OB Rag

Hello, fellow activists!

We are asking for San Diegans – and ONLY SAN DIEGANS – to help out by signing our new Change.org petition.

The petition asks that the San Diego City Council support a resolution to amend the constitution and reverse Citizens United. After all, corporations are not people and money is not free speech!

We’ll be submitting this petition list to members of the San Diego City Council in June as part of ongoing nationwide effort. For that reason it is important that only those living in the city of San Diego (ZIP code 92101-92199) sign.

The OB Rag had heard that the Ocean Beach ARCO, at the prominent corner of Newport and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, was closing. As I drove by the site yesterday afternoon, I noticed workers placing items into a white van, and the yellow, caution tape draped across all the pumps. So I parked and went looking for answers.

Inside the station itself, 95% of everything had been removed. There were some former ARCO workers milling about, papers in hand, and a woman videotaping what remained. After asking her if I could speak to her for a minute, Jennifer informed me that ARCO did not renew their lease with the property owners of the site. So, the property owners were leasing it out to Shell, which owns USA Gas, and it is USA Gas that will be the new station going in. It will be open in about a week I was told.

Ocean Beach – Where oh where is OB’s ARCO going? Is this part of the BP plan?

Did ARCO inform Ocean Beach that they were pulling up stakes? Did they tell OBMA? The Planners? The Town Council? Their own staff?

What do you think, oh wise OBcean?

Let us know if you have a clue, an inkling, or have found the secret plans of British Petroleum.

From Stop Prop A

San Diego, CA – “San Diegans do love their parks, but our parks could be at risk if Prop A passes,” begins District 7 Councilmember Marti Emerald in a taped statement released today by the No on Proposition A campaign.
COME INSIDE FOR DETAILS

Voter Approval of Proposition A on the June 5 Ballot could cause the City of San Diego’s Bond Ratings to Drop

San Diego, CA – Fitch Ratings, a global rating agency dedicated to scoring agencies’ financial strength, has cautioned the City of San Diego that passage of Proposition A will present severe fiscal consequences to the city, …COME INSIDE FOR DETAILS

Sometimes when I’m feeling mellow I can’t help but reflect on the good moments in my life, on the things that make my heart sing. Being an actor, and a patron of the arts, theater is high among the list of things that energize my existence.

And there is a performing arts company in town called Mo’olelo (story in Hawaiian) that is dedicated to staging dramas that inspire us, no matter our ethnicity or creed or what we believe, to seek and embrace ways to respect each other for who we all are: human beings.

They are dedicated to such ideals in every play, going about it in a community-focused, socially-conscious way, seeking always to provide significant roles for actors of color and to allow the company to serve communities that are traditionally under-served in American theater. I especially appreciate that they visit classrooms to ignite students’ imaginations and prepare them for theater-going experiences before they see the plays. That’s walking the talk to me.

Walk, Ride or Roll to your Next Destination

By Nicole Burgess

Have you seen this biking crew? These students from Dana Middle School and others are becoming active and riding to and from school on a daily basis. They have fun, explore their neighborhoods, and are becoming less reliable on the normal means of transportation, the car. They have traveled to local distances such as Shelter Island and around Mission Bay as well as a few making the trek to Knott’s Berry Farm for spring break. These kids know how to ride.

It’s no secret that marriage is in decline across America.

For example, a recent PBS report noted that only half of U.S. adults are married, an all-time low. And of today’s Americans, only 72% have been married at some point, down from 85% in the 1960s.

But a lesser-known fact is that our country’s marriage declines have not been distributed evenly across the population. Poor people, in particular, are much less likely to get hitched than they were just a few decades ago.

San Diego Janitors and Supporters March Through Downtown San Diego, and Labor Council Poised to Aid Janitors’ Strike

On Thursday, May 31, 2012, unions representing over two hundred thousand working men and women throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties are expected to pledge their support for San Diego’s United Service Workers West janitors in the event of a strike. A vote to sanction the strike would mean honoring the picket line if building owners and their contractors do not reach an agreement with the janitors’ union by June 2, 2012.

“For the past couple of months, we have negotiated with contractors representing building owners for a contract that includes a modest wage increase and health care for our families,” said María Aldama, member of the Bargaining Committee and janitor for 5 years. “If our employers can afford to give janitors in Los Angeles, Orange County, and in Northern California a raise and are able to provide health care for workers and their families, why can’t they do the same for San Diego janitors?”

