Month: March 2019

On Wednesday March 6th the Ocean Beach Planning Board is holding its annual election, and the OB Rag is publishing a series of examinations of the different planning districts within the Ocean Beach Community Plan Area. This is an updated and somewhat edited version of a post published on District 4 in 2016.

There are 16 seats on the Board, two from each district and two at-large seats. Currently District 4 is only represented by Craig Klein as its other seat is vacant. Klein, a veteran community volunteer planner is running for re-election.

Craig Klein

(From his bio at OBPB website:) Graduate of USD School of law , SEE MORE INSIDE
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District 4 – The Center of the Village – the Hub of OB

It’s easy to see why District 4 is indeed the center and hub of the community of Ocean Beach. Just look at a map and you’ll see that the business district and the main beach are both in this district.

by Ernie McCray

I turned to page 57 in People Magazine and looking back at me were the smiling faces of friends of mine, Tom Patterson and Steffanie Strathdee. They’re a husband and wife team of AIDs epidemiologists at UCSD who have traveled the world studying and researching and seeking ways to control diseases.

On occasion they have suffered from weird viruses and bugs and the like and weathered the storm and moved on to the next mission.

But the reason they were a story in a national publication is because of what happened to them on a trip to Egypt where they were enjoying themselves, just living the life, visiting the pyramids, sailing down the Nile.

Then Tom suddenly started heaving violently.

The Ocean Beach Planning Board will hold its 2019 General Election on Wednesday, March 6, 2019.

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.

COME INSIDE FOR SAMPLE BALLOT, Voter Registration form and Instructions

On Wednesday March 6th the Ocean Beach Planning Board is holding its annual election.

Virgina Wilson

Virginia is up for election and Andrew is running for a seat in District 7. Virginia and her husband Nick are home-owners in OB and both are vehemently opposed to short-term vacation rentals. MORE INSIDE
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District 3 – the ‘Wings of OB’

The third district of the OB Planning Area is an anomaly because its two neighborhoods are separated from one another, with one section across Nimitz and seemingly in a different world. .he district almost looks like a giant bow tie (or maybe a giant seagull) with two large wings centered at Seaside and Nimitz.

The Ocean Beach Planning Board is holding its annual election this Wednesday March 6th.
There are 16 seats on the Board, two from each district and two at-large seats. Currently District 2 is represented by Elizabeth Felando, who was appointed in October 2018, and by Tom Gawronski, who has been a veteran volunteer planner, a member since April 2011. Tom appears to be termed out and is not running for re-election.

Tom Gawronski

(From bio at OBPB website:) Tom Gawronski earned his PhD in Molecular Biology SEE MORE INSIDE

Elizabeth Felando

(From bio at OBPB website:) Liz grew up in San Diego, playing soccer at Robb field SEE MORE INSIDE

Richard Merriman – (no bio or photo available) is running for one of the seats for District 2; he’s been on the Board since October 2018.

The annual election to the OB Planning Board is coming up on Wednesday, March 6th. This 15-member board reviews, approves and monitors development in OB as it adheres to the OB Community Plan – the blueprint for the community updated and approved in 2014.

Each planning district has 2 representatives on the Board. Currently Tracy Dezenzo and Anthony Ciulla represent District 1. Anthony is up for election this time around.

Tracy Dezenzo, Secretary

(From bio on OBPB website:) Tracy Dezenzo has been an OB resident for over 22 years and is proud to represent District 1. See more inside …….

Anthony Ciulla

(From bio on OBPB website:) Anthony has 25 years experience as an aviation industry professional in addition to having 12 years in the construction industry/trades industry – see more inside ….

New Owners at Pepe’s Promise “No Changes”

There’s new owners at Pepe’s on Sunset Cliffs. Vanessa Perez and her hubby John have taken charge and promise no menu changes – and in fact, stated John – who doubles as manager and cook – nothing has changed; they’ve kept it the same way as the previous owners. COME INSIDE FOR MORE

Mr. Moto Pizza Goes for Beer and Wine License

As workers continue to finish the interior of the brand new Mr. Moto Pizza House opening up in the brand new OB Plaza – there’s a sign on the front window.

By Jim Miller

In my last column on the rocket-speed escalation of economic inequality in the United States, I noted how one of the central problems we face is that “the current neoliberal ideological hegemony finds basic economic justice unimaginable.”

Of course, America is a capitalist country where the interests of the powerful shape the ideological landscape, but there have been moments in our history when counterhegemonic forces and ideas have opened space for more egalitarian thinking and politics. For instance, the rise of both the labor and civil rights movements pushed back against and altered the status quo as have other, more short-lived but still significant eruptions of dissent. Indeed, just last week, public school teachers in Oakland

The Old Broad Cautions Her Readers

So today begins the new “gouging” by SDG&E. Their “tier” structure for billing begins and if you are not careful it is going to cost you more than keeping the old light bulbs.

This new plan, called “Time of Use” will work this way:

There will be “off peak” and “on peak” hours. And even though it is “optional” – you will automatically be placed in one of the two plans. You CAN opt out if you want to do so. The “on peak” hours – the most expensive, will be from 4:00pm to 9:00pm. Now let me get this straight. That is the time that most of us are coming home from work. That is the time that most of us are cooking our dinner –

By David Helvarg / Blue Notes / Feb. 22, 2019

When I wrote Blue Frontier: Saving America’s Living Seas, at the beginning of this century, I was worried. Industrial overfishing for the global seafood market, oil, chemical, nutrient and plastic pollution, loss of coastal habitat needed for restoration, plus the emerging signs of climate change, were reaching critical mass. Still, I saw the challenges as ultimately solvable if we just mobilized the political will and professional expertise needed.

Nuclear Shutdown News February 2019

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Deep Freeze Shuts Down New Jersey Reactor.

On January 31 the Atlantic City Press reported, “Below freezing temperatures shutdown Salem reactor.” The report continued, “Central room operators shut down the Salem 2 reactor at 3 a.m. after ice accumulated in screens used to filter out debris before water from the Delaware River is pumped into the plants,” a Nuclear Regulatory Commission official explained.

By David Mangone / Americans for Safe Access / February 13, 2019 |

WASHINGTON, DC – On February 13, The House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions held a hearing entitled “Challenges and Solutions: Access to Banking Services for Cannabis-Related Businesses.”

Twenty-three years have passed since California became the first state to legalize cannabis for medicinal purposes in 1996. Today, the adult use of cannabis is legal in 10 states and the District of Columbia.