” by Tom Hom, a man who was the first person of color to be elected to the San Diego City Council.

That took place back in 1963, a year after I had moved to the city. So I was greatly interested in the book for the history, a history in which, as a citizen, I’m a player.

I was a 24-year-old back then, still getting my feet wet and my mind wrapped around what was going on in my world socially, politically, and otherwise.

I already had a few concerns, having come to San Diego from Tucson, the Old Pueblo, thinking that I had somehow escaped Jim Crow and had landed in a city of open-minded thinkers, and seeing that that wasn’t so, I started paying attention to who was who and what was what – and the more I looked around I began to see, clearly, that Tom Hom, …