OB Rag

By Colleen O’Connor & G.L. Goggin

Colleen’s #1 Pick.

1. Don’t cry for Liz Cheney.

Prediction: Liz Cheney is going to be the first Republican female minority leader after Kevin McCarthy is ditched. She sees the future and it isn’t Trumpism. And McCarthy’s quote that “Everybody in the U.S. has some responsibility” for the capital riot has greased his skids.

That prediction still holds and is more viable than ever in 2022. McCarthy has dissension in his ranks; a wobbly and unattractive history courting Trump; and a tsunami of bad events coming to light.

By Mat Wahlstrom

Good morning, starshine: the earth says it’s time for a prognostication of the year to come! It is written in the stars — or, more precisely, the orbits of the satellites in our solar system. But, I can in full confidence predict that events will transpire and things will happen in 2022, and that many of them will affect you personally.

And by personally, I mean by the random chance of your birth month being shared with a twelfth of everyone else alive — which is why there’s also a handy zodiac guide provided at the end to help understand how each sun sign responds to life’s challenges and windfalls.

So without further ado, here’s what lies ahead!

By Judi Curry

As I look back over this past year, I am so dissatisfied with my lack of accomplishments. In the past I have written books, been active in many organizations, attended classes, etc. This year I didn’t write a book, and with only the brief thought of beginning cookbook #4, I let that thought pass. But there are some things that I am thankful for.

I have a new grandchild – number 19 – and she’s adorable. My grandson graduated college with his B.A, and was hired at his first choice here in San Diego.

I met a person that has relieved the loneliness and depression I have suffered from for the past twelve years. I do not have any of the after effects from COVID, and I have had all three shots so if I should be exposed again my case will be milder than if I hadn’t had the injections.

By Jeff McDonald / San Diego Union-Tribune / Dec. 26, 2021

Top commanders in the San Diego Sheriff’s Department directed their subordinates to enforce some evictions during the past year while others languished for months, according to documents and a longtime sergeant.

Sgt. David Pocklington, who retired earlier this month after 28 years with the county, said he saw political motivation in the orders given to him and deputies under his command in the Court Services Bureau. Pocklington said he believes the evictions were orchestrated to help Sheriff Bill Gore and Undersheriff Kelly Martinez.

California Governor, Gavin Newsom, signed 770 bills into law this year, many of them impacting people’s daily lives and will take effect as soon as Jan. 1, 2022.

Here are a few of the more noteworthy ones:

• Animal welfare: Proposition 12, approved by voters in 2018, makes the use of metal enclosures that restrict pigs from turning around and cages that prevent hens from opening their wings illegal.
• Minimum wage: SB 3 requires the minimum wage for all industries employing 26 or more employees to rise to $15, or $14 for those employing 25 or fewer workers.

From Laura Dennison of Friends of OB Library:

One of our dear volunteers, Alice Nodes, passed away last week. Her family will be having a viewing at Beasley-Mitchell Funeral home this Monday, Dec. 27, from 10 am to 2 pm. (Address: 1818 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. 92107).

Matt Beatty, long-time Branch Manager at the OB Library, wrote a beautiful tribute to Alice:

Long time Ocean Beach Library volunteer and Friend of the Library Alice Nodes died peacefully at a care home in Oceanside on December 20th. She was 92 years old.

Photo by Daniel McGinley,

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / Dec. 22, 2021

SAN DIEGO — San Diego’s raging battle over granny-flat regulations is headed for a conclusion this winter that seems likely to leave community leaders and resident groups frustrated. Their goal is preserving community and neighborhood character by rolling back some year-old policy changes that have made San Diego’s granny-flat rules among the least restrictive in California.

But the potential for granny flats to help solve the local housing crisis has prompted city planning officials to reject any significant rollbacks. Instead, they are proposing only modest adjustments to regulations governing granny flats, which are also sometimes called casitas or the city’s formal name for them: accessory dwelling units.

by Ernie McCray

So tired
of people on my TV,
especially during the holidays,
going on and on
about why they
“ain’t getting no damn vaccine
for no damn Covid-19!

By Mathew Packard / Voice of San Diego / Dec. 22, 2021

As a not so casual observer of efforts to “end” or even effectively manage the daily impact homelessness is having on our city and on the lives of those experiencing it, I am struck by the pervasive and consistent lack of accountability for those in government responsible.

The San Diego Housing Commission in their 2014 homeless action plan, Housing First, pledged to apply “the power of its federal housing resources to achieve the goal of ending homelessness.” SDHC is a driving force of the national Housing First model (transitioning homeless individuals from the streets directly into permanent housing connected to supportive housing) in the city of San Diego. This year and over more than a decade, the commission has failed to meet this obligation.

Let’s review what the SDHC has done.

It looks like Ocean Beach and Point Loma will be pushed into the newly-redrawn 50th Congressional District. Ironically, arch-conservative Darrel Issa currently represents the district. Not to worry. He just announced he will be seeking election in the new 48th Congressional District.

OB and the Peninsula are currently in the 52nd District, represented by Democrat Scott Peters. The new 50th includes many of the communities currently represented by Peters, so there is a general assumption he will go for that seat. The new districts take effect with the June 2022 primaries and continue for the next decade.