September 2022

College Area Residents ‘Shut Out, But Not Shutting Up’

September 30, 2022 by Source

By Neighbors for a Better San Diego

After waiting 7 months to see the Planning Department’s revisions for the College Area Community Plan Update, many of you were locked out of last night’s long-awaited meeting on September 28th, 2022. The meeting materials have been posted to the City’s website and we are providing this summary for our members.

Limited Public Participation

First, City staff failed to properly accommodate the number of pre-registered attendees.

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70+ Groups in ReWild Coalition Call on City Council to Fund Mission Bay Wetlands Restoration

September 30, 2022 by Source

Over 70 environmental and conservation groups in the ReWild Coalition called upon the San Diego City Council to fund Mission Bay wetlands restoration in next year’s budget. The groups rallied on Sept. 20 outside City Hall to request that the City Council earmark $250,000.

At the rally, Andrew Meyer, director of conservation at San Diego Audubon Society stated:

“After almost 30 years of inaction on the master plan, the City must show leadership, vision, and decisive action to restore the lungs of the bay, reconnecting us and protecting our communities from the climate crisis. It’s time to ReWild Mission Bay.”

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The Dream of a Canal From San Diego Bay to Mission Bay

September 30, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

Back in the mid to late 1990s, during the Mayor Susan Golding administration, the grandiose idea of creating a canal between the two bays, San Diego Bay and Mission Bay, was alive. With the then recent closure of the Naval Training Center — now Liberty Station — there was interest in a canal. It seemed more than a dream at the time.

It won support from public workshops on the future of the Midway area. And from Mayor Golding. (For a while at least, the canal plan was dubbed “Golding’s Locks.”) But — now over twenty years later, we can see that the canal plan never drew water. It faded away, like the fog of Point Loma. Yet — now, the dream is back! Maybe.

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Mayor’s PR Head Takes Swipe at Editordude

September 29, 2022 by Staff

Rachel Laing, director of communications for the City of San Diego and Mayor Gloria’s top PR person, took a swipe yesterday at Editordude of the OB Rag, Frank Gormlie.

In a discussion of local journalists on her tweeter account, Laing took a shot at Gormlie — for some reason.

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Surfrider to Hold Paddle Around OB Pier for the 30th Year – Sunday, Oct.2

September 29, 2022 by Source

Surfrider Summons Ocean Lovers to Paddle Around Ocean Beach Pier for the 30th Year

Event offers a mass display of solidarity for the protection of our coastline.

Ocean lovers and beach enthusiasts from throughout San Diego County can make a statement – wet or dry –  in support of clean water at Surfrider Foundation San Diego County’s 30th annual Paddle for Clean Water, starting at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2 at the Ocean Beach Pier.

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‘Enjoy the NTC Park Waterway – You’re Paying for It’

September 29, 2022 by Source

Peninsula News from PLA

The waterway beside NTC Park is ready to transfer from the Navy to the City. Finally.

We checked our archives and found a story about the process in our newsletter on January 11, 2018. Here is a direct link to that story, which we thought would be the first of many about this inviting inlet. But there’s been little news until now. The waterway is included with the land transfer from the Federal Government following their 1993 closure of Naval Training Center San Diego.

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‘Keep the Coastal 30 Foot Height Limit for Everyone’

September 28, 2022 by Staff

The ad hoc group of local residents who formed recently to campaign for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the passage of the 30 foot height limit, has just launched their website.

It’s at keepthecoast30.org and is in its beginning stages of having material and news. One of their slogans is:

Vote No on Measure C, the Repeal of the 1972 Citizens’ Initiative

Here is its introduction:

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New ‘Space Pad’ Tiki Bar in Oceanside Inspired by OB’s Spaceman

September 28, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

A spaceship-themed Tiki bar opened in May at Killowatt Brewing’s taproom in Oceanside.

The “Space Pad,” a small hidden speakeasy, was inspired by the late Ocean Beach artist Clinton Cary, better known as the “Spaceman of OB,” who died in 1993.

Pam Kragen, at the SD Union-Tribune, recently wrote about the thematic connection between the bar and Spaceman:

In 1957, Cary began writing and painting about his personal encounters with aliens from a planet he called Rillispore.

In fact, Spaceman talked openly to anyone who would listen about Rillispore. And those who knew him were given “space numbers” which would save them once the aliens landed. Mine was XIB/20 (I think). (I have 3 of his paintings – one of which is a blacklight marvel.)

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OB Town Council ‘Live’ Meeting Tonight — Wed., Sept.28

September 28, 2022 by Source

Join the Ocean Beach Town Council at their September public meeting — Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7pm.

The meeting will be LIVE at Water’s Edge Church (1984 Sunset Cliff’s Blvd) AND broadcasting/interactive on Facebook/Zoom.

