Month: May 2019

On Wednesday, May 8th at the foot of Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach, there was a protest of sorts by people who are forced to live in their vehicles and homeless advocates.

A couple dozen people gathered to listen to personal stories in what was billed as a Speak-Out and Singalong called “No Housing, No Choice!” They were protesting the city’s proposed Vehicle Habitation Ordinance.

The ordinance would make it illegal to live in a vehicle between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. and anywhere within 500 feet of a school or housing at any time. Cars would also not be allowed to have any evidence of cooking, bathing or sleeping materials.

Now that the former Mission Beach Elementary School has been demolished, the development of a 3-story, 59-unit mega-plex planned for the property can move forward. The school site on Mission Boulevard, vacant since 2013, was sold off to private developers that year by the San Diego School Board – to much controversy.

Critics at the time derided the school district for selling forever prime beach property – and on Tuesday, May 14th, the San Diego Unified School District board authorized the sale of the former Mission Beach Elementary School property to private developers – despite objections by Mayor Filner, residents and community activists.

The pleas fell on deaf ears and the site was sold for $18.5 million to a duo of developers, doing business as McKellar-Ashbrook LLC, registered in La Jolla.Another controversy broke out about the down-sizing of a public park promised the community by the developer. The community of Mission Beach was first told that the park would be almost one-third acre. However, now, under changes, the so-called park has shrunk by a third or almost 40% depending on what formula is used.

Today – Wednesday. May 8th there’s a Speak-Out and Singalong called “No Housing, No Choice!” Newport Ave. & Abbott St. in Ocean Beach. There will be participation by the Light Brigade and Drum Circle.

Hosted by the San Diego Housing Emergency Alliance, the event begins at 5pm and runs to 8pm. It’s all about the true stories of people forced to use their vehicles for shelter.

Organizers are asking folks to join the event. They say PARKING IS TIGHT, so they’re asking people to meet at Robb Field, 2525 Bacon Street, between 3-4:30 pm to shuttle to the event. The return shuttle goes from 6:30-8:15 pm More info:

Are you aware of our recycling crisis? There is one. China doesn’t want our trash anymore. (See this from a September 2018 post at the OB Rag.)

It’s hitting home now when recent reporting reveals that “about 10,000 tons — or 15 to 17 percent — of the recycling collected from homes in San Diego each year is thrown out.

Officials say this year’s point-in-time count numbers reflect changes to the process made at the direction of federal officials. Meanwhile, a separate stat sws homelessness could be more than triple the number found in the count.

By Lisa Halverstadt /Voice of San Diego / April 29, 2019

At first glance, San Diego’s latest annual point-in-time count appears to show a modest drop in homelessness. This year, the group counted 8,102 homeless San Diegans countywide compared with last year’s 8,576 estimate.

But officials caution the data isn’t comparable because of changes to the way the count is carried out and to the methodology the group uses to arrive at a final tally.

The Regional Task Force on the Homeless, which coordinates the homeless census, changed its strategy this year at the urging of federal officials

By Antonio Pacheco /Architectures Newspaper /April 29, 2019

A preliminary plan to transform the Jon Jerde–designed Horton Plaza Mall complex in San Diego has taken several steps forward in recent weeks as developer Stockdale Capital Partners detailed plans to reconfigure the dazzling postmodern shopping mall into a mixed-use technology campus.

In mid-April, San Diego’s economic development committee unanimously supported a change of deed request made by the developers to reduce the amount of retail space that must be included in the development.

By Jim Miller

Today my column falls on my birthday, and while I have never been much for formal celebrations, there is something about turning the page (in this case to 54) that makes one stop for a moment and ponder the passing of time and the meaning of this day in the stream of all the others. It is, in fact, just another day, one we arbitrarily mark in the larger collection of them that we call our lives.

For this reason, the Buddhists prefer to say things like “Happy Today’s Day” or “Happy Continuation” rather than attaching themselves to the illusion of measured time. Surely this is a wise practice.

Nonetheless, the Western temptation to measure and/ or evaluate persists, so we like to notch our belts as we go with lists of accomplishments: I got a degree, a job, a marriage, a family, a set of social or material accomplishments, etc.

