The Ocean Beach Town Council held their monthly meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 26, and as usual the event entertained the audience with the news and issues of the community.
Successful Pancake Breakfast
The big news from the Council board itself were the details of their very successful Pier Pancake Breakfast held on September 22. It’s estimated 900 plus tickets were sold and the annual fundraiser grossed over $12,000. Board chair Marcus Turner thanked Wonderland and Breakfast Republic for supplying the food. Next year, one board member quipped, “we need to figure out how to get people through that [food] line,” as this year’s event did see long lines of patient OBceans waiting for breakfast and coffee. There was some talk about having a format found at weddings, where the food is lined out in the middle and there are 2 lines of people.
2018 Holiday Schedule
The Town Council also announced the holiday schedule. The annual Holiday Auction will be held on November 29 (if you have donations, talk to board member Gio). And the big event – the Holiday Parade – will be held on December 1st. In a perhaps different tact this year for the parade, board members are looking to local Newport Avenue businesses for “sponsorships” of $250. The OBTC is also looking for a Christmas Tree to be donated.
Community Announcements
As usual, the public non-agenda comment period was popular.
OB Library Book Sale – On Oct. 13, Friends of the OB Library will be holding their book sale in front of the library, from 9:30 to 12:30. The Friends are looking for volunteers to assist them in setting up the event. (First shift is at 7:30 am)
OB Cycle Day sponsored by the Bike Coalition is on Sunday, Oct. 21. CyclosOB – will see some closed streets from 10 am to 3pm, allowing bicyclists, skateboarders and pedestrians free range. They also need volunteers. For more info, contact Skii Fleeton at info@sdbikecoalition.org (Editordude: I went on the site but could not find any event for OB).
Dr. Jen Campbell, candidate for District 2, spoke briefly about her campaign against incumbent Lorie Zapf. She has a 5 point plan on homelessness and affordable housing.
New candidates for the OB Planning Board; two people announced they are running for seats on the OB Planning Board; Anthony Ciulla said he is running in District 1 and Virginia Wilson announced she is going for an appointment in District 3.
Get registered and go vote, says Jon Carr, board member, as he made a pitch for folks to get out to vote on Nov. 6 – and to get registered to vote if not already.
Community Clean-up by CSI-OB on Sat., Sept 29, 8:30 am at Raglan.
Dusty Rhodes Dog Park advocate Dan Dennison described the horrible maintenance at the park and his efforts to bring help to the site. He said he has set up a facebook page “make Dusty Rhodes Park great again” (or something like that).
Virginia Wilson of Friends of Peninsula Trees and a member of the city’s forestry advisory council invited everyone to attend the Oct 10 meeting of the council, as the Long Branch Torrey Pine will probably be on the agenda. It’s on the 12th floor of City Hall, from 11:45am to 1:30pm in the conference room.
Lack of recycling centers, was complained about by Dan Kent; many have been closed he said, and the big markets are being let off the hook. The closest one, he said, is up in North Park.
The OB Woman’s Club is having a luau on Nov. 13 and it’s also their annual fundraiser. So said Susan Winkie.
Treasurer’s Report: the OBTC currently has $28,659 in the bank (not including what was raised from the Pancake Breakfast).
Politico and Government Reports
Pro-Short Term Rentals Referundum Qualifies
Conrad Wear from Lorie Zapf’s office made comments about the short term rental situation. Mainly – the referendum by pro-short term rental folks did qualify for a ballot, as the Registrar counted 62,000 valid signatures (a sample is taken and based upon the results of the sample, it is determined whether a referendum makes it or not). So, the City Council, he said, has to make a decision in the next 2-3 weeks about what to do. They could either rescind their vote setting regulations on STVRs – which is unlikely, or they schedule a vote on the issue. That could be in a special election – which are expensive – or placed on the 2020 ballot – which is a long ways away.
Dave Surwilo, community relations, SDPD, invited everyone to a Coffee & Slurppy get together with local officers, Oct 3 from 1230 to 230pm, on Adrian Street in Point Loma. Also, the PD is partnering with the Sheriffs to give help for people with Alzheimers. Lastly, Dave spoke of what officers are seeing – opioid deaths “off the charts”. Drugs like cocaine, meth and heroin are being laced with fentanyl and causing overdoses and deaths.
OB Elementary; principal Drapeau gave an update of the school, and talked of how the kinder group is smaller this year – and they’re not certain why (although in the past he has complained how STVRs eat into the community populations – including school age kids). The school is hosting its annual Fall Festival on Oct. 26.
Other Board News: the OBTC is sponsoring the OB Restaurant Walk on Nov. 13. There are upcoming board elections in the New Year with half of the board seats aup for grab. ; the Board goes dark in November and December due to all the events it sponsors those months, so the October meeting will be the last one this year.
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