OB Rag

A week ago, on Tuesday November 9, the San Diego City Council finally adopted a plan for Fiesta Island, the 470-acre island in the middle of Mission Bay.

The city was considering two options for the fate of the southwest portion of Fiesta Island, which includes a very popular dog park.

• Option “A” would have reduced the space of the fenced-in dog park to accommodate room for a playground, picnic area, boat launching area and a road to go through the dog park;
• Option “B” was the more dog-friendly plan that calls for most of the southwest part of the island to be dedicated to our canine companions as solely an off-leash dog park.

From SOHO Newsletter – November/December 2021

By Dr. Lillian Faderman, Charles Kaminski and Bruce Coons

LGBTQ+ history, like the history of other underrepresented communities, has been frequently overlooked. That history has not been considered worthy of consideration or important in the development of our nation and our city. This is because historically, “homosexuals” were deemed criminals and deviants to the law, sinners to the church, mentally ill to the medical profession and often rejected by our own families. But in LGBTQ+ spaces we not only found a home and a new family, we also formed a community that made it possible for us to wage our successful fight for the civil rights due to all Americans.

San Diego’s redistricting commission selected the so-call “Compromise Map” over the weekend as the blueprint for a final map establishing the boundaries of the city council districts.

The map selected will be further tweaked but it will be the preliminary map from which commissioners base any changes on. Commissioners expect the final boundaries to closely resemble the Compromise Map.

For District 2, the Compromise Map removes Pacific Beach, which is added to District 1, but includes east Clairemont. D2 already included west Clairemont.

by Sal Mineo (@snackdiego)

Hi again, everyone. We are so fortunate here in Ocean Beach. Any day, any time (within reason, it’s still San Diego), an impressive collection of options to snack, sip, slurp, nosh, nibble, graze, guzzle – you get my drift – are within walking distance.

There are so many talented folks keeping us satiated, caffeinated and hydrated; and sure you may get friendly with a few of them at your regular spots, usually the front of the house hosts and servers.

I think it’s equally important to know those behind the scenes – the chefs, cooks, bakers, baristas, brewers, drink shakers, fry guys, taqueros, the list goes on – and sometimes they are all that plus they own the joint. I hope to get to know some and share them with you.

Let’s get into some table talk with Anna Santos Hamilton, the chef\ owner of a relative newcomer to OB, Starfish Eatery.

If you’ve been attuned to the recent flurry of maps across your screen or TV recently having to do with redistricting, then you’ve been paying attention to an important process that will affect all voters.

It’s redistricting season and everybody’s been yelling, “Map, map! Who’s got the map?” Even in San Diego. And even for District 2 — the district that OB and Point Loma are in.

Here’s a good question to ponder: are there changes for District 2 coming with whatever map is eventually selected? We’ll have to see.

Kudos are certainly due to the San Diego Unified School District and its leadership for naming a new elementary school opening in 2022 in Mission Valley after the Kumeyaay village that was located in the vicinity long before the arrival of the Spanish.

The new school will be named Nipaquay Elementary (Nipaquay is pronounced ni-puh-kwai) and will open within the Civita development. Construction is 75 percent complete for the school that will have 500 students and 23 classrooms.

By Geoff Page

The Newport palms got their day – or rather their 10 minutes – in court Tuesday, November 9, as reported here in The OB Rag. The main reason why the effort failed was that the plaintiffs in the legal complaint, John and Tracy Van De Walker, did not own the trees. It was stated that these trees are on “city owned” property.”

Think about that for a minute. What the law is saying is the city, separate from its citizens, owns property that it can do with as it pleases and the citizens have no say. It sounds as if the judge was saying these trees are on someone else’s property as if the city was a private property owner.

Restaurant Review

Point Loma Fish Shop
1110 Rosecrans Street, #100
San Diego, CA 92106
619-794-2449 (To-Go Line)

By Judi Curry

In order to celebrate Meredith’s new position, we decided to go to lunch at the Pt. Loma Fish Shop and both of us were happy that was our choice, for selections were tasty, hot, and good.

The restaurant is slightly different than most when it comes to ordering.

The iconic palm trees of Point Loma did not have a sympathetic judge in Federal Court yesterday. On the narrow issue of “property rights,” the judge ruled that the residents who have targeted palms in their right-of-way do not have have the property rights to deny the city and FAA the ability to chop down the trees.

According to KUSI and Marc Applbaum, the attorney hired by a Point Loma couple, no paperwork was required or issued by the city or airport in court to show why the palm trees needed to be chopped down for an “emergency.” Apparently, the judge did not require any documentation to prove the “emergency” – so the residents still do not know what the reasons are for the hurried state of affairs.

By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner / Nov. 9, 2021

Take a long look at the outcome of San Diego’s 2010 Redistricting Commission process. You’ll be impressed by the success of that former Commission in drawing boundary lines for our City Council districts that have enabled San Diegans to elect a range of culturally diverse leaders in our nine council districts. We now have what is popularly designated as a Black District (D4), an Asian District (D6), a Gay District (D3), and two Latino Districts (D8, D9).

My weather app on my phone has been displaying daily totals of new COVID cases and deaths. Yesterday, the number of cases was 9,000 something. Today, it was 18,000 something.

In today’s LA Times, it’s reported that “COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen significantly in the Inland Empire and Central Valley,” and has raised the specter of a wider spike in California as the winter holidays approach.

Throughout California cases and hospitalizations hit a plateau after months of decline. In areas “with lower vaccination rates, such as Riverside, San Bernardino and Fresno counties, conditions are deteriorating, with hospitalizations up by more than 20% in recent weeks.

By Geoff Page

It’s not enough that city forester, Brian Widener, wants to cut down the historic palms on Newport Ave., using the excuse of public safety, and refusing to explain what the safety emergency is. His department removed four palms at the intersection of Cable and Niagara on October 28 and the city’s forester refuses to say why.

Widener was asked why in an October 29 email: