Month: April 2021

Here’s how TreeWatch San Diego works to protect our urban forest.

By Carolyn Chase / San Diego Union-Tribune OpEd / April 26, 2021

While big events like the EarthFair in Balboa Park were delayed for the second April in a row by COVID-19, the annual observation of Earth Day still gave people time to look for what you can do the rest of the year to connect with nature and help protect it, such as help your local trees and parks.

In the city of San Diego, healthy trees 110 years old and in the public right-of-way have been cut down in violation of city policies and processes. These trees are the latest casualty in a disturbing trend of tree losses to development, disease, pests and neglect. California pepper trees were planted in 1910 in Kensington and about

by Ernie McCray

I’ve been thinking about my mother as Mother’s Day nears, wearing that smile she wore when I brought home good grades, or had done a good deed, or scored a bunch of baskets.

Hers was a beautiful smile, befitting a beautiful woman.

And, I can see her not smiling, too, standing with her hands on her hips, flashing me a look that could change a charging lion’s mind, when I had crossed a line.

The biggest line for me to cross with her was lying.

by JW August / Times of San Diego / April 30, 2021

It was back in 2016 when Geoff Page noticed during his runs up and down Ocean Beach Pier what he thought were troubling structural problems.

Page has a construction background, so he says he couldn’t help but notice excessive wear and other damages to the supports for the 1,971-foot pier — the longest concrete pier on the West Coast.

It was also the same year that Ocean Beach celebrated the iconic pier and its 50-year survival of many of nature’s challenges. Over the decades, massive waves have taken a toll on the pier but how serious the problems may have become had never been made public by the city.

It’s really no surprise that a study recently released by a business institute at Point Loma Nazarene has come out strongly opposed to the City of San Diego creating its own utility company, which would be then publicly-owned.

The study by Nazarene’s Fermanian Business & Economic Institute claims it would cost the city nearly $9 billion in taking over SDG&E’s assets – way too costly – and there would be no benefits to the process called “municipalization.” At a recent press conference, Nazarene chief economist Lynn Reaser and primary author of the study, stood outside a SDG&E substation. Reaser was joined by all the usual suspects:

Editordude: This is the third and final part of our series highlighting proposed improvements of Ocean Beach’s parks. The proposals come from the Ocean Beach Planning Board Parks Subcommittee. (Here is the original.)

Robb Field

The largest recreation space in Ocean Beach, Robb Field is a great community asset that can be updated to provide more recreational amenities and support a diverse range of activities and interests.

Robb Field Athletic Field is the main recreation space in Ocean Beach, and home to many activities that draw users from all over San Diego.

Proposed Improvements

Community requests include the addition of:

• a disc golf training course around the perimeter of the park,

Editordude: This is the second part of our series of the proposed changes and improvement to OB’s seven parks by the Ocean Beach Planning Board Parks Subcommittee. (Here is the original presentation document.)

Ebers Street Park

This family-focused pocket park adjacent to the Ocean Beach Recreation Center is in need of updates to support the health and safety of the many local children that use the playground and grassy area.

Set in the midst of a family neighborhood and across the street from Ocean Beach Elementary School, this park is highly utilized by local children and their caregivers.

The Ocean Beach Farmers Market is open today, Wednesday, and has been for quite some time. Despite the loosening of pandemic rules in general, the restrictions at the market are still in force – see below. According to Tracy Wagner of the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association, they have not heard from the city about any changes.

So, the list of restrictions and rules on the OBMA website is still current. Below is what the site currently states:

What’s Up With the Mayor’s App? – Part 4

By Colleen O’Connor

Today’s “What’s Up” episode deals with one of the nicest new libraries to grace the City. That being the new Mission Hills branch; done with taste and in keeping with that area’s craftsman-like architecture.

However, for months, and months, and months, now, there has been a broken window out front that has been boarded up and yet to be replaced.

Join the Ocean Beach Historical Society tonight, Wednesday, April 28, for a presentation by San Diego Historian and OB Favorite, Richard Carrico on “Women of the Presidio,” – stories rarely told of Colonial and Indigenous Women on the Frontier.

Wed. April 28 at 7 pm via Zoom Teleconference Lecture Link: Women of the Presidio

There’s been a number of developments in San Diego’s efforts to sign a new franchise agreement for its gas and electric utilities.

As you may know, the city’s 100 years with the SDG&E has ended – there’s a temporary extension right now with the giant utility company that has had a virtual monopoly for a century with the fair city. And two mayors, Faulconer and Todd Gloria had tried to re-establish a utility franchise contract with SDG&E, only to be met with intransigence from city council members and those pesky ratepayers. And it turns out, after Gloria opened a second round of bidding for the franchise, once again, SDG&E was the sole bidder:

It can even generate its own water.

By Adele Peters / Fast Company / May 2019

In a factory in Nevada, a large 3D printer prints the pieces of new prefab tiny homes that can work fully off the grid. When complete, the houses will run on solar power, including heating and cooling. An optional system generates water from moisture in the outdoor air so it isn’t necessary to connect to a city water supply. In the bathroom, the home is among the first in the U.S. to use a new shower that cleans and recycles water.

The house, from a startup called PassivDom, is designed to use as few resources as possible.

Editordude: the Ocean Beach Planning Board Parks Subcommittee has come with proposed improvements and recommendations for OB’s 7 parks: Veterans, Saratoga, Ebers Street, Collier, Dog Beach / Spray Street, Robb Field and Dusty Rhodes.

Introduction

The purview of the Ocean Beach Planning Board Parks Subcommittee is to review the accessible park space in the Ocean Beach area for the quality and usefulness of existing amenities and suggest upgrades focused on equity, safety, climate action goals, art, and promoting healthy and active lifestyles in accordance with the City of San Diego’s Parks Master Plan.