OB Rag

By Ernie McCray

As an educator,
I can’t imagine
a more hateful idea
than banning the use of the word gay
in schools,
as there can be no better world
if children don’t have a basic understanding
of the world they’re presently in,
what it’s like
and how it became what it is.

By Geoff Page

Homeless in the Midway

The main topic of discussion at the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group’s regular monthly meeting, June 15, was the homeless problem in the Midway area. The amount of frustration and barely repressed anger was palpable.

One speaker, a businessperson in the area, spoke up passionately and angrily about the mess on Hancock and Kurtz Streets from a homeless encampment along the Caltrans fence. It includes vehicle habitations and other things like tents.

Due to demands from the California Coastal Commission, the City of San Diego was forced to backtrack on its new accessory dwelling unit rules regarding parking requirements — none.

And on Monday the City Council voted unanimously to require new ADUs near the beach to have parking spots if they aren’t close to a trolley stop or a bus line with frequent service. The council was forced to trash its earlier blanket parking exemption for those who build new ADUs (“granny flats”).

The Commission’s logic:

A recent opinion piece by a state agency bureaucrat on the coastal 30-foot height limit has developers and San Diego’s establishment licking their chops.

Shannon West, head of housing accountability for California’s Department of Housing and Community Development, wrote “a technical assistance letter” which declared the 30-foot height limit conflicted with state law and thus was “void.” The letter was for San Diego’s development services department

Heidi Von-blum, director of San Diego’s planning department, immediately leaped for joy and repeated the claim that state law supersedes “local voter initiative.”

Why this all came about now is because a local developer, the San Diego Community Housing Corporation, wants to build a 60-unit, 60-foot-high residential building, called Rose Creek Apartments, on a 0.4-acre site at 2662 Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach.

Check out Charles Landon’s brief video, shot Monday morning, of the city power-washing the OB / San Diego Pier.

Obviously, the city is preparing the pier for some kind of re-opening. Is it just coincidence that the city will reopen the iconic structure just in time for the famous Ocean Beach Street Fair happening this weekend?

Will there be a ceremony for the reopening? Will there be another ribbon-cutting? Will officials be too afraid to even go on the pier?

The head of the controversial group, Circulate San Diego, is Colin Parent. Parent also sits on the La Mesa City Council.

He and his group have often been subjected to criticism in the pages of the Rag over the last months, mainly because, as we see it, they masquerade as bicycling environment-friendly, housing advocates who are actually enabling developers and their friends in city government.

One quick piece of evidence: Circulate San Diego came out in support of the very worse, most dense, most high-rise model that the Navy recently offered to the public for their redevelopment of Old Town – and then withdrew after the withering community response. … Back to Parent. And La Mesa.

In viewing the final results for the District 2 primary election, it’s difficult to ignore one glaring fact: 70% of the voters voted against incumbent Democrat Jen Campbell.

Campbell did win 67 precincts — as you can see by the graph – but many were by slim margins and all were only with a plurality. That is, Campbell failed to take any precincts with a majority of the votes.

The sole Republican, Linda Lukacs gained 19 precincts, Lori Saldana took only 4 precincts — all in Ocean Beach, and Joel Day, from Clairemont, only took 1 precinct, also in OB. The other major candidate, Mandy Havlik (whom the U-T failed to individually include) — from OB, failed to take any precincts.

View Short Video of “Progress” on the OB and San Diego Pier

OB’s Charles Landon made a short video of the repair crew removing the final form from the OB Pier. Here’s the link

Suspicious Fire at Midway’s Heritage Inn — Person Detained

Nimitz Crossing Sold for $30 Million

City hires real estate firm to evaluate bids for the sports arena site

Come Inside for More

By Frances O’Neill Zimmerman

Forget the political party labels — we’re all Democrats now in California, and our own slick, compromised self-servers are running the show.

That’s why we’ve got a Democratic-majority State Legislature passing laws that over-ride local municipal zoning authority in favor of dense development in residential neighborhoods, pretending that such anti-CEQA “reform” will provide housing for burgeoning numbers of homeless living on our streets.

That’s why we’ve got San Diego city council representatives like Jen Campbell who get elected by saying one thing and then doing another,

by Ernie McCray

I can think of no better sentiment
than
“Love Our Children
More Than Guns”
and I can think of no better way
to display that love
than by enacting
a few rules and regulations
that protect them from guns.

A couple dozen residents and business owners in University Heights protested the City’s removal of 88 parking spaces on Monday, June 13. The parking spaces are being taken out for protected bike lanes along a one-mile stretch of Park Boulevard between Adams and University avenues.

They also did not have kind words for San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria or the city council. Susy Holts of University Heights told San Diego News7:

“I’m incredibly frustrated. I despise what’s happening. [Gloria] and the city council are not listening to the people or the residents.”

Meanwhile, city crews began working on Park Boulevard on the next phase of the city’s resurfacing plan.