OB Rag

The Planning Board for Ocean Beach meets this Wednesday, March 2, and the meeting will continue to be held virtually via Zoom. (See below for registration.)

Planning Board Elections

The OBPB will also be ending its annual elections during the March 2nd meeting. Information can be found at this Rag article or on the board’s website . Results will be announced Thursday, March 3, 2022 via OBPB email and social media.

The only project up for review is a proposed parcel divide and construction of a new 2,400 square foot house on the second parcel on Santa Cruz.

On Friday, Feb. 25, SDG&E’s parent company, Sempra Energy, reported $2.6 billion in adjusted earnings for 2021.

It’s not a stretch to say that San Diegans – with the highest electrical rates in the country – have been generously helping the energy giant make its profits.

Sempra’s adjusted earnings of $2.6 billion for 2021 include income from all its companies. SDG&E’s earnings for 2021 were reported as $819 million.

The local CBS affiliate asked Alan Gin, a professor of economics at the University of San Diego, to take a look at Sempra’s recent earnings report. His response:

“Well, I think consumers are probably going to be unhappy because they’re paying these increased rates, the highest in the nation actually. And, yet, the company is taking that and then giving it out as dividends to their shareholders, and they’re also using it to repurchase stock, which is benefiting the shareholders as opposed to the customers.”

Today, Monday, the last day of February, there will be a press conference held to announce opposition to an early County Democratic Party “Friendly Incumbent Endorsement” of Councilmember Jen Campbell before the June Primary.

The press conference will be held at Morley Field parking lot east of tennis courts at 10:30 a.m.

Union grocery workers are rallying today for a new contract at Ralphs on Sports Arena Boulevard today, Feb. 28 at noon. The union contract for almost 9,000 San Diego workers expires on March 6 and the rally is to show the companies and public at large that these workers continue to be essential and that they deserve a new union contract that reflects the service and sacrifices that they have made.

The union that represents the workers is United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 135, and the contract that expires covered workers at Albertsons, Gelson’s, Ralphs, Stater Bros, and Vons in San Diego County. The union contracts covered approximately 60,000 workers in Southern California.

Julie Anderson, an artist and resident of Point Loma, has won the second-place award in the continually competitive February 2022 San Diego Watercolor Society (SDWS) Member’s exhibition “Simple Pleasures.”

It’s an in-gallery show of the SDWS at 2825 Dewey Road in Liberty Station, San Diego, CA.

Anderson’s painting entitled “Surveying the Scene” was selected by prominent local artist and juror Thomas Franco for this honor, out of over 200 entries.

Restaurant Review

Ketch Grill and Taps
2614 Shelter Island Drive
Point Loma, CA 92106
619-814-8080

By Judi Curry

Almost three years ago to the day I had dinner at the Ketch and did a review of the restaurant. At the time I was impressed with the menu and when I had out of town guests I took them there for lunch. But that time I was very disappointed – the menu had changed – and the food was only fair. That surprised me because the other restaurants in the chain are so good. (Miguel’s, Brigantine, etc.) I have not been back since. Things were about to change.

If you have ever been to the Ketch – the old “Red Sails” restaurant, you know that it is difficult to determine what is the bar and what is the seating area for the restaurant. There was some confusion as to where we could sit; when our table would be ready, etc., and it later turned out that we were comped for our drinks because of the confusion.

The Peninsula Community Planning Board will be holding its annual election to its Board on March 17, 2022. The election this year is to fill five (5) three year seats.

Requirements for those interested in becoming a Board Member:

• Board terms are for three years.
• A candidate must be 18 years of age,
• must reside, own property, or operate a business within the PCPB boundaries, and
• have attended one regular zoom meeting within the past 12 months. Attending the Candidates Forum would also qualify for this requirement.

GO INSIDE FOR THE LINK

The Point Loma – Ocean Beach Democrats did not endorse any candidate for their San Diego City Council District 2 endorsement last Sunday and ended up choosing both Lori Saldaña and Joel Day as “Acceptable.”

From their newsletter:

By Sheila Pell /’ San Diego Reader / Feb. 22, 2022

Street life is coming back, and with it, scooter critics.

Motorized scooters are often touted as a first or last mile link in the transit chain, and the city counts them among its mobility choices – but some say they’re making it harder for others to get around.

Last month, 561 complaints about scooters were lodged with the city’s Get It Done app for sidewalk blocking and other misuse. The previous January, mid-pandemic, there were only 263 reports.

by Ernie McCray

Dorothy Smith,
a friend
and hero of mine
passed away the other day,
leaving me wishing,
in my sadness,
that she could have seen
“Still, We Rise,”
a poetry and jazz show
featuring Yolanda Franklin
a brilliant local thespian,
and I
reading our poems
and those of
Amanda Gorman
who mesmerized a nation