Month: August 2022

Part 1 in an intermittent series on the Growing Problem with Physician Burnout

By Joni Halpern

Drive along any major freeway in San Diego County, and you will come upon towering structures of glass and steel advertised as being among the nation’s best medical facilities, each one part of a different health care system whose doctors, nurses and other health care workers are portrayed as happily delivering optimum medical care to all of us.

But what if the public could peer through the reflective glass of these health care temples and see what has really happened over the past several years to doctors and other health care workers who toil on our behalf?  What if we discovered that our doctors were exhausted by growing workloads, inadequate support, and a losing battle with work-life balance? 

Every now and then we step back and gaze at our seaside village through the lens of time.

Today, we view what was happening in Ocean Beach one decade ago in August of 2012. Here are some of the stories from the pages of the OB Rag that month.

OB Planning Board Takes on Variances

August 1, 2012 The Planning Board was taking on the issue of the “Variance Dilemma.” After some discussion, the Board unanimously agreed to request an immediate moratorium on variances in the RM 2-4 zone,

The third annual World Surfing Championships came to sleepy Ocean Beach in the late summer of 1966. And Eric DuVall, head of the OB Historical Society, has just compiled a wonderful remembrance of that event and those early days of surfing in OB and Southern California.

Here are some quotes from DuVall’s latest historical piece in the Pt Loma – Ocean Beach Monthly:

A Reality Check

Supporters of the elimination of the 30-foot height limit consistently point to the passage of Measure E in 2020 with 57% of San Diego voters supporting it. The same measure is again heading to the ballot this November after the original vote was invalidated by a judge, ruling the city needed to fulfill the required environmental impact study.

Wow, 57% — that’s a huge majority. The people have spoken! The will of the people demands that the height limit should be eliminated in the Midway area / Sports Arena zone. And they will speak again come the fall.

But wait.

Andrea Schlageter, Chair of San Diego’s volunteer Community Planners Committee, has alerted her fellow planners of Mayor Todd Gloria’s plan to issue a second housing “package.”

In a brief email to planners (reprinted here with her permission) Schlageter states, “… there is something I would like everyone to keep at top of mind. Early next year the Mayor is planning on pursuing a second housing action package. As of right now there are no firm policies, but there are goals and rough ideas which you can review …” (Andrea provided a link to Gloria’s city website).

Schlageter ended:

By Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times / Aug. 16, 2022

The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant lies on the coast near San Luis Obispo within 20 miles of four active earthquake faults.

The faults were apparently unknown to the plant’s owner, Pacific Gas & Electric, which certified during the construction period that no such faults existed within that distance. Unit 2 was built in accordance with flawed blueprints.

There have been efforts to close the plant for years, gaining intensity as PG&E’s atrocious safety record came to light.

Satire by Tom Mullaney

I read that the City of San Diego has purchased 25 acres of open space land to add to Mission Trails Park.  That’s good news!

The next piece of good news that I am anticipating —

Mayor Todd Gloria will make this announcement:

1. He realizes that the various developer incentives, including zoning waivers, have not been beneficial.

2. He’ll acknowledges that housing prices in the City of San Diego and the region are  a function of market forces.  Housing prices have risen throughout the nation.  Prices in San Diego are higher than many regions in the U.S. because many Americans’ want to live here and invest here, and have the money to do it.

Enjoy this lengthy video of “Trolley to the Beach” by the OB Historical Society. Originally published in February 2021.

Here is the text from OBHS when it was published:

Trolley to the Beach is a survey of suburban public transportation in the first half of the 20th Century in San Diego, California, and a multi-media presentation written and produced by Eric DuVall. Originally recorded December, 2020.

By Judi Curry

I heard this was coming.  This, plus the proposed increase to my water bills, has me pondering if I should go back to teaching.  After all, there is a teacher shortage, and at my age I might just have to go back to work just to pay my utility bills.

Yeah, I can hear you now!  What the hell is the old negative widder talking about now?  You mean you don’t know?  What fun to be able to show you a copy of a “flash” from the Union/Tribune just a few days ago.  Ready?

News Alert – Aug. 11, 2022
San Diego looks to eliminate nearly all natural gas by 2035. What does that mean for your home? A dramatic update of city’s Climate Action Plan aims to retrofit 90% of buildings, including homes. But a cost estimate is still to come.

I don’t know about those of you that cook, but as a gourmet cook that has written three cookbooks

Part 5

By Colleen O’Connor

How many ways?  How many times?  How many places?  How many photos? Does it take to clean up the city?

This is the fifth attempt to get Mayor Todd Gloria and members of the City Council to leave their white tablecloth lunches and walk just 8 blocks from their offices to see what residents, visitors, businesses, postal workers and taxpayers must wade through every day.

It is a disgrace as these photos demonstrate.  It is also a serious health risk amid both a COVID and monkeypox medical emergencies. We should be appalled.  In fact, most San Diegans are more than that.  They are outraged.

Planning for long-term project to be led by task force of locals and city staff

The City of San Diego has just announced it will replace the Ocean Beach Pier.

Planning for what will be an expensive and long-term project will be advised by a task force made up nominated local OBceans and city staff.

James Nagelvoort, director for the Strategic Capital Projects Department, made this announcement:

This is the third in a series on Brittney Griner by Ernie. (Here’s No. 1 and No. 2)

by Ernie McCray

Seems, at times,
that our nation
has trouble loving,
caring,
as evidenced
by so many
people finding joy
in Brittney Griner’s
9-year sentence
for weed possession
in a Russian prison,