December 2019

By OB Rag Staff

Reliable locals told the OB Rag staff that Pepe’s – the Italian restaurant on Sunset Cliffs – has closed for good. It’s been closed for days or even weeks already.

It was just last March that we reported there were new owners – Vanessa Perez and her hubby John – and they promised they’d keep the restaurant the same as the previous owners. Vanessa had deep restaurant connections – her mother owned a Los Angeles restaurant for 12 to 15 years and was the personal chef for George Carlin. Vanessa’s extended family has restaurants in Mexico. And John come to Pepe’s with a lot of restaurant experience – he worked for the Marriott and for Brinker, who owns the Chili’s chain.

Careful observers of the OB development scene may have been wondering, ‘whatever happened to the commercial project coming in on Voltaire Street?’

It was a year ago almost exactly that the OB Planning Board’s Project Review Committee gave approval to a 2-story, mixed-use commercial project for 4870 Voltaire Street – which is the former Dover Plumbing property next to the Jim Bell property. Mark Brencick was the owner-developer. Brencick was going to demolish the former Dover building and the construct his 2-story, 7,430 square-foot, mixed-use building consisting of 2 for rent dwelling units and 2,380 square feet of commercial space. The dwelling units were designed to have 2 and 3 bedrooms.

PARADE PHOTOS INSIDE

Grace Quigley – one of the co-chairs of the OB Holiday Parade – sent out an email to the hundreds of parade volunteers on Saturday – including this reporter – promising the parade would go on “with or without rain.” And she was so right.

The 2019 OB Holiday Parade was so lucky – it ducked the rain – and any injuries from a car that drove through a line of pedestrians.

Thousands of people – adults and kids jammed the sidewalks of OB’s three business blocks – as they do every year. But this year, the rain was making it a dicey game. But nature smiled and the rain passed.

The Grand Marshall(s) this year was/ were the James brothers, Pat, Mike, Ron and Greg.

Holiday Parade – Saturday, December 7 – 5:05 p.m.

For 40 years, our quaint little surfing village of Ocean Beach has hosted one of the best Holiday Parades in SoCal. On Saturday, December 7th, Newport Avenue is lined with colorful OBceans and visitors all eagerly awaiting the commencement of the 39th Annual OB Holiday Parade at 5:05pm. Our 2019 Theme is ‘Miracle On Newport Ave’!

Hello Neighbors!

As we look forward to the holidays (with the gift of rain), there’s clearly a lot to celebrate here in San Diego. I’m proud of the progress that we’ve made so far.

The Biggest SDPD Recruiting Class in 25 Years – Addressing our police force’s recruitment and retention issues have been a high priority for me since coming into office. One big step towards increasing the size of the police department was in the budget we passed, which increased pay, funded a better marketing campaign to recruit officers from other departments and bonuses for those who join. That work is paying off, with more officers on the streets and the largest recruiting class SDPD has seen in 25 years. While there are more spots to fill, more officers means more community policing, safer neighborhoods and increased quality of life.

Clean Power Coming to San Diego – As an alternate to the board of San Diego’s new community choice energy program, I’m seeing firsthand how quickly our region is moving towards a clean energy future.

by Bob Edwards

Some say that the Holiday Season starts with the trick or treaters. Others say Thanksgiving dinner is the opening event. For this reporter the holidays really kick off with the arrival of the OB Holiday Tree, an event that happened this Tuesday morning in a finely coordinated process perfected over the years by Town Council volunteers, arborists, crane operators, and SD Police Department officers.

Community members and neighbors gathered at 7 am today to observe the harvesting of the 40 foot tree from a home on Muir Street, a few blocks east of Sunset Cliffs Blvd. Three hours later the tree had been cut down, transferred to the foot of Newport on a flatbed truck, and lowered into the concrete-encased vertical steel pipe that lies dormant beneath the sand for eleven months out of each year.

Grown from a live Christmas tree purchased in 1975 and planted about five years later, the tree was donated by a family with deep OB roots who wish to remain anonymous. In high winds the tree was starting to threaten the family’s home as it swayed back and forth so they kindly decided to donate the star pine to the community.

Tuesday, December 3, the Electric Chair – one of OB’s mainstay hair salons – is closed and locked up. A hand-written sign taped on the glass says “Closed Tuesday 12/3/19 – Open on Wednesday 12/4/19“.

Yet over one of the large main windows hangs a banner that boldly states:

“New Ownership – Grand Re-Opening Just Days Away!”