The OB Rag Annual Summer Fundraising Campaign Is Here

10 Reasons to Support the OB Rag

It’s that time again – time for the annual OB Rag fundraising campaign to begin.

Now in our 12th year as an online newspaper for the Ocean Beach and Point Loma communities, we’ve largely been able to continue publishing because of donations from readers and supporters.

So …. we’re asking readers to go to the top of the home page and click on the PayPal logo and make a donation. We’re aiming to raise $2,000 over this next week. If achieved, that will enable us to continue to be “the conscience of OB” as that TV muckraker Michal Tucko once said for another year.

O you can donate to us the traditional way, by mailing it to us at our post office box (OB Rag, PO Box 7012, Ocean Beach, CA 92167).

By the way, we need contributions because we do have bills and we have several writers who we pay a measly sum to for their reports, reviews and writings.

 Here’s Ten Reasons to Support the OB Rag:

1. Short Term Vacation Rentals: The OB Rag for the last 3 years has been at the forefront of this issue, with reports and analysis of the devastating effects of short term vacation rentals on Ocean Beach and other beach and coastal neighborhoods; we have highlighted efforts by the OB Planning Board and OB Town Council to lobby against them; we have helped educate and mobilize local residents to oppose the short term rentals taking over sections of the village. Finally, most recently we joined OBceans downtown and aided a majority of the City Council to place needed regulations on the industry.
2. Reports on 3 Local Planning Committees and OB Town Council: We provide reports on the meetings (and controversies) of the three planning committees in the Peninsula area – the OB Planning Board, the Peninsula Community Planning Board and the Midway / Pacific Planning Board. We also advertise, advocate for and report on their elections. No other media outlet provides this kind of local coverage. Plus we consistently and regularly report on meetings and activities of the Ocean Beach Town Council.
3. Discussion Platform for local residents: the OB Rag provides a platform for residents and neighbors to discuss local issues and problems, everything from the dumping of electric scooters and dockless bikes to the explosion of beerpubs to the effects of new developments to the 30 foot height limit.
4. History of Ocean Beach: OB Rag archives and staff are resources for the history of OB and the area, and help to provide not only historical context but also a source for a community-collective memory. Members of our staff worked on the original OB Rag back in the 1970s and so some of us have been around for a long time.
5. Conscience of the Community: Michael Turko, formerly of the well-known “Turko Files” once said that the OB Rag “is the conscience of OB.” We’ve earned this moniker due to our efforts to hold government’s feet to the fire, to question authority, to ask questions no one else asks.
6. Keep Track of Development Projects: It’s been our task over the years to keep track of the development projects that come into OB and Point Loma; we help ensure the projects live up to their designs and the law.
7. Business and Merchant News: we are a source of news from the business and merchant community, the comings and goings of businesses, big and small. The OB Rag broke the news Target planned to move into the Newport Antique mall, we broke the news that the pop pie folks were pulling out from the fomer Nati’s site and we spilled the frijoles that Wonderland was parft of a deal to open a new Mexican restaurant at that site. In general we welcome new storefronts with props para gratis. We also offer merchants inexpensive online advertising.
8. Restaurant Reviews: we have a fine tradition of publishing reviews of local restaurants and eateries, unequaled anywhere on the Point.
9. Community Calendar: the OB Rag is a source for meeting and event notices, from presentations by the OB Historical Society to forums held by the OBTC or the Planning Board to free film nights at the OB Green Center to book sales by Friends of the OB Library. Plus our “Links” page has connections to all OB groups, organizations, and all the OB-oriented facebook pages and many Point Loma groups.
10. OB Rag Is Active in the Village; the OB Rag has not just been a media platform, we’ve also been advocates and active in improving the community. The OB Rag suggested the bench in front of the OB Library; we convinced the new owners of the hostel not to repaint the exterior; we’ve lobbied for new infrastructure, like a new lifeguard stations and restrooms; we’ve helped to save Torrey Pines, the OB Library, the OB firepits – just for starters. (And most recently, we are collaborating with the OB Library to set up an exclusive “OB Shelf”.)

If you need more reasons, see this.