Month: October 2016

The OB Rag just celebrated its 9th birthday this past weekend. The online newspaper for Ocean Beach got its start in late October 2007 when Patty Jones and Frank Gormlie got serious about creating a political blog for OB.

The online OB Rag is a take-off of the original grassroots underground newspaper, the OB People’s Rag, which began publishing in 1970 – and continued for 6 years. Gormlie was the original publisher of the newspaper. The 9th anniversary was quietly celebrated over the weekend with champagne amidst a small crowd of Rag Ocean Beach supporters at a house above Sunset Cliffs.

Here are some excerpts from our “About” page: …

The next Ocean Beach Planning Board regular meeting will discuss this controversial project at Ebers and Greene Streets in northeast OB.

All meetings are open to the public. Unless otherwise noted in the agenda, the meeting will be held at:

Ocean Beach Recreation Center
4726 Santa Monica Ave
San Diego CA 92107
Wednesday November 2, 6PM

Other than maintenance work, there should be no new construction at the site until the city issues a permit to build.

By Geoff Page

After finally getting a chance to review the plans for the Ebers and Greene Street project, I got the story behind the requirement that the developer execute a habitable accessory structure form. It wasn’t quite what I expected – but the reality is very odd.

For starters, there is no approved permit on the project so the developer is not supposed to be doing any construction – but clearly is. The Inspection Notice that was issued on the project required the developer to make an “angled building envelope” on the front and the Greene Street side.

The San Diego City Council will hold a Special Hearing on short-term vacation rentals in single family residential zones on Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. in Golden Hall. Due to the anticipated interest, Golden Hall will open at 9:00 a.m., and public comment on the issue will be limited to one minute per person. (Golden Hall is in the same complex as City Hall.)

It is greatly anticipated that the hearing will focus on an edit to the San Diego Municipal Code proposed by Councilwomen Sheri Lightner and Lori Zapf during a press conference last Friday, October 28th, an edit they say will address community concerns about the vacation rentals in single family neighborhoods. The edit will clarify that STVRs are currently not permitted in Single Family Residential neighborhoods.

By Marjorie Cohn /Consortium News – truthout

When Tom Hayden died on Oct. 23, we lost a courageous warrior for peace and equality. Hayden was on the front lines of nearly every major progressive struggle for more than 50 years. Vilified by the Right and at times criticized from the Left, Hayden remained steadfast in his commitment to social, economic and racial justice.

An activist, political theorist, organizer, writer, speaker and teacher, Hayden was a Freedom Rider in the South during the 1960s; a founder of Students for a Democratic Society; a leader of the anti-Vietnam War movement; a community organizer; a negotiator of a gang truce in Venice, California; the author of more than 19 books; and an elected official in California for nearly two decades.

By Geoff Page / Special to the OB Rag

The OB Town Council (OBTC) held its regular public meeting on Wednesday, October 26th from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at the Masonic Center, 1711 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. in Ocean Beach. There were approximately 25 people in attendance. The meeting started with non-agenda public comment when people may speak for two minutes on any topic that is not part of the official agenda.

There was a representative from the group Save Peninsula Trees (savepeninsulatrees@gmail.com), formed to protect the peninsula’s trees spurred on by the city’s Torrey pine removals on Saratoga Avenue in Ocean Beach.

Mara Elliott, a candidate for City Attorney in the upcoming election, then spoke. She as followed by a representative for a campaign finance reform group and the pastor of the Pt. Loma United Methodist Church.

The President, Gretchen Newsom, introduced the new board. Go to their website, to see a list of the 15 members. [Editor: Gretchen apparently has decided to luckily stick around for another term as president; Nate Bazydlo is the new Vice President; Melanie Williams is the new corresponding secretary; Corey Bruins is the recording secretary; and Andrew Waltz is the new community events committee chair.]

Pollution in San Diego communities

By Diane Takvorian

Voters Should Reject Measure A- This year San Diego voters have an opportunity to take a critical first step towards bringing San Diego into the 21st century. Right now, San Diego has an outdated and obsolete transportation system. Measure A will perpetuate that system for another 40 years!

Two generations of San Diegans will be stuck with this backward system instead of clean and just transportation if voters don’t give a resounding NO to Measure A on November 8.

By South OB Girl

As you exit Ocean Beach on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, headed towards the 8 freeway, you may have noticed the mural covering the southern wall of Chris’s Liquor, right off the alley. That mural was done by the local, and extremely prolific artist, Celeste Byers.

And as you head back from walking on the OB Pier, you might notice the mural on the west-facing wall of Teeter’s at 5032 Niagara Ave. That is by Celeste too, and was a collaboration with Aaron Glasson.

Those two Ocean Beach murals are displayed in areas where many thousands of people see those walls in our community each week. But Celeste’s paint brushes have graced many walls throughout the world beyond OB — including Sri Lanka, Vietnam, New Zealand, Australia, and several cities in Mexico.

Annual Green Spooktacula

at the Ocean Beach Green Center

Co-Hosted by The Climate Mobilization Coalition

Saturday October 29th

2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Music, Speakers, Refreshments, Raffle, Bake Sale

costume contest!

The Big Pumpkin makes an appearance on Santa Monica Avenue.

There is a group in Ocean Beach that is working to locate and identify Torrey Pines in OB and throughout the Peninsula.

Friends of Peninsula Trees are nominating Torreys for an Historical Heritage Tree designation – which gives them added protection if granted.

The OB Town Council is holding its regular public meeting on Wednesday, October 26th. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm and usually runs until 8:30 pm or so.

The meeting will be held at the Masonic Center, 1711 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. in Ocean Beach, CA 92107.

The formal agenda has not been made available when this was posted. See their website for updates.

New officers for the Board ought to be announced.