OB Rag

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  

UPDATE: The OB Drone Light Show will launch from Ocean Beach Elementary School. Spectators are advised for best viewing to be 1 block away from school. 

Ocean Beach announces a Drone Light Show for the Fourth of July

LUMINOSITY, an organization in Ocean Beach, is excited to announce its collaboration with Global Drone Network (GDN) and Skyworx Drone Shows to bring a drone light show to the shores of the Pacific Ocean this Fourth of July.

This magnificent display of hundreds of synchronized drones will occur in the night sky just north of Ocean Beach Pier, where thousands of attendees are expected to gather.

On the ground, the LUMINOSITY Festival of Light will complement the drone light show with experimental light-based installations and projection mapping to create an immersive experience.

Neighbors for a Better San Diego are urging San Diegans to attend a public workshop today, Thursday, March 2, being held by the city’s Planning Department on Senate Bill 10, SB10. The in-person meeting is at the ssion Valley Library, next to IKEA.

But we have just found out that the room for the workshop is at capacity and they’re not accepting any more registrations of participants.

By Colleen O’Connor

Why not? Todd Gloria is unpopular. City residents are unhappy with his tenure. And most San Diegans want a “new direction” with a new leader.

For an in-depth accounting of Gloria’s scandals and misdeeds, read the recent column, “Sins of San Diego Mayors Part 2.”

Then look at the obvious decline of the City once dubbed, “Camelot by the Bay.”

The Mayor and City Council, “Cannot maintain. Cannot Sustain. Cannot deliver.”  Where are the improvements they promised?

By Kathy Blavatt

What do the cultural celebrations of A Festa do Espirito Sano and Dia de los Muertos have in common that symbolize their ceremonies and come from nature? The answer for these events, and many other cultural ceremonies, are flowers.

Historically, these colorful live symbolic decorations from nature play essential roles in ceremonies that go back generations.

The recent annual Congress of History of San Diego and Imperial County (COH) conference highlighted the importance of community events that bind us together, which makes up the wonderful fabric of San Diego’s communities and landscapes.

Social Thai Kitchen will soon join the Ocean Beach neighborhood. According to a recent permit filing, the new Thai restaurant will replace Thai Time Bistro at 1830 Sunset Cliffs Boulevard.

Owner Suchitra Saengmanee recently acquired the space and is in the early stages of planning an interior remodel. The second-generation restaurant space will luckily only need some cosmetic modifications to transform into the updated Thai eatery.