Month: February 2016

The annual election to the Ocean Beach Planning Board is coming up on Wednesday, March 2nd. This 14-member board reviews, approves and monitors development in OB as it adheres to the newly updated and approved OB Community Plan as the blueprint for the community.

District 1 – Northwest OB

We begin with District 1 – the northwest sector of OB – a very important section of the community. It’s bordered on the north by Dog Beach, the San Diego River and Robb Field – which makes the district the gateway to two of OB’s parks.

It’s the site of the most famous dog-friendly beach park in the city and due to the district’s proximity to the beach, it has a heavy impact from tourists and visitors.

By John Lawrence

The man who gave us Citizens United and Bush vs Gore is gone from the face of the earth. I for one do not mourn his passing.

His decisions have not only contributed to the destruction of the US, but major portions of the world as well, and he was set to destroy the world consensus on climate change which would have destroyed the entire planet.

It was Scalia who said that unlimited corporate campaign spending is something “we should celebrate rather than condemn,” (Citizens United), that vote-counting should be halted for causing “irreparable harm” to the candidate who might lose as a result (Bush v. Gore), that protecting the right to vote is an odious example of “racial entitlements” (comments related to Shelby County v. Holder), and that allowing local anti-discrimination laws to protect gays and lesbians amounts to “special treatment”

By Frank Thomas / San Diego Free Press

I admire Bernie’s outspoken, honest portrayal of the breakdown of our egalitarian democracy – “a government of, for and by the people” – by a corrupt, immoral plutocratic political-economic ESTABLISHMENT threatening the very existence of our democracy.

I was appalled by David Brooks’ disingenuous critique of Bernie’s call for a ‘political revolution’- systemic reform for a systemically broken, money corrupted governance. Brooks beguilingly discredits Bernie’s bold ideas in the recent article, Livin’ Bernie Sanders’s Danish Dream.

From Restaurants to the Beach, Private Interests Are Taking More Public Grounds

The recent uproar among OBceans over the intrusions into public sidewalks by two Ocean Beach restaurants illustrates a broader and growing wariness by the public of the larger issue of encroachment by private interests into public space.

Just several weeks ago, the 2 OB restaurants, The Joint and the yet-to-open OB Brewery – both on Newport Avenue – have installed permanent fixtures outside their establishments that seriously curtail pedestrian traffic and block the public accesss to the public sidewalk immediately in front of the restaurants.

2016 Elections

The Ocean Beach Planning Board will hold its 2016 General Election on Wednesday, March 2, 2016. Polls will be open 4-7 p.m. at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center at 4726 Santa Monica Avenue. Mail-in ballots are also available upon request.

Seven of the Board’s 14 seats will be up for election, one from each of the seven districts in the OB Community Plan Area (map of the 7 districts). If elected, members serve a two-year term of office. It is a volunteer position and receives no compensation.

There’s a vacant seat on the Board of Directors of the OB Town Council.

And they’re looking for someone interested in becoming more involved with the community. Someone with a strong desire to promote the general betterment and beautification of Ocean Beach and the welfare of our residents, is asked by the OBTC to consider applying for the vacant seat. The Town Council provides a great venue for folks to engage deeply in our community and make a meaningful and lasting impact.

There are requirements and there is an appointment process.

This is a public announcement:

The empty lot at the southeast corner of Abbott and Voltaire will soon be fenced in, as construction on the 2-story units will begin soon.

“No Parking” signs went up Monday – and any cars in the lot will be towed beginning Saturday, February 27th.

Wednesday’s meeting of the OB Town Council – the 24th – will feature City representatives on preventing future flooding and repairing broken streetlights. Five hundred sandbags have been promised to be handed out as well by Lorie Zapf’s office. Plus the “Annual Pie with the President” will conclude the meeting – held at the Masonic Center, Sunset Cliffs and Santa Cruz.

The Town Council has invited the San Diego Department of Transportation & Storm Water to debrief our community on current and upcoming measures to prevent future flooding and repair broken streetlights. This part of the meeting is intended to be an interactive session whereby community members are invited to bring photos of the OB Flood to be plotted on a giant map, along with locations of broken street lights. The Council promises prizes for the best photos.

OCEAN BEACH, CA. Exactly 42 years ago today, on February 22, 1974 – all hell broke loose in Ocean Beach – and for many of the seventies generation, this day will always live on in their memory as a day of infamy – the day the world came crashing down on our little seaside community.

It was the day that Pete Mahone, a politicized ex-convict and member of OB’s anti-Vietnam war community, tried to commit suicide by cop. It was also the breaking point in police-community relations, relations that had been simmering for years.

By Byron Morton

Although primarily known as a music venue, Winston’s Beach Resort and Bar – at 1921 Bacon Street in the heart of Ocean Beach-, has for the past ten years been a showcase for some of San Diego’s finest comedy talent. And last Friday, the 19th, I went to see the Ocean Beach Comedy 10th Anniversary show, right in the heart of OB’s business district.

There was so much talent performing their bits that I can’t review them all, as comedians from across the country came to celebrate and perform.

Winston’s large open window and emerald tiled entrance transports you into an old school hipster joint, complete with brick wall interior, reminiscent of New York’s East Village.

By Jim Miller

With the death of Antonin Scalia on February 13th, public sector unions in America were given a reprieve from what was sure to be a bad ruling in the Friedrichs v CTA case before the Supreme Court.

As Michael Hiltzik explained in the Los Angeles Times:

The target of the Friedrichs lawsuit, and several others just like it, is the “agency” or “fair share” fee. Under the law and according to a 1977 Supreme Court decision known as the Abood case, unionized public employees can be assessed nonmember fees to cover solely the cost of negotiations and contract enforcement, without being compelled to join the union and support its political activities by paying full union dues. That’s the arrangement in California.

Ocean Beach Comedy (OBC) was created 10 years ago, almost by accident.

The show started with Andrew Deans and Steven Kendrick needing an outlet to continue their stand up desires after moving from Texas.

Soon Jesse Egan and Bob Hansen were brought on.

The team added spontaneity to the show by creating topics, sticking them in a hat, randomly drawing, and creating jokes on the spot with what was written on the paper. The show blossomed from there as the original crew started finding other local comedians and giving them a stage to work on material.

Throughout the years, OBC saw some of the best comedians in the business like Doug Stanhope, Joey Diaz, and Jeff Richards.