OB Rag

On Tuesday, June 27, the San Diego City Council approved the City’s controversial “Unsafe Camping Ordinance,” which bans tent encampments in certain public areas of the city in its second and final vote on the measure.

The exact same line-up of council members voted for and against it as they had back on June 13.

Reportedly, once the city launches a Safe Sleeping Program that would allow for more than 500 tents at two sites near Balboa Park –the first one is expected to open by July 1st on 20th and B St. — enforcement of the new rules would begin 30 days afterwards.

Declaration by Chairwoman Vargas, Vice Chair Lawson-Remer Also Requests Governor, Federal Government Declare Emergency

The County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today to declare a County-wide state of emergency as pollution and sewage continue to flow across the U.S.-Mexico border, contaminating local ocean water and several beaches.

By Terrie Best

The US president does not like cannabis. In fact, I am told by DC lobbyists that he hates it. He does not want to be the president that reschedules the plant – which I’m sure but can’t prove – he once called the devil’s lettuce. Yet Biden will likely go down in history as the one who at least moved the ball.

The federal ball has been all but frozen since the Controlled Substance Act placed cannabis in Schedule I with no medicinal value. Getting it into one of the other four places in the CSA has proven to be impossible, with agencies such as the FDA and DEA wholeheartedly dug into the drug war.

By Jared Cross / San Diego Magazine / June 26, 2023

Cesarina is finally opening a second Italian restaurant, Elvira, in a beloved OB spot.

Their first spot, opened in 2020, has been a runaway hit. Their next idea will be called Elvira—named after Niccoló’s great-grandmother—opening later this summer in the 1930s building that previously housed BO-beau kitchen + bar and longtime local favorite Thee Bungalow.

by Ernie McCray

I was
listening to Supersax,
superbly relaxed,
scatting along with the brilliantly constructed tones
they blow through their saxophones,
like I was Lambert Hendricks and Ross
and the Manhattan Transfer
all wrapped up in one,
their songs
ferrying me
deep into a 1940’s
state-of-mind,

On Friday, June 23, the local state Court of Appeal upheld Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal’s ruling that the city should have studied the environmental impacts of taller buildings more than 30 feet before putting Measure E in front of voters back in 2020.

However, the appeals court decision does not to apply Measure “C” — the so-called “do-over ballot measure” — which passed in November2022 with a bare margin of a 51 percent approval. It is also being contested in court.

By Colleen O’Connor

Often overlooked, under-appreciated and ignored, volunteers in political dustups are what make democracy “great again.”

The fight over implementation of the State Senate bill, SB10, is one such fight pitting long-time residents, neighborhood defenders, and most San Diegans against their Mayor and City Council probably depends on volunteer advocates.

Champion them. Saturday shopping at Jensen’s in Point Loma was a case in point. 

From OB Mainstreet Association

Amateur Division Judge’s Choice

Our panel of judges awarded the following Amateur Chili Cookers

• 1st Place – Ed Haase with OMBAC

Here’s the Ocean Beach Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off 2023 – a suburb video of the event on Saturday, June 24 by Charles Landon. “It doesn’t get any better than this!”

Opposition to the city installing traffic diverters – or bollards – on Diamond Street in Pacific Beach has forced a hold on the project that was to begin on Wednesday.

Councilmember Joe LaCava met with opponents on Tuesday, and then asked city staffers to put the project on hold. LaCava’s office told KPBS some opponents threatened to lay down on the street to block the installation from happening.

The city had announced the project in a press release on June 15, saying traffic diverters would be installed on Diamond Street at the intersections with Fanuel Street and Cass Street to ease what the city calls traffic congestion.

On Thursday, June 22, San Diego’s Privacy Advisory Board recommended that the City Council reject a police proposal to buy a new streetlight camera system and pair the technology with automatic license plate readers.

As Voice of San Diego reported:

The board members who were present at the meeting voted unanimously to pass along a 15-page analysis of SDPD’s proposal that challenges the department’s claim that the cameras don’t constitute an invasion of Fourth Amendment rights.

By Marisa Kendall/ KPBS – CalMatters / June 20, 2023

Losing income is the No. 1 reason Californians end up homeless — and the vast majority of them say a subsidy of as little as $300 a month could have kept them off the streets.

That’s according to a new study out of UC San Francisco that provides the most comprehensive look yet at California’s homeless crisis.