At the Ocean Beach Town Council monthly public meeting Wed., Aug. 28, a presentation was made about the impacts to OB when there’s a Census under-count in the community.
The lightly-attended meeting also heard from community residents and political representatives about a myriad of upcoming events and then of issues that confound the neighborhood.
A US Census Dept expert, Alejandro Aguilar, gave a presentation on “The Road to 2020” with details about some history, the importance and Constitutional mandate of the Census.
The most interesting aspect of the presentation was on the “Impact to Ocean Beach”. Apparently, the OB Census “Mail Participation” rate in 2010 was only 78%. Not too good. And an estimated 2,000 OBceans required a follow-up by a Census enumerator that year.
Also troubling was the estimated net undercount of OB people in 2020 based on the 2010 Census – which is approximately 1,000 persons. With $1,950 of Federal funds available potentially per person, that means the amount of money Ocean Beach stands to gain or lose over the next decade is $2 Million.
Now, according to Aguilar, Ocean Beach has 2 hard to count census tracks with a population of 2,000 and where the participation rate is lower than 70%.
Traditionally, for the Census bureau, “Hard-to-Count Populations” are usually the following:
- Communities of Color
- Children under 5
- Persons who do not speak English fluently
- LGBTQ+
- Undocumented Immigrants
- People with disabilities
- People experiencing homelessness
- Tribal members
- Rural Communities.
Aguilar gave a push for community organizations to assist the Census in identifying these ‘hard-to-count’ populations in OB. He also confirmed that there is no question about citizenship on the Census.
In Other News or Reports
Between Matt, OB’s librarian and Laura D of the Friends of the OB Library, we learned the following:
- Mystery writer, G.M. Ford, is giving a presentation on his latest book written about a murder in Ocean Beach, “Heavy on the Dead”, Saturday, Sept. 7th at the OB Library at 2pm.
- Book Sale coming up on Sept. 28th.
- Library Drawings: Some of the Friends got a peek at the renderings for the new OB Library and expressed a “need for community feedback” on the proposal.
- Mark Winkie, OBTC prez, said the Town Council would hold a community meeting on the new drawings.
Also there were other announcements:
- Beach Clean-up on Sept. 7 was announced by Greg Crowley of OB-CSI.
- Space at OB Green Center for community meetings, offered Denine Hunt.
- SurfRider is also coordinating a coastal clean-up on Sept. 7;
- Paddle for Clean Water is being held on Oct. 6 at the OB Pier.
- The OBTC was granted $9,000 from the County of San Diego for is programs, the Holiday Parade, etc;
- OBTC gave $1,200 to the OB Fire station for landscaping;
- Pancake Breakfast on the Pier on Sept. 21st needs volunteers.
- There’s also yet another “coastal clean-up” that same day, Sept. 21.
Teddy Martinez with Seamus Kennedy behind him.
Campbell Office Report
Seamus Kennedy of Jen Campbell’s office explained that we’re in the August recess for the city council. Yet probably in early October the Street Vending proposed ordinance will come before Council; the OBMA is pushing hard for this as it is currently written.
On the Dog Beach ADA access sidewalk, Kennedy iterated that it wasn’t built correctly originally, and now if the City doesn’t repair it (for $1.1 million), the City is “liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars.” Their office has received “lots of calls” on this issue.
It’s also to be his last meeting, Seamus said, as he’s being transferred to policy (short-term vacation rentals) within Campbell’s office. He introduced the new OB rep: Teddy Martinez.
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