OB Rag

By Mike James

It’s disheartening to think that, in many ways, we’re right back where we started in 2017.

A powerful reminder that the fight isn’t over, every page of the OB Rag currently features an image of a “human banner”— showing hundreds of protesters spelling out the word RESIST!

March 4th marks the eighth anniversary of Impeach on the Beach, also known as March 4 Impeachment—a demonstration against the 45th president, Donald J. Trump. On that day in Ocean Beach (San Diego), hundreds gathered to form two human banners: RESIST! and IMPEACH! Captured by drone footage, the event received nationwide coverage.

What many didn’t know was that the protest came together in just a few weeks.

The Idea Takes Shape

It all started when my friend and fellow OBcean, Deanna Polk, sent me an image of a RESIST! human banner formed by thousands of protesters on Ocean Beach (San Francisco) on February 11. Along with the image, she wrote: “Let’s do this!.”

I naively responded immediately: “Why not!”

By Kate Callen

Civil litigation attorney Daniel Forde represents clients who willfully disrupt the lives of families in quiet residential neighborhoods.

Now he knows what that feels like.

On Sunday afternoon, Forde pulled into the driveway of his cul-de-sac home near Regents Road and Governor Drive to find a group of picketers chanting his name.

The protesters were from Neighbors for Encanto, and Forde will see them again when the City Council revisits the Bonus ADU (accessory dwelling unit) program on Tuesday, March 4.

Forde, a partner with Hoffman & Forde, was singled out by the Encanto activists as the face of predatory ADU development, the kind that rams dozens of market-rate units into small lots on narrow streets.

When the group accused him of blighting their community with monstrous ADU complexes, Forde proclaimed his innocence: “You’re talking to the wrong person. I don’t own any of those properties.”

When they asked why he sent a letter threatening the City Council for pushing back on Bonus ADUs, he said, “I’m an attorney. That’s what attorneys do.”

City Council Hearing is on Tuesday, March 4

A number of neighborhood groups are urging their constituents and other San Diego residents to attend a City Council meeting on Tuesday, March 4th to protest the city’s Bonus ADU Program, but they’re also asking people to submit written comments — and the deadline is today, Monday, March 3.

Some are asking residents who attend to wear yellow in solidarity with Encanto residents who are trying to have the infamous Footnote 7 abolished.

For example, the group UC PEEPS have been broadcasting the council meeting where council members will consider rolling back San Diego’s excessive Bonus ADU Program regulations to align with State law.

They are stressing to have folks submit their written comments. Here’s their instructions:

As tariffs on Canada and Mexico go into effect on Tuesday, March 4, local San Diego industries prepare to suffer. From the building industry and new homes to the city’s craft beer businesses, all expect to be hurt.

Even while U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday, March 2 that Trump will determine whether to stick with the planned 25% level or not, San Diego will undoubtedly be affected negatively.

For example, Nat Bosa is a developer whose company, Vancouver, Canada-based Bosa Development, is in the middle of construction on a 389-unit condo tower called Andia in downtown San Diego, with plans to build a 211-unit apartment building next to Children’s Park. He is flabbergasted at the looming tariffs.

Bosa told the U-T, “To have the illusion (tariffs) would not cost us more money is absolute insanity. Right now, we have no idea to what extent.”

By Brooke Binkowski / Times of San Diego / March 3, 2025

A Lithuanian man who was attempting to row from San Diego to Brisbane in order to raise awareness for Ukraine was rescued in the South Pacific by the Australian Navy Sunday after he ran into a tropical cyclone.

Aurimas Mockus, 44, set off from Shelter Island last October. He said at the time that he was doing in order to honor the thousands of people who have died in the Russia-led war in Ukraine and to remind the world to continue to pay attention to the ongoing violence there.

By Eric S. Page / 7SanDiego / February 28, 2025 •

A fire on the beach in OB seems relatively innocent enough, typically, but when police stopped by recently to check out what they called an illegal beach fire, they made a shocking discovery.

Two men were kicking sand on the flames when officers from the Western Division Beach Team approached early one morning last month, SDPD posted on Wednesday, Feb. 26, on Instagram, and were also trying to conceal containers of alcohol.

One of the men, who the officers said they recognized, was arrested on drug charges, police said, but his companion gave them some sort of fake ID and was subsequently taken into custody.

Further investigation of the man turned up an identification — Christopher Blevins, 45, of New Jersey — and a criminal warrant.

It turns out that the New Jersey native had been charged on Jan. 3 with second-degree desecration of human remains and third-degree hindering apprehension in Cape May County, prosecutors said.

And now, you can add first-degree murder to that.

After recovering more than 15 tons of wreckage from the crash of an unoccupied fighter jet that hurtled into the San Diego Bay last month, crews Sunday planned to remove the heavy equipment used in the effort, according to the U.S. Navy Third Fleet command.

This will allow civilian boaters to regain access to the Shelter Island basin two weeks after the crew of the EA-18G Growler safely ejected during an apparent mechanical emergency, officials said.

Speaking about weather — did you see our first post of snow at Mt Laguna?

Today’s Axios San Diego looks at the NOAA layoff risk and what it means for us in San Diego. The brief report by Andrew Keatts, Andrew Freedman and Kate Murphy concluded that “it’s not yet clear how cuts to the weather and climate agency will affect San Diego,” despite the Trump administration laying off about 800 so-called “probationary” workers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last Thursday, Feb. 27.

They found that “as of Friday afternoon, Axios learned there were no cuts to the local NWS office, where 22 employees are responsible for around-the-clock forecasts for the San Diego region.” This is good news because “The coverage area it is responsible for is home to the third largest population of any NWS field office in the country.”

Mt Laguna at 8 a.m. this morning, Monday, March 3, 2025. This is at 6,000 feet. This is definitely more than hail. You saw it first here.

In an unexpected development, the First United Methodist Church (FUMC) of Mission Valley has decided to abandon plans to sell the historic Point Loma United Methodist Church property to developers for affordable housing.

The shift comes after a recent meeting between the FUMC task force overseeing the initiative and Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank, who represents the California-Pacific Conference (Cal-Pac) of the United Methodist Church

The Ocean Beach Planning Board is holding their current elections, and anyone who is qualified and interested in voting, must do so by March 4.

It’s important for residents and owners to vote in these annual elections, as community planning boards and groups have been under attack of late by development-aligned lobbying groups and the City of San Diego itself.

To vote, you must reside, or be owner/agent for a property or business within the Ocean Beach boundary to qualify (generally west of Froude street).

The City of San Diego’s Bonus ADU Program will be on the minds of many as residents across the city will be attending the City Council meeting on Tuesday, March 4. They will be urging the Council to restore the vote to eliminate the ADU Bonus Density Program—a decision they unanimously supported on January 28, 2025 before later rescinding it due to a procedural problem involving the Brown Act.

Here is some background provided by the group Neighbors for a Better California:

On January 28, 2025, the City Council voted unanimously to end the San Diego ADU Bonus Density Program, but a [possible] Brown Act violation means it’s still in place. On March 4, 2025, Footnote 7 and Bonus ADUs will be discussed, but this Item 330 only impacts footnote 7 in Southeastern San Diego—not the full citywide bonus ADU repeal we want. We need to keep fighting to formally get the Stop Bonus ADU officially on the agenda!…