Author: Staff

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

By Geoff Page

Whenever you plan to take an action you know is wrong, it helps to have confederates around you so when the feces hit the fan, they won’t all blow on you. In this case, there were, allegedly, three confederates, the FAA, the airport, and the city. The action, that someone clearly knew was wrong, was the attempt to cut down historic tall palm trees in the 4300 and 4400 blocks of Newport Avenue.

Lucy Evans Lauren Memorial Garden in Point Loma

There’s a hidden public garden in Point Loma that’s considered one of San Diego’s treasures. San Diego philanthropist George Lauren created this quiet garden to honor his late wife, Lucy Lauren.

Set on a residential street in the Point Loma neighborhood, the park is well off the beaten path. You may find you have the gazebo and grassy pathways all to yourself.

Through Mayor Gloria’s “Sexy Streets Project”, 2.5 miles of streets will be repaired in District 2 in 2022.

From a December 20, 2021 memo from the mayor’s office to the City Council, the mayor outlined which streets and roads would get fixed in each city council district.

From the Memo:

In August 2021, City Council approved $293 million in appropriations, including roughly $40 million for the Sexy Streets initiative. …

It then listed the different FY22-23 Sexy Streets Projects for each council district. For the Peninsula area (OB, Point Loma, Midway), the following were listed:

By Geoff Page

The conflict over the Newport palm trees that are allegedly interfering with aircraft flying over Point Loma is quiet at the moment. No official word yet.

A resident reported that the trees that supposedly posed an immediate safety hazard were recently trimmed.

However, thanks to some archival video of Newport Avenue, the major fallacy of tree growth can be substantiated. OB resident and vice-chair of the OB Planning Board Kevin Hastings dug up a 1970 video that shows Newport Avenue from Venice Street,

More than 60 people showed up at Dog Beach on Sunday to show their support for the people of Ukraine.

And they did this by making a giant peace sign with their bodies on the sand.

The Planning Board for Ocean Beach meets this Wednesday, March 2, and the meeting will continue to be held virtually via Zoom. (See below for registration.)

Planning Board Elections

The OBPB will also be ending its annual elections during the March 2nd meeting. Information can be found at this Rag article or on the board’s website . Results will be announced Thursday, March 3, 2022 via OBPB email and social media.

The only project up for review is a proposed parcel divide and construction of a new 2,400 square foot house on the second parcel on Santa Cruz.

On Friday, Feb. 25, SDG&E’s parent company, Sempra Energy, reported $2.6 billion in adjusted earnings for 2021.

It’s not a stretch to say that San Diegans – with the highest electrical rates in the country – have been generously helping the energy giant make its profits.

Sempra’s adjusted earnings of $2.6 billion for 2021 include income from all its companies. SDG&E’s earnings for 2021 were reported as $819 million.

The local CBS affiliate asked Alan Gin, a professor of economics at the University of San Diego, to take a look at Sempra’s recent earnings report. His response:

“Well, I think consumers are probably going to be unhappy because they’re paying these increased rates, the highest in the nation actually. And, yet, the company is taking that and then giving it out as dividends to their shareholders, and they’re also using it to repurchase stock, which is benefiting the shareholders as opposed to the customers.”

Today, Monday, the last day of February, there will be a press conference held to announce opposition to an early County Democratic Party “Friendly Incumbent Endorsement” of Councilmember Jen Campbell before the June Primary.

The press conference will be held at Morley Field parking lot east of tennis courts at 10:30 a.m.

Union grocery workers are rallying today for a new contract at Ralphs on Sports Arena Boulevard today, Feb. 28 at noon. The union contract for almost 9,000 San Diego workers expires on March 6 and the rally is to show the companies and public at large that these workers continue to be essential and that they deserve a new union contract that reflects the service and sacrifices that they have made.

The union that represents the workers is United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 135, and the contract that expires covered workers at Albertsons, Gelson’s, Ralphs, Stater Bros, and Vons in San Diego County. The union contracts covered approximately 60,000 workers in Southern California.

By Geoff Page

The Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group’s discussion about its own yearly elections was the most serious topic by far during the February monthly meeting. A group that should consist of 12 people will have 9 or 10 seats up for election. The problem is – and it is chronic – trying to find enough people to volunteer just to fill all 12 seats.

Elections

After attending these meetings for several years, this writer can attest to the challenge the group has always faced sitting 12 people. The board previously was to be made up of 15 people, they reduced it to 12 because of the difficulty getting volunteers. There always seem to be a few empty seats.

This year, COVID complicated things because they did not have an election last year and sort of agreed to just postpone until 2022. It created problems for all planning boards.

By Geoff Page

The regular monthly meeting of the Peninsula Community Planning Board, Thursday, February 17, was a basically routine affair. What was probably of most interest to Point Loma residents was a letter that contained traffic recommendations for the length of Sunset Cliffs Blvd. from Adair Street at the north end to Ladera Street at the southern end.

Sunset Cliffs parking regulations

Residents along this stretch of Sunset Cliffs have been complaining for at least two years or more about noise, trash, and basic lawlessness by visitors. The sunsets at the cliffs apparently made it to social media some time ago and crowds flock to the cliffs from outside the area. The traffic jams leaving after sunset are well known by everyone.

By Geoff Page

While the regular monthly meeting of the Ocean Beach Planning Board February 2nd was short and relatively uneventful, some useful information was shared with the community. This function of the planning boards is as useful, if not more so, than the central task of reviewing projects.

Vendor Ordinance, city budget, and stairs

The vendor ordinance is a big one for OB and District 2 council representative, Teddy Martinez, provided an update. A draft of the proposed ordinance has been released for review by anyone who wishes to see it and provide comments. Just go here.