Month: November 2017

By Mary Carreon / OCWeekly / November 21, 2017

Nearly 80 people gathered in Laguna Beach on Saturday to protest Southern California Edison’s (SCE) plan to bury 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste at San Onofre State Beach in San Clemente. According to Public Watchdogs, SCE has supposedly obtained a permit from the California Coastal Commission that not only authorizes them to bury the deadly waste, but also permits them to store it in thin-walled canisters 20-feet below the surface and 108-feet from the high tide mark. SCE is expected to dump the waste in mid-December.

This is a big problem for many reasons.

There’s lots to make one upset or angry these days, from Trump and his Russia collusion, to nuclear show-downs, to the national catharsis on sexual harassment, to global warming, all the way to Mayor Faulconer building a $2 million restroom for tourists but none for the homeless …

But one thing that’s making OBceans upset right now is the wholesale turning over of apartments and new condos into vacation rentals. OB is losing needed housing stock and affordable rental units for residents to mini-hotels and weekend party houses for vacationers.

And it’s happening right before our eyes!

Fire and Disturbances With Neighbors Over Weekend Culminate in Crack-Down

Today Monday, after a rocky weekend at the infamous Ebers – Greene Street project – during which both fire and police department units were called – the City of San Diego has taken over the property and begun a clean-up of the site and a securing of the skeleton of the two-story building.

One of the things that I am grateful for this Thanksgiving is the fact that I am fortunate enough to teach Henry David Thoreau every fall, particularly this 200th year since the great American author’s birth.

Most of my students at City College have lived, worked, and struggled more than your average college student and, consequently, Thoreau’s call to avoid a life of “quiet desperation” speaks to them more profoundly than it might to other students from different circumstances.

Simply put, they are in a college English class reading literature because they have chosen to be there. Running against the grain of all the siren calls for a more market-based education driven by efficiency and expediency, many of my students have decided that what moves them most is to read and think and to live a life they hope will be more meaningful because of it.

By Joaquin Antique

Being an occasional column featuring sights and sounds from Ocean Beach and Point Loma.

Observed:

When the bars close at 2 AM and the locals stagger home, about half the out of town partiers drive past my old home on the 4900 block of West Point Loma, headed back to where ever.

Brent Beltrán is one of the seven editors of the San Diego Free Press – the online partner of the OB Rag. Well, this week, San Diego CityBeat named Brent as one of their top 20 San Diegans for 2017. We’re very proud of Brent and certainly agree that it’s time he received some public accolades.

Here is what CityBeat writer Torrey Bailey said about Brent:

Who is he? He’s the vice chair of the Barrio Logan Community Planning Group and sits on the Environmental Health Coalition board of directors. Oh, and he’s on the editorial board of the San Diego Free Press as well.

Why did we pick him?

On Thursday, November 2nd, a Notice of Abatement was attached to the abandoned building at Ebers and Greene streets by the City of San Diego, ordering the owner, Curtis Nelson of Nelco Properties, LLC, to take “immediate actions” to clean up the site and secure all the openings on the building. The owner was given until November 17th to comply with the legal order.

It is now November 17th and the owner has failed to comply. In fact, neighbors say the conditions at the site are even worse than they were when the owner was cited.

New Owners of OB Business Center

Joella and Chris Peregoy have bought the OB Business Center on Santa Monica Avenue and things appear to be running swimmingly. One change they’ve initiated is to be open on Saturdays, from 9am to 2pm. Plus they’ve made access to the personal mail boxes 7 days a week. But they provide the same basic services: copys, faxes, scans and printing of course.

Chris told me they’d been vacationing here from Phoenix these last 4 to 5 years and they finally decided to move here and buy the business. He used to work for American Express and she for Michaels. We wish them the best of luck.

Projects Around OB

Occasionally, we peruse current development projects in and around Ocean Beach and take a “look-see” and share. Here’s what we found on Thursday, November 16th.

By Norma Damashek

Who knew the race for San Diego County Board of Supervisors could be so hidden, so mysterious?

County government leaders have gotten negative press lately with charges of complacency … neglect … elitism … callousness … and worse! But that hasn’t stopped a vigorous set of candidates from vying for a seat on the tarnished Board of Supervisors.

What an intriguing mystery! It’s time for girl-crusader-for-good-government Nancy Drew to do some sleuthing.

She’s got five big questions about county government. And she’s got a few question for the candidates whose eyes are glued on the June 2018 primary election. All she wants are the facts, ma’am.

Question 1: What’s County Government For, Anyway?

The Widder Curry Pledges Not to Patronize Restaurants that Add Surcharge Ever Again

Several months ago I said/wrote the statement that I would not patronize a restaurant that charged a surcharge after the raise of the minimum wage.

Last week I attended a birthday celebration at BO-Beau’s in Ocean Beach, and at the very top of the menu was the following statement:

“A 3% surcharge will be added to all Guest checks to help cover increasing costs and in our support of the recent increases to minimum wage and benefits for our dedicated Team Members.”

Take a Pictorial Stroll Through What Could Be Coming to Ocean Beach

Having never been inside a Target Express, I wanted to visit one plus I wanted to show the people of Ocean Beach with my camera what to expect if one does show up on Newport Avenue. So, I visited the one in South Park (actually the only one in San Diego) to glimpse a view of a possible storefront future for OB.

The Target Express in South Park is on a large lot mainly by itself. It has a huge parking lot – which is the first thing any OBcean would notice, with reportedly 99 spaces. But that’s triple the parking for any T. Express at the Newport Ave Antique Center.

As the San Diego City Council is about to sit down on December 12th and hammer out what probably will be some kind of compromise on one of the most contentious issues in the city – short term vacation rentals – it is interesting to know that some community leaders who serve on beach and coastal planning committees tried to come up with something different earlier this year.

Called the “Coastal Exception”, members of these volunteer panels – including the OB Planning Board – tried to carve out literally an exception to what has looked like a consistent drumbeat for Airbnb’s march across neighborhoods among many City Council members. Faced with the possibilities of a very horrible compromise that would allow Airbnb and such businesses to legally ride roughshod over beach communities, these planning board members drew up draft legislation, called Draft Coastal Zone STVR Legislation. OBPB Chair John Ambert and Vice-chair Blake Herrschaft participated in drawing up this draft.