OB Rag

The Voice of San Diego has a report about the Midway District public meeting held March 6 by the city and the SDPD on the smart streetlight cameras and license plate readers police want. Here’s the first part of the report by Jesse Marx:

The city of San Diego kicked off a series of public meetings this week about a proposal to revive its streetlight cameras and merge the devices with license plate readers. Though police are promising to do essentially the same things they were in 2020, the technology is different.

By Mike Madriaga / San Diego Reader / March 7, 2023

San Diego lifeguards locked up the partly damaged Ocean Beach Pier due to safety concerns when the January waves destroyed its railing. Now, locals say, people keep cutting the locks and opening the gates leading into the pier.

“This is the fourth time this has happened,” local Jim Grant said. “Not exactly sure what the motive is or end game.” Grant, a renowned beach photographer, walked up to the cement pier’s opened wrought iron gate about 7 am on February 24 and noticed nearly a dozen people walking along the almost 2,000-foot pier.

On Wednesday, the San Diego Police Department said it wants access to 500 of its Smart Streetlights that need to be restored — and they want to add another crime-solving tool to the network: automated license plate readers.

Because the Smart Streetlight cameras had not been well maintained over the years, the city would need to install new cameras. Adding the license plate reader technology would mark the first time the city of San Diego would have the readers in fixed locations.

Latest Proposal Boosts Land for Active Recreation and Restoration of Marshland

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / March 7, 2023

Plans to transform northeast Mission Bay into a combination of marshland, campsites and recreation areas will take a key step Tuesday, March 7, with the release of a multiyear city analysis of how the changes could affect the environment.

The most recent annual election of the Ocean Beach Planning Board witnessed 8 incumbents re-elected and one new member elected to the community volunteer panel.

Chris Peregoy was the newly elected member and will represent District 4. And Christopher Chalupsky, a member since 2019, changed seats and was elected as an At-Large member.

Otherwise here is:

Your 2023 OB Planning Board as of March 2nd, 2023:

By Neighbors for a Better San Diego / March 5, 2023

As a result of our media turnout effort and supporters who were able to show up on short notice, we had excellent coverage by both CBS 8 and ABC 10. It’s rare that we get to frame the news, instead of the carefully crafted magical thinking that the City presents to the media.

As for inside the room: The gist of Tom Wolfe’s book “Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers” is that city governments use consultants as human shields when they want to promote something that they know will be incredibly unpopular.

SDG&E has made a request to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to allow them to increase rates.

The proposal asks for an $8.45 increase per month for electricity bills and a $9.16 increase in natural gas rates, with the new rates to start in 2024 and through 2027.

“It’s going to generate $3.6 billion over a four-year period, that’s almost a billion dollars that is going to come out of the pockets of San Diego consumers,” said Alan Gin, the University of San Diego Economic Professor at the Knanuss School of Business.

The request comes on the heels of a surge in natural gas prices, where customers reportedly saw skyrocketing bills a few months prior, and the announcement just last week that SDG&E posted profits of $915 million in 2022, an 11.7% increase over 2021, $819 million.

By Mat Wahlstrom / Times of San Diego/ March 4, 2023

Every March, the 42 community planning groups in the City of San Diego hold public elections for new board members. These unpaid volunteers are required to meet residence or business or property ownership qualification to hold office.

For over 50 years, they have served as the official advisers to the city on land use, development and project review in our neighborhoods

Every March, that is, until next year.

By Bruce Coons / Save Our Heritage Organization / March-April 2023

San Diego has begun the process to implement SB 10 with its new plan, read “Housing Action Package 2.0.”

California Senate Bill 10, (SB 10), also known as the Housing Opportunity and Mobility Expansion (HOME) Act, was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 16, 2021. The act claims that it is designed to address California’s ongoing housing crisis by streamlining the process for the development of new housing projects.

Unlike SB 9, which clearly holds out historic resources as an exception, the same does not apply for SB 10.

From Peninsula Newsletter / March 2, 2023

Or do you just want street lights that are smart enough to stay lit?

The story begins in 2016, when San Diego purchased Smart Streetlights Technology “to increase the brightness and provide a substantial energy cost savings.”
We were told the Smart lights would also collect atmospheric data and analyze traffic flow.

Turns out they can capture, record and retain a lot more than traffic and weather together. That year the candid camera discovery came as a surprise to our City Council members.

By Gary Robbins / San Diego Union-Tribune / March 1, 2023

Well, it happened again.

San Diego International Airport received far less rain during this week’s storm than many nearby areas. Through 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, the airport recorded 0.22 inches of rain. Fashion Valley reported 0.27 inches, National City got 0.65 inches and Kearny Mesa logged 0.60 inches. This often happens when a storm passes through.

All events are online and free unless stated otherwise.
***Every Saturday 10:30 am. Climate Mobilization Coalition Meetings  March 18th and 25th. 
March 18th  Saturday 1 pm – 3 pm Bird and nature walk at Famosa Slough 
March 18th Saturday 6 pm – 9:30 pm 2023 Sierra Club San Diego Awards Dinner Celebration   

March 21st Tuesday 11:30 am – 12;30 pm Banking on Our Future – March and Rally