By this reckoning, the birthday can become a sort of life resume check

Those of us long in tooth and gray in hair remember the tumultuous days of the May 1970 national student strike and the murder of four students at Kent State by National Guardsmen on May 4; those younger know the song “Four Dead in Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young about the Kent State shootings.

The deadly clash was part of the student response to President Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia, which he announced on April 30.

But what most of us don’t realize is that the day following the Kent State killings, May 5th – was indeed one of the most explosive days in American history as literally hundreds of university, college and high school campuses blew up in response – and for that day at least, the American educational system broke down.

Angry, tearful young people across the nation reacted with an intensity and in numbers not witnessed before or since.

Emergency meetings, rallies, protests, mid-night marches, letter-writing, impeach Nixon petitions, sit-ins, flag-lowerings, leafleting downtowns, confrontations with local police and guardsmen, teargas, rocks, road blockades, memorials for the dead, fires in ROTC buildings – all of these were part of the response of thousands upon thousands of American students across the land.

By Laura Dennison

The Ocean Beach Friends of the Library want to get the OB Library expanded, and May 1st down at City Hall was the beginning of that process for the coming fiscal year. Expansion committee members Mary Cairns, Tony Cataldo, Judy Collier and myself spoke to the San Diego City Council at the first of many fiscal year 2020 city budget hearings. (see photo)

Fourteen years ago, the City acquired the building and land between the OB Library and the Post Office on Santa Monica to expand the library. Known as the “Owen Building” and later as the “Gee Building,” the 1960s-era building was purchased with a $2 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for educational and/or cultural purposes. When the recession slowed the economy, the City could no longer afford the expansion.

The building remained as law offices and rental property management until the City decided not to renew the tenant leases expiring in 2017 and early 2018.

Restaurant Review

ParAgon Deli Café
2724 Shelter Island Dr.
San Diego, CA 92106
619-888-4997

By Judi Curry

Just recently I was told about a new restaurant that had opened up about five months ago in Point Loma that had some of the best soup on the Point.

When I asked where it was I was told it was “in the same parking lot as ‘Fiddler Green’.” I was not told that it was a deli; only that they were touting “Cinco de Mayo” and tortilla soup.

I decided that when my newly married grandson came over today that he, my daughter Stephanie and I would go try it out. The day was cool and soup sounded warm and inviting. Little did I know that we would be walking into Point Loma’s newest gem.

The first thing that we saw was a sign that listed the “specials of the day” with the admonition – “and tomorrow too”. Tortilla soup was listed. (I later found out that they fluctuate between their soups of the day with Clam Chowder).

The facility in itself is small; only 5 tables inside and 3 outside.

News outlets, dutifully supporting Trump administration calls for regime change, reported that a widespread uprising was underway, even though Juan Guaidó’s coup attempt had little support.

By Michael Fox / Nation Magazine / May 2, 2019

Caracas—It began with a tweet.

In it, Venezuela’s self-declared president, Juan Guaidó, stands in front of a line of military vehicles and rows of Venezuelan soldiers in green uniforms. Beside them is opposition leader Leopoldo López, whom they have freed from house arrest, which stemmed from his role in the 2014 guarimba street protests in which dozens of people were killed.

Guaidó, dressed in a black suit and a white shirt, talks to the camera. “Today, the armed forces are clearly with the people,” he says. “The time is now.” He calls on the military to rise up and says they are in the streets. He insinuates that they have taken the Carlota military base in eastern Caracas.

Editordude: In the interests of furthering the discussion about the plans for West Point Loma Blvd, here is local bicycling enthusiast Nicole Burgess’s take. We welcome any other viewpoints on this issue.

A Wonderful Transformation for West Point Loma Blvd

by Nicole Burgess

Yay – I will finally be able to safely ride my bike down West Point Loma Blvd to get ice cream at 31 Flavors. And I can stop at Barons and Grocery Outlet for some groceries. And the next day, I might hit the bank and enjoy a yoga class. A short bike ride to local businesses is a great amenity for all of us.

I am truly grateful for the community of Ocean Beach and Point Loma for supporting this amazing opportunity to repurpose our streets as they are resurfaced. Many thanks also to Council Member Campbell for supporting a Class IV bikeway to provide a safe facility for all ages and abilities. Repurposing our streets as they are resurfaced is a very cost-effective approach to making our streets safer while providing an option for more people to bike, walk, and roll. And West Point Loma is a perfect example.