“Expresso Pizza – Ristorante Italiano”
1776 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., San Diego, CA 92107

For the past twenty years, my husband and I – when he was alive – housed foreign language students in the United States to learn to speak English. Over those twenty years, more than 360 have lived with us in an “immersion” program. Currently I have two students – one from Korea and one from Switzerland. I was very surprised with my Swiss student told me tonight that he had never had Italian food in a restaurant in the United States. So…since it was Wednesday night – Farmer’s Market Night – I thought we would try Expresso Pizza on Sunset Cliffs because I didn’t want to fight the traffic from patrons leaving the OB area.

The restaurant is really two parts: one to place orders to go and the second adjoining part a dining-in establishment. Our waitress welcomed us and told us that we could sit anywhere we wanted to sit. After being seated she asked us if we wanted to start with water and bread. We did.

The San Diego Planning Commission is meeting today, Thursday, May 31st, on a decisive issue regarding the continued efforts at gentrification in Ocean Beach. What’s on their agenda is the Burks residence at 5170 West Point Loma Boulevard in Ocean Beach.

On December 7, 2011, the OB Planning Board unanimously denied the application by the Burks to construct a massive three story McMansion at the site of the old one-story duplex on their property. The Board voted against their application for a variance to not allow the 25% parking requirement to go against the required .75 FAR (floor area ratio), plus there were other issues required under state law that had not been proven by the applicant.

Yet, then on March 14th, this year, a San Diego hearing officer heard the matter. City staff were against the recommendation by OB’s Planning Board, and called for the building’s approval. And this is what the hearing officer did.

This set up the battle – for the Ocean Beach planners have been fighting City staff for months over the issue of the City granting variances to allow home-owners to circumvent the Ocean Beach Precise Plan and its requirements. So, the OBPB is appealing the decision of the hearing officer. City staff, in the person of Sandra Teasley, has again called for the denial of the appeal, which would give a green-light to the developer.

And now, the Planning Commission takes up the issue, today, May 31st, and the item is the first action item on their agenda.

San Diego Planning Commission

9:00 A.M., MAY 31, 2012

City Administration Building
Council Chambers
202 C STREET, 12TH FLOOR

Even though the great city of Los Angeles is just a mere hundred miles to the north of San Diego, you’d think it was on another planet. San Diegans revel in our isolation and puff up our differences with the most massive urban tract in the country. We pride ourselves in being “the Un-LA”, what Los Angeles isn’t.

Yet, to large-scale corporations and banks, the national media, and perhaps the country in general – San Diego is just the southern sector in the LA Market. What goes in LA, goes in San Diego – eventually. So, it behooves those who watch the economic, social, environmental, and political trends here in our coastal paradise, to keep one wary eye on our cousins to the north.

And, of course, there’s lot’s going on in LA. Take these major stories, for instance:

LA Bans Plastic Bags

LA TIMES: Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation to approve a ban on plastic bags at supermarket checkout lines, handing a hard-fought victory to environmentalists and promising to change the way Angelenos do their grocery shopping. The City Council voted 13 to 1 to phase out plastic bags over the next 16 months at an estimated 7,500 stores, meaning shoppers will need to bring reusable bags or purchase paper bags for 10 cents each.

City Gets Ready to Ban Pot Dispensaries

LA WEEKLY: The L.A. City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) committee will take up all facets of proposed bans on medical cannabis in town on Wed, May 30th.

We always like to give a Shout Out! to our sponsors and advertisers. It’s folks like those that ensure that the OB Rag keeps running, growing, and developing.

So, with that – here’s to you – Dr. Jeoff Gordon – for supporting us with a six-month ad on top of our sidebars. Jeoff runs the Ocean Beach Medical Group, located at 1947 Cable Street, along with Scott Barker. They offer special discounts if you don’t have insurance, and claim that some medicines can actually be provided for free. Here’s what they say on their website:

We try to keep our practice small so that we can give you personal medical care that cannot be provided in a larger clinic setting. We are dedicated to putting in the time and attention needed to help you feel better. We enjoy seeing a wide range of patients from newborn to the elderly.