OB Rag

Today, February 9, the Ocean Beach Planning Board is sending Mayor Gloria and every member of the San Diego City Council a letter with the Board’s proposed changes to any short-term vacation rental ordinance – the subject of an upcoming discussion at Council.

The ordinance being discussed by Council is the proposed “compromise” concocted by Jen Campbell’s office, on the docket for February 23.

Here is the OBPB’s response – in the form of proposed amendments – and we post it below without edit:

RE: The Ocean Beach Planning Board’s Proposed Amendments to the Short Term Vacation Rental Ordinance, to be Docketed on February 23rd

The Ocean Beach Planning Board opposes the conversion of long-term housing to Short Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs). Whole home rentals without an owner or longterm lessee on sight are not a compatible use in residential zones. STVRs exacerbate the housing crisis by increasing investor speculation in the housing market and thus the price.

A lawsuit was filed Friday, February 5, in federal court against San Diego Police that maintains police showed favoritism toward Trump supporters during a protest in Pacific Beach on January 9.

The suit by two San Diego women alleges police unlawfully cracked down on Black Lives Matter activists and other counterprotesters at the pro-Trump rally, and allowed Trump supporters to continue marching undisturbed.

Plaintiffs Mandy Lien and Erin Smith assert police aggressively dispersed counterprotesters with batons and projectiles at the demonstration – held a mere 3 days after the Trump-incited insurrection at the Capitol – which violated their civil rights and displayed a bias in favor of the mostly White and male supporters of Trump. Police officers even “high-fived and chatted it up” with Trump supporters, the suit says.

As Council president, Jen Campbell sets the agenda for the City Council. And now she has scheduled her own proposed “compromise” on short-term vacation rentals to be heard by the full City Council for Tuesday, February 23.

Campbell’s compromise is more of a sell-out to the vacation rental industry.

Her office announced that the proposal will be on the council’s docket on in about two weeks.

On December 3, the mayor-appointed City Planning Commission voted 7-0 for Campbell’s proposal. The proposal covers licensing them, capping their numbers, and penalizing violators, while creating a City office to administer the new program while making it subject to annual review. Commissioners also agreed to a “carve out” for Mission Beach, the community with the highest percentage of short-term rentals citywide.

Campbell’s sell-out plan is one of the reasons there’s a recall movement against her. Recall backers have until June 3 to collect 14,421 signatures from registered voters in District 2, 15% of its 96,140 registered voters.

by snackdiego

Hello, fellow OBceans, OB-adjacent and OB-curious; I’m Sal, and I’m here to indulge my second favorite hobby, talking about eating (and sometimes cooking) in and around Ocean Beach.

So, dining out has been a bit tricky lately huh? I’ve done my best to support our favorite spots with a lot of take out, and the rare dining al fresco when it was allowed, and we felt the setup was safe.

Can you imagine trying to open a new place during all of this?

That’s exactly what Bobby and Shannon are doing with the imminent opening of Ocean Beach Meat Company.

I stopped by to have a chat with them recently and am super excited. In addition to a butcher counter with all of the cuts, they will have ready to go take away meals, sandwiches, and hot food to eat on site.

You thought you had cabin fever?! The Freaks smoked some super weed 51 years ago and just woke up in 2020.

Here to bring you a much needed laugh in a teaser episode called “Kentucky Fried Freaks”are #woodyharrelson? #tiffanyhaddish? #johngoodman? #petedavidson? and more.

OB Town Council Presses City for Regulations for Sidewalk Vendors

Local Artists and Their Work on Display at Liberty Station

New Mural of Diversity at OB’s Little Lion Cafe

Three Point Loma Brothers Painting Wooden Flags for Wounded Warrior Project

Point Loma High Senior Among Students Pushing Back Against Oil Drilling

Using Tech to Steal a Car in OB is Still Theft

OB Be Ware! San Diego Restarting Parking Enforcement and Street Sweeping

Popular Point Loma Coach Chris Brisco Passes

Thursday Club in Point Loma Is 100 Years Young

Damage from Storm

Assurances on OB Pier

Man Bites Dog (With Knife) Pleads ‘Not Guilty’

Point Loman Shocks by Running for California Governor

by Ernie McCray

Black History Month is in the eye of the beholder it seems, with some saying that it’s too short of a month or that it’s an excuse to give Black folks a cold shoulder the rest of the year.

But to me it’s a month to reminisce about heroes in my personal Black history, people I hold dear.

Like my grandfather who lived the first fourteen years of his life on a sharecropping plantation in Hawkinsville, Georgia, late in the 19th Century, until the attacks on his dignity and his sanity and humanity became more than he could bear to any degree.

Sometimes I can see him in my mind on the day when he decided he had enough, squaring his broad powerful shoulders before snatching a sadistic foreman off his horse and pounding him into the ground unmercifully

This year, the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association’s Annual Awards Celebration went virtual – but it still went. Here is what OBMA said:

Just like everything else this year our awards celebration looks much different. But in the spirit of making Lemonade out of Lemons we decided the show must go on. We are presenting awards to some of the businesses in Ocean Beach who made Lemonade out of Lemons in 2020 and showcased their OB Spirit.

OBMA Annual Award Celebration Winners

Clean & Safe Committee Awards go to:

• Lighthouse Ice Cream for consistently keeping their storefront clean.
• Mallorys Furniture for consistently keeping their storefront clean.
• Vili’s Health Bar for consistently keeping their storefront clean.

and the online voting winner is Lighthouse Ice Cream!

EditorDude: Today, six years after his untimely demise, we remember Hodad’s Mike Hardin.

Originally posted May 9, 2009

By Frank Gormlie

OCEAN BEACH, CA. It’s readily apparent that at least in one little corner of Ocean Beach, the recession hasn’t really hit – the corner of Newport Ave and Bacon Street, where you see the lines of people waiting to get into Hodad’s – OB’s famous hamburger joint. It’s 12:30 lunch time, and the crowd waits patiently to sit down and chomp into the delicious drippy, beef and bun wonder named by CNN as one of the top five burgers in the nation.

Inside, the place was packed, every table filled, every stