OB Rag

The Board of Directors of the OB Town Council is planning to hold a public meeting on Wednesday, February 28, but the location has still not been nailed down; it will either be in the auditorium of OB Elementary or at Waterfront Church.

In the meantime, the Board  has new leadership, new president, vice-president and secretaries — yet struggles to maintain itself. The new president has already resigned from the Board. The Board itself is now down to about half-strength with only 9 members. This comes on the heels of the revelation of the scandal that has rocked the OBTC since its January public meeting, and the ouster of its former president, Corey Bruins.

New leadership was determined and it was:

Should San Diegans have our own municipal utility that would replace SDG&E?

The Power San Diego Campaign believes so.  They’ve launched a signature drive to get the question on the November ballot. On their website, the group claims SDG&E has the highest rates in the nation (although just recently, this has changed), that SDG&E profits are $1 million dollars a day from San Diego City alone, and that 25% of SDGE’s customer are behind on their bills.

By Michael Smolens / San Diego Union-Tribune / Feb. 18, 2024

San Diego’s electorate is not happy with the way things are going in the city.

The recent devastating failure of the city’s flood protection infrastructure is only the latest example of the municipal government’s seeming inability to do its job.

Homelessness continues at crisis levels despite many actions and much talk about reducing it.

Audits conclude the quality of city roads has dropped sharply and there’s no comprehensive funding plan to fix them.

The legal quagmire surrounding the city-owned 101 Ash St. building is not only a reminder of that boondoggle, but other costly city real estate debacles stretching over two mayoral administrations.

County officials placed the Point Loma shoreline under a water contact closure after approximately 5,875 gallons of gallons of sewage spilled from the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant on Tuesday, Feb. 20. The spill leaked into the ocean, according to the county’s Beach and Bay Water Quality Program.

The closure to the area surrounding the Point Loma plant was implemented on Tuesday after the spill.

Popular coastal areas like the Point Loma tide pools and the Point Loma Ecological Reserve are impacted by the closure.

No details about what caused the spill or how long the water contact closure may be in place were immediately available.

From San Diego Audobon Society

The 2024 San Diego Bird Festival will take place Feb 21-25, 2024. San Diego Bird Festival is a celebration of the wild birds, habitats and people of San Diego County.

For a listing of programs taking place at Marina Village Conference Center, please click here.

9 a.m. Tuesday morning, February 20 at Ocean Beach. Tide reaches OB seawall.

One of the most important candidate forums of 2024… Reserve your seat now!

The Mayoral Candidate Forum is this Thursday, February 22nd, at 6:30 PM at the Salvation Army Kroc Center Theater. It’s at 6753 University Avenue, San Diego 92115.

Why does this forum matter? San Diego has a Strong Mayor system of government, which makes it the most powerful office in San Diego.

San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board / Feb.16, 2024

As any student of politics can attest, governing bodies benefit from having at least one member who is skeptical of claims put forward by dominant political factions and realizes that many consultants and staff members tell the politicians who hired them what they want to hear.

This insight drives our view of the race for San Diego City Council District 3, which has Hillcrest at its center and ranges north to include part of Mission Valley, west to Mission Hills, south to Downtown and east to North Park. Incumbent Stephen Whitburn, a former nonprofit executive, is the strong favorite.

The kelp forest’s keystone species could help restore an ailing ecosystem.

By David Helvarg / Los Angeles Times / Feb. 17, 2024

Sea otters are terminally cute critters and a delight to view rolling and diving in the kelp canopy of Monterey Bay, where some 3,000 endangered southern otters play an essential role in maintaining the marine kelp forest. But to crabs, clams, abalone, urchins and some fishermen, sea otters are voracious marine weasels that can eat 25% of their body weight a day — a perceived threat to life and livelihood.

That’s why some lively debates were launched at 16 open houses put on by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year to get public input on, as the invitation put it, the “potential reintroduction of sea otters to their historic range,” including Oregon and Northern California, a decision that is expected to be made this year.

An Intelligent Question

By Judi Curry

Suppose you were walking on Sunset Cliffs, looking at the glorious view and came across this sign.  What would you think it meant?

The city, in all of its glory, has now posted this sign so that walkers have an idea where they are? Or where they can go? Or ?????????

Alexei Navalny, the main opposition leader of Putin’s Russia, was killed Friday, Feb. 16 at the remote Siberia prison he had been condemned to. Here’s his tribute to a post-Putin Russia written a year and half ago.

By Alexei Navalny / Washington Post   / September 30, 2022 (Re-posted RSN Feb. 19, 2024)

What does a desirable and realistic end to the criminal war unleashed by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine look like?

If we examine the primary things said by Western leaders on this score, the bottom line remains: Russia (Putin) must not win this war. Ukraine must remain an independent democratic state capable of defending itself.

A man was fatally injured in a fight at a vacation rental in Point Loma early Monday, Feb. 19, authorities said.

Police received a call about a man being in medical distress following a physical altercation at 2:11 a.m. Monday at a very large, 3-story home in the 2800 block of Poinsettia Drive in the Point Loma area, according to the San Diego Police Department.

When officers arrived, the 38-year-old man was not breathing, police Lt. Daniel Meyer said. Paramedics took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The survivor of the fight, a 44-year-old man, was detained, Meyer said.