Author: Frank Gormlie

Residents of Uptown were supposed to go to the polls Tuesday, August 20, to elect new members to the Uptown Community Planning Group, which comprises Hillcrest, Middletown, the Medical Complex area, Mission Hills, University Heights and Bankers Hill. Others just went on their phones or desktop or laptop computers with the intent to vote virtually.

But something happened a long the way.

The voting system broke down — literally — the computers running the count screwed up and froze. And those running the show cancelled the election. One local resident called it “a fiasco.”
Many of those who stood in line were outraged.

Before we round out this week, we must note that it was 50 years ago that Richard Nixon resigned as president. The first and only president to resign in disgrace.

It was on August 8 and I was sitting in a Mexican restaurant in Isla Vista, next to UC Santa Barbara, taking a dinner break in my drive from the Bay Area back to Ocean Beach. All of a sudden, there was a grave tone from an announcer, and Richard Nixon appeared on the eatery’s TV which was mounted on a wall. His visage appeared and he announced he was resigning the next day, August 9, 1974.

I was full of joy! He deserved to go and I in fact had been involved in the movement to get him to either be impeached or forced to resign.

He was very bad — and whether he was worse than Trump is up to history (as Trump is not done with us yet). But Nixon in his own way tried to be a dictator — and the American people stood up to him — as did the Supreme Court — and their representatives forced him out.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

To all our readers and supporters who have given the Rag our best fundraiser ever! It’s been amazing.

We asked our community for $3,000 and you gave us $5,000! Incredible.

The well-known Ebb Tide Motel on West Pt Loma is up for sale, along with the adjoining apartment building. Together, the properties are being offered for $8,750,000.

And together they include a total of 23 units — the motel has 15 and the multi-family building has 8.

Not only that, the in-place TOT license is being offered for short-term rentals. The offer makes this statement:

A buyer may have the option to utilize the in-place TOT license and run short-term rentals (AirBnB, VRBO, etc.) or convert the units into true apartments. With great parking, ocean views, and steps from the beach, a buyer can develop a substantial increase in gross income.

Tragedy struck a neighborhood of Point Loma on Wednesday, August 14, when a toddler was found to have drowned in a backyard pool of a home in the 1600 block of Chatsworth Boulevard.

San Diego police officers responded to a call from a woman who reported that a 2-year-old was drowning in a pool at around 3:15 p.m.  Although officers and medics attempted CPR, the child succumbed to the drowning, SDPD Officer J. Perales said.

The exact address of the home is not known, but there appears to be at least 3 backyard pools on that block of Chatsworth.

Editordude: Back in the mid-Seventies, San Diego Magazine — known today as a slick mag beset with stories of the flashy high-living pleasures of San Diego’s rich and near-rich — was a local hard-hitting and muck racking journal in a GOP-controlled city with a monopoly press (the San Diego Union). Now, all of a sudden with the following article about Ocean Beach and its distaste for ADUs, the media project appears like it want to take up its former mantle.

We applaud that and we applaud SDM writer Maya Srikrishnan’s attempt to do just that – be relevant again. This metropolis needs all the help it can get.

Back in the mid-Seventies, one writer for the magazine created its reputation of muck-raking: long-time San Diego newscaster and journalist Harold Keen.

Goal of $3,000 Surpassed Over Weekend

I am speechless and overwhelmed at the support the Rag has received these last few days during our summer fundraising campaign. And that is a rarity.

We began the campaign last Wednesday, August 7, and set a goal of $3,000. We nearly reached that in just 3 days. And over the weekend, the outpouring of monetary donations not only got us to the goal but shot us to a total so far of $3,730! And that’s not counting pledges and checks sent the Rag to our PO Box.

Incredible. In less than 3 days, the OB Rag fundraising campaign has reached 80% of our goal of $3,000! As of this writing, we’ve received donations totaling $2,370. Somebody likes us, despite our vocal detractors.

Here’s 13 Reasons to Support the OB Rag:

1. Our Progressive Politics: we stand for liberty and democracy and for a woman’s right to choose. We are diametrically opposed to Trump’s banana republic and against his authoritarianism — which include plans for the end of the Constitution and the Rule of Law. We’re for racial and gender equality.
2. We Oppose the Direction that San Diego Is Going: the current city leadership is taking us down the wrong road in its imposition of un-democratically-forced rules that threaten our neighborhoods. We stand for more affordable housing, renters’ rights and an end to the corporate ownership of our housing stock. We also find it unacceptable that large campaign donors can reap the award of public land and development projects.

For the last bunch of years, the OB Rag has held our annual summer fundraising campaign during the month of August. And it’s that time of year again!

We only do this once a year, so help us reach our goal of $3,000 over the next two weeks. We do have bills — and our server bill just went up to $900. We do pay some of our reporters and writers a small amount, usually $35 to $50 an article, plus we have subscription bills and utilities to pay.

Over this last year, the Rag has become the online platform for dissatisfied residents of many neighborhoods besides Ocean Beach and Point Loma – disgruntled and frustrated fellow citizens upset with the leadership of the city – people from University City, Hillcrest, Mira Mesa, Pacific Beach, Barrio Logan, Southeast — the list keeps growing.

The San Diego Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on an application to convert 21 apartment units within three existing buildings into condominium units located at 2916 through 2996 Worden Street.

The hearing will be August 8, 2024, at 9 am in Council Chambers, 12th floor of the City Administration Building at 202 C Street. If the conversion project is approved, then all the tenants who currently live n the 21 apartments would be required to move out, to vacate the premises.

Those same tenants will have the right to contract for the purchase of their unit — for a limited period of time, however — 90 days from the issuance of a building report (see official notice below). The 1.2 acre project site is within the Peninsula Community Plan area.

The applicant for the conversion is Hunsaker & Associates, who describe themselves

San Diego’s Fox5 has provided the rest of us with an update of the Navy’s ambitious effort to revitalize the 70.3-acre Old Town campus with the redevelopment of the NAVWAR facilities.

Why, it was just Monday, July 29, that Navy officials reported the environmental review process was proceeding alongside the exclusive negotiation period for a long-term lease with the potential master development group military officials selected to lead the renovation, Manchester/Edgemoor.

Manchester / Edgemoor consists of two firms — Manchester Financial, a hotel and commercial development firm, and Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate, an affiliate of Clark Construction that specializes in public-private partnerships.

Ocean Beach Slumlord Micky Mills Able to Obtain 115 Licenses Due to Loop Holes

Some have thought that Councilmember Jen Campbell had reformed and sanded off some of her rough edges, but after Thursday’s Community and Neighborhood Services Committee, which she chairs, those thoughts crashed and burned.

Because it’s been a little over a year since the requirements imposed by the City to license short-term rentals went into effect, it was time for the committee to review the results of the STRO and pass on any recommendations for improving the ordinance to the full Council.