CA State Assemblymember Chris Ward will be in attendance and speak to the group.

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San Diego to Begin Short-Term Rental License Process Monday, Oct.3

September 27, 2022 by Source

From City of San Diego:

Starting on Monday, Oct. 3, at noon, hosts can apply for a short-term residential occupancy (STRO) license to operate a dwelling unit in the City of San Diego for short-term rentals. The STRO license will be required starting on May 1, 2023.

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‘How to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Passing of the 30-foot Height Limit? Vote No on Measure C’

September 27, 2022 by Source

The Point Loma – OB Democratic Club held a panel discussion on the 30-foot height limit over the weekend, and after a “lively discussion” club members voted unanimously to: “Support championing the 50th anniversary of this historic landmark – by voting No on measure C.”

Panelists Mandy Havlik, Geoff Page, and Linda Lukacs led the discussion during the Zoom meeting, and pretty much all agreed on the bottomline to save the height restriction in building.

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3 Ocean Beach Restaurants Up for Sale — Along With Their Liquor Licenses

September 27, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

There’s at least 3 Ocean Beach restaurants currently up for sale. That seems like an incredibly high number of eateries on the market for a small neighborhood like OB.

But then you realize, they all have liquor licenses that are also part of the deal. All of them.

What does it all mean? It appears that a significant number of restaurants and liquor licenses are about to trade hands — and with no public input, apparently. One of them is a secret as the establishment is not being disclosed except to potential buyers.

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Vote No on San Diego Measure C — Raising Coastal Zone Height Limits

September 26, 2022 by Source

By John McNab / OpEd San Diego Union-Tribune / Sept. 26, 2022

On Nov. 8, San Diego voters will be asked to lift the 30-foot building height limit in the Midway District and clear the way for a massive redevelopment of the city’s 48-acre sports arena property.

A similar ballot measure was approved in 2020 only to be thrown out after a legal challenge that argued the city had failed to adequately assess the measure’s environmental impacts. Here are two views on the new effort.

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We Have to Collectively Save Our Democracy

September 26, 2022 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

This democracy
of ours
is seen
as an experiment,
one where every citizen,
more or less possesses
the right to life and liberty
in a pursuit for happiness.
But one would be negligent
not mentioning that this experiment
has lacked a hypothesis
by which
America could test
probabilities for success,
this neglect
leaving some people,
from the beginning,
behind the rest

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‘Keep Your Hands Off My Body!’

September 26, 2022 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

Yes, I am old.  Very old.  The chances that I will ever need an abortion in this lifetime are almost nil.  But I have daughters, and granddaughters, and great-granddaughters that may, some day, find they are in a predicament where an abortion is the answer to their problem.

And that is not between that female and her Congressman; her Supreme Court Justice; her representative.  No! That decision should be between her and her physician.

I remember, as a young child, maybe 4-5 years old, overhearing my parents talk about “Patsy” – the young teenager next door that “died because of a hanger abortion.”

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New Polyurethane Material Biodegrades in Ocean Water

September 26, 2022 by Source

This Could Be a Sea Change for Plastic Pollution

By Mario Aguilera / UC San Diego Today / September 22, 2022 

Plastics, now ubiquitous in the modern world, have become a rising threat to human and environmental health. Around the planet, evidence of plastic pollution stretches from grocery bags in the deep sea to microplastics in our food supplies and even in our blood.

Seeking solutions to counteract the rise in plastic trash, scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed new biodegradable materials that are designed to replace conventionally used plastic.

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Celebration of Kip Krueger’s Life – Saturday, October 1

September 26, 2022 by Staff

Join friends and family at the celebration of life for our beloved and legendary comrade, Kip Krueger of Voltaire.

Kip passed on September 15 and is onto his next great adventure leaving us behind to celebrate his life.

This will occur Saturday October 1st at 2 pm at Jim Bell’s compound, 4862 Voltaire St.

Please bring your

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San Diego Municipal Pools – Neglect by Design?

September 23, 2022 by Source

Another Mess at the Mayor’s “Get It Done” App

By Colleen O’Connor

What is happening to the City of San Diego’s municipal pools is scandalous. Or it is the opposite of “benign neglect.” Developers’ dream.

Specifically, neglect by design. In the middle of a heat wave, San Diego has swimming pool hours and days reduced. Pool closed. Re-open sporadically. Then closed again.
The most egregious example is the Bud Kearns pool in North Park.

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Peninsula Planners Balk at Closing Off Evergreen Street at Nimitz Without Community Feedback

September 23, 2022 by Source

By Geoff Page

The highlight of the Peninsula Community Planning Board’s regular monthly meeting, September 15, was another end around maneuver by cycling advocates attempting a major change to a well-traveled Point Loma street.

