OB Rag

As the war between Israel and Hamas hits the 100th day, it has come time for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. The historical irony is that the calls for a cease-fire and claims of genocide coincide with a drastic expansion of the conflict by our own country.

The numbers from Gaza are horrendous.

Since the war began on October 7, 2023, there the more than 24,000 killed —with more than 23,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza and the West Bank and 1,200 deaths in Israel.

Here’s the latest about the Ocean Beach Pier from the City of San Diego — dated Jan. 10, 2024.

With high surf and king tides in the forecast, the City of San Diego is asking that residents and visitors looking to catch a glimpse of the weather event take extra caution when near the damaged Ocean Beach Pier. In late December 2023, the combination of high surf and king tides caused significant damage to the pier, which is beyond its useful life. It lost one pile, a portion of a pile cap and large sections of railing.

A Public Service Announcement

In accordance with Public Law 98-144 1983, the third Monday of January commemorates the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a federal holiday. This year’s observance is Monday, 15 January 2024. Born in 1929, Monday is King’s actual birthday.

Here is King’s last speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top,” given April 3, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, a day before his assassination.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Holiday Schedule for City of San Diego Offices and Services

In Mayor Gloria’s State of the City Address last night, Wed., Jan. 10, he used a reference to “H-Barracks”as one of  his sites for people suffering from homelessness. Here’s his reference:

Over the past three years, our City-funded outreach, shelter and family reunification programs, have successfully placed more than 3,600 people into permanent housing. This year, consistent with our comprehensive shelter strategy, we will build on this progress and bring forward the largest homeless services proposals this City has ever pursued.

The first is a plan to add another 1,000 beds to our homeless shelter system by this time next year at new sites, like H Barracks, near the San Diego International Airport.

Rightly or wrongly, this remark shows that Gloria has doubled down on using H-Barracks as part of his plans for a homeless shelter system.

On Tuesday, January 9, 2024, the San Diego City Council voted 6 to 2 to deny the polarizing All Peoples Church project long planned for a vacant, 6-acre lot in Del Cerro. Now its future hangs in the balance after the council majority rejected approval of the required permits and — importantly — against the recommendation of city staff.

Here’s an account of the action:

By Jennifer Van Grove / San Diego Union-Tribune / Jan. 10, 2024

City Council members cited perceived flaws with the project’s traffic analysis, echoing community member concerns about safety.  …. The decision puts the future of the project, already more than six years in the making, in limbo, as the church evaluates how best to move forward.

“The original (traffic) data are faulty,” said Councilmember Raul Campillo, who represents Del Cerro and was the dominant voice of opposition on the council.

Neighbors For A Better San Diego offers the following response to Mayor Todd Gloria’s “State of the City” Address:

While we agree that building more housing – especially more truly affordable housing – must be top priority, the facts confirm that Mayor Gloria’s administration has failed to make any significant progress towards that goal.

The city’s ‘Bonus ADU’ ordinance was not designed to create “middle-class housing”. To the contrary, it was promoted as an incentive that promised more affordable housing by allowing developers to build apartment complexes in the backyards of single-family homes.

Ocean Beach about a half hour after high tide on Thursday, January 11, 2024, 9:05 a.m.

This news headline on local TV channel CBS8 proves the OB Rag is not the only news site that needs a proof reader. (The Rag is notorious for needing its posts proof read.)

This headline says Councilmember Cabrillo wants something to happen. Trouble is, there is no councilmember named “Cabrillo”. We do have a Cabrillo Monument and numerous other things named after the Spanish explorer and conquistador. But no one by that name on the city council.

By Bill Walton / Presidio Sentinel News / January 7, 2024

It’s as if Todd Gloria wakes up every day and asks himself what is the worst thing I can do today for San Diego.

This time, in a seemingly endless litany of disastrous choices, Todd Gloria is proposing in his new and singularly revised Plan Hillcrest, another slippery, slimy, and shady real estate deal that will have immediate and devastating consequences for Uptown and ultimately all of San Diego.

This is not surprising given Todd Gloria’s history. Todd Gloria is a career politician, who’s never had another job.

By Mekayli Claros / Op-Ed San Diego Union-Tribune / Jan. 8, 2024

Growing up in Southern California for me entailed family trips to the beach. Once there, I would jump between tide pools, marveling at the kaleidoscope of colorful, tiny life they hosted.

As I grew older, I began to notice that some of the colors in the tide pools were actually bottle caps and other trash. The evidence of humanity’s adverse impact on the ocean was unavoidable. This realization, crystallized through high school environmental science classes and trips to aquariums, made me decide to devote my life to ocean preservation.