OB Rag

Eric DuVall, the president of the Ocean Beach Historical Society, agreed to an “email interview” with the Rag. Eric emerged out of the volunteer ranks of the Society a few years ago to take hold of the leadership baton of one of the most respected and favored organizations in the community. So, just who is Eric DuVall?

Q: Eric, tell us a little about yourself. Where were you born and raised?

I was born in Glendale, CA in 1954.  … In 1958 my dad, Tom, a Mechanical Engineer, got a job at Solar Turbines in San Diego and we moved down here.  We lived in Loma Palisades until we moved to Devonshire Drive, across the street from some of our cousins.  That is where I grew up.

By Geoff Page

The proponents of Measure C – the ballot measure to remove the Midway planning area from the 30-foot coastal height limit boundaries – are desperately trying to make this ballot measure all about affordable housing. And they are lying as they do it.

The text of Measure C is very simple:

Shall People’s Ordinance O-10960 be amended to exclude the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan area, which includes the Sports Arena, from the 30-foot height limit on buildings in the Coastal Zone, with any future development still required to comply with other governing laws?

As Donna Frye wrote yesterday here at the Rag, there is nothing in Measure C about affordable housing, not a word. There is also nothing about a height limit of any kind. The only property under any kind of affordable housing mandate in the Midway area is city property, in this case, only 48 acres. The Midway planning area is 1,324 acres. None of the remaining 1,276 acres is under any affordable housing mandate.

It’s the 46-year-old annual San Diego “Orchids and Onions” competition and OB’s roundabout won an award.

Trophies are handed out by the San Diego Architectural Foundation for the region’s best and worst architecture, making it one of “the closest-watched local events.”

The U-T says:

It’s unique for an architecture organization to acknowledge bad work because a lot of the judges work in the industry and could hurt potential clients’ feelings with any type of demerit. However, San Diego Architectural Foundation still pushes forward with its popular competition every year.

Here’s the statement:

From the OB Historical Society:

Please join Ocean Beach Historical Society: Thurs. October 20, 2022, 7 pm at Water’s Edge Faith Community, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. OB, as we celebrate the 100th birthday of The Beach News, OB’s great little community newspaper.

The Beach News started out as a four-page weekly and is THE primary source chronicling the development of the Ocean Beach Community.

By Donna Frye / Special to the OB Rag

When I read the campaign mailer for Measure C that proposes to eliminate the 30-foot height limit in the Midway-Pacific Highway area of the Coastal Zone, I kept hearing the words from Ben Sidran’s “Brand New Music, Same Old Song.”

Even though the ballot measure may be new, the smoke being blown is from the same old smelly pipe.

Proponents claim it will create affordable housing, help the homeless and veterans, add 20 acres of public parkland and millions in funding for San Diego schools to name but a few of the alleged benefits. Unfortunately,  Measure C is height exemption measure and delivers none of the things listed above.

It feels a lot like another ballot measure from many years ago that also proposed eliminating the voter-approved height limit in a portion of the Coastal Zone.

This list of ballot recommendations mainly encompasses races within the City of San Diego, a few County-wide but does not include most of the school board races nor all the state-wide candidates or measures. These recommendations were compiled after studying a number of other progressive and Democratic Party sources.

OB Rag Recommendations:

City of San Diego

San Diego City Council

District Two –  NO RECOMMENDATION
District Four –  Monica Montgomery-Stepp
District Six –  Tommy Hough
District Eight – Vivian Moreno

City Of San Diego Ballot Measures

Measure B:  YES
Measure C:  NO
Measure D: YES
Measure H: YES

Here are a series of screenshots from the October newsletter of OB Luminosity – the group that plans to bring an alternative to the traditional, but now outdated, annual display of fireworks at the OB Pier on July 4th.

From OB Luminosity

Come join neighbors, other residents of the beaches and across San Diego to celebrate the wonders of the half-century old 30-foot height limit and to oppose Measure C on November’s ballot. A rally and press conference will be held in PB on Thursday, October 20 at 11 am.

Measure C is the greatest threat to the height limit in 50 years. If passed, it would wipe out the height limit in the Midway planning area — a coastal wetlands area.

Winners Will Receive $100 – Deadline Is Monday, Oct. 31

The group Keep the Coast 30 is conducting a photo contest, starting today, Monday, Oct. 17, of the “Best” and the “Worst” views of San Diego’s coastal access.

The contest will run for two weeks and ends Monday, October 31. There are only two categories and the winner of each will be awarded $100.

By Mat Wahlstrom / Times of San Diego / October 15, 2022

It’s depressing because predictable that the attempted repeal of the 1972 citizens’ initiative in 2020, which was invalidated by the courts last year, was once again put on the ballot this November as Measure C.

Measure C is a verbatim repeat of the same ballot wording used in 2020, justified by the same flawed environmental review process, even as that decision is still being appealed by the city.

Measure C again proposes removing the Midway-Pacific Highway planning area from the 30-foot Coastal Height Limit Overlay Zone, allowing otherwise unlimited heights for all new buildings

City agrees to boost accuracy, but rejects proposal to join other big cities with 3-1-1 systems

A Public Service Announcement

By David Garrick, Elizabeth Marie Himchak / San Diego Union-Tribune / Oct. 12, 2022

A new audit says San Diego must improve the accuracy and clarity of its Get it Done! tipster app to reverse a recent dip in customer satisfaction with the app, which allows people to conveniently report potholes, graffiti and other problems.

The six-year-old app often gives customers inaccurate, incomplete or confusing information about when the problem they reported will be solved and w

by Ernie McCray

Black Lives Matter
recently asked
what Black joy means to me.
Well, Black joy just happens to be
in my DNA.
Passed along
through the ages
from Africa
as a way for us
in the diaspora,
to survive in a world
that would just as soon
do without us,