Evergreen Street

Read this agenda item:

Approval of letter requesting city to install traffic diverters for the area of Evergreen Street near Nimitz.

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This Weekend’s Adams Avenue Street Fair Almost Didn’t Happen

September 23, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

This weekend’s 40th anniversary of the Adams Avenue Street Fair, a landmark for free music, crafts, food and drink, almost didn’t come off. Two weeks ago, it looked like the sponsoring organization, the Adams Avenue Business Association, would have to pull the plug on the annual festival.

It has been a trying time for the business group and its staff. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 event was cancelled. Then, again, in 2021. Scott Kessler, executive director of the Association, explained to the San Diego U-T:

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Planning for the Luminosity Light Festival in Ocean Beach Continues – Next Meeting: Wed., Sept. 28

September 23, 2022 by Mike James

By Mike James

In 1980, as president of the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association (formerly Merchants Association), I proposed that the organization sponsor the 4th of July fireworks off of the Ocean Beach pier. The fireworks became a community tradition until 2019 when the event was cancelled due to structural issues to the pier.

That same year in an O.B Rag article, I suggested the community begin exploring an alternative for the fireworks.

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Kumeyaay Tribal Members: Tipis at Lake Cuyamaca Campground Are Cultural Appropriation and Need to Be Removed

September 22, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

Members of local Kumeyaay tribes are understandably upset that the operators of the Lake Cuyamaca Recreation and Park District have recently added tipis as rental options in their campground.

The tipis are replicas of the traditional dwellings of Indigenous Plains communities and not of local native peoples, the Kumeyaay.

Emily Burgueno, a member of the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the tipis are out of place, that using them as rentals is cultural appropriation of Native American heritage, and they needed to be removed.

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San Diego Vets Call to Cancel Miramar Air Show – Will Protest on Carroll Canyon Overpass – Thurs., Sept.22

September 22, 2022 by Source

The San Diego Veterans For Peace, along with 16 other local environmental, social, and religious groups, will be again demonstrating at the Carroll Canyon Road overpass to the I-15, this Thursday, Sept 22nd between 4 and 6 PM, asking that the upcoming Miramar Air Show be cancelled, as an unnecessarily dangerous and environmental disaster. (Come inside for more.)

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San Diego Apologizes for Japanese-American Internment During WWII as ‘Racist’ But Offers No Reparations

September 21, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

On Tuesday, September 20, the City of San Diego formally rescinded a 1942 resolution the city council had passed 80 years ago in support of the incarceration of Japanese Americans in prison camps during World War II.

City councilmembers made the rescission and called the camps and the council’s 1942 resolution supporting them racist, unjust and a form of hate.

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‘Feeding-Frenzy’ About to Begin Over Navy’s NAVWAR Property

September 21, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

If you thought the developers’ feeding frenzy around the Sports Arena was intense, wait until you see what happens when the Navy unleashes its request for proposals for its sprawling NAVWAR properties.

Sometime this fall, the Navy will issue what’s known as a request for qualifications (RfQ) for its area in the Midway District. That will be quickly followed by a request for proposals, which, as the Union-Tribune described, “will kickstart a real estate competition where almost anything goes.”

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More On the Status of San Diego’s Community Planning Groups

September 21, 2022 by Source

By Paul Webb / September 20, 2022

The thing that I keep coming back to in all this is the notion that the planning groups are somehow stifling the development community and blocking much needed housing development that will bring down the cost of housing in San Diego.

I will ignore for the moment the often asserted belief that more housing will result in lower prices and just focus on how much housing planning groups have blocked. I have served two full three-year terms and am in my current term that ends in March.

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Join OB Hardware in Celebrating Its Anniversary — Sat., Sept.24

September 21, 2022 by Source

This Saturday, Sept. 24, is the OB Hardware Anniversary Party. Join the new owners –Joe and Jenae Kuchman — in their celebration at 4871 Newport Ave.

There will be giveaways, Live music, and a Kiddo craft project.

Saturday, September 24, 2022 – 12:45pm

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40th Annual Adams Avenue Street Fair – Sat. & Sun., Sept. 24-25

September 21, 2022 by Source

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‘Pollinators in the Garden’ – Special Workshop at OB Community Garden – Sat., Sept.24

September 21, 2022 by Source

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Sept 25 — Celebrate 50th Anniversary of the Passage of the 30-foot Height Limit

September 20, 2022 by Source

Panel Discussion on Issue Main Event.
This November marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of the 30-foot height limit, Prop D, which was voted into law by the people of San Diego in 1972.

And the Point Loma – OB Democrats are having a panel discussion on September 25 about Measure C — this November’s ballot measure which seeks to amend the People’s Ordinance to exclude the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan area,

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