By Geoff Page
The parking lot was full, people had parked in the alley, there was no street parking, and there was a good-sized crowd inside the Masonic Lodge for the first meeting of 2020 for the Ocean Beach Town Council on Wednesday, January 22. The reason was quickly apparent as the council was giving out its annual awards for floats in the Ocean Beach Christmas Parade.
Holiday Parade Winners
Before the awards were announced, the council explained that there were 112 entries in the parade. That number was surprising; the parade has grown a lot over the years. When the judging was over, they handed out the following awards for the best floats:
Use of Lights – OB Elementary
VIP – New Break Church
OB Spirit – I Love a Clean San Diego (Float built by Hi-Tech high 7th graders)
Most Unusual – San Diego Mesa College Sculpture Program
Performance – Super Sonic Samba School
Kids Group– Silvergate Elementary Unicycle Group
Music – Islanders
Overall – Saint Charles Borromeo Academy
It was clear by the turnout that these awards meant something to the winners. There were a lot of children, such as the unicycle group from Silvergate, who seemed to be enjoying the whole thing. It was a pure community moment.
OB Holiday Parade Winners and OBTC Board Members. All photos by Geoff Page.
Civic Groups in OB
The meeting opened with non-agenda public comment, during which two current members of the OB Planning Board announced they were running for another term and were soliciting votes. There was an audience question that caused council member Cameron Reid to explain the three civic groups in Ocean Beach, the Town Council, the Planning Board, and the OB Mainstreet Association.
Reid explained that the town council is a non-profit corporation and is not affiliated with the City of San Diego. The OBPB is a public organization and is considered part of the city. The Mainstreet Association is a private organization.
President Mark Winke, emphasized to everyone the importance of the planning board because, of the three groups, it was OB’s only real voice to the city.
This reporter was asked earlier in the day on the 22nd where someone could find the agenda for the Town Council meeting. For some reason, it is not posted to the council’s website. There was no easy way for anyone to have known about the awards in advance except for the participants and friends. There was beautifully printed agenda at the meeting, but it seems like the Town Council might draw more interest if the agenda was easily available on line.
Homeless Clean Ups
Council member Isaac Darby described how some homeless folks down at the seawall were working hard to keep the place cleaned up. He said one guy cleans up on the water side and another cleans up on the sidewalk side. People have noticed their efforts and like it. They also noticed that the van these folks seem to be living in needed tires and they got together and bought new tires showing appreciation and compassion.
Community Relations
San Diego Police Department Community Relations Officer David Surwilo was in attendance and he related a story that has received a lot of media attention about an encounter at Rite Aid. (See story in news column in OB Rag.) Two young, fairly green officers answered a shoplifting call at the store. When it was all over, they had bought a sweatshirt, socks, and shoes for a homeless guy who had no shirt or shoes when he tried to steal a sweatshirt. It was a feel good story and Surwilo enjoyed telling it because it was a good story about cops who are too often portrayed in a negative light.
That triggered a woman in the audience to relate her own experience with the police when she was hit by a car walking across Newport Ave. She was very complementary of the two officers who helped her and of the very thorough police report she had obtained. It appeared that one of these officers was one of the two at Rite Aid. Seems to be making a good name for himself and the PD.
Someone asked Surwilo why the shoplifter wasn’t arrested. He explained that the crime would be a misdemeanor and in order for the police to arrest someone for a misdemeanor, someone has to press charges. Rite Aid did not want to; they just wanted the guy gone. Surwilo explained that the police do not need someone to press charges to make a felony arrest.
Surwilo also related that he posts information to Nextdoor including announcements of things like coffee-with-a-cop events. One of these was held at the Starbucks in OB and was apparently very successful. It was a bit of a slow morning so more officers were able to show up and answer questions from the community. Surwilo invited folks in OB to attend any of these they have throughout the Western District.
District 2 Report – Thursday, January 30
In other government reports, Teddy Martinez, representing Council District 2, reported that they will be having a State of the District event on Thursday, January 30 at 5:30 p.m. The event will be at the Liberty Station Conference Center, 2600 Laning Road. There is a link on Campbell’s website to RSVP if someone wants to go. They will present awards for Neighbor of the Year and Small Business of the Year based on nominations from the public.
There will also be another coffee-with-Jen event at the Kakawa Coffee Shop, 3655 Voltaire St. Saturday, February 8. District 2 councilmember Dr. Jennifer Campbell has held a few of these to meet the public face to face. The event will start at 10:00 a.m.
Martinez said Dr. Campbell met that day with city officials about the OB Library expansion but provided no specifics of what came out of that meeting. He said they want to hold a meeting at the town council about the project and to discuss fund-raising. It seems a shame that there is a need to fund raise private money to perform a long awaited library project that our tax dollars should be covering.
78th Assembly District Note
Michaela Valk, representing the assemblyman from the 78th Assembly District, mentioned two items. The census is happening this year and there is an on-line version folks can use instead of the paper questionnaire. The other item was a reminder of the October first deadline for having either a new California personal ID or a passport if you want to get on a plane.
OBTC Elections Coming
And finally, the Town Council elections are coming up and there are three people leaving the group. There will be a candidate forum soon and people are encouraged to run. For more info or to contact the council see their website or their facebook page. obtowncouncil.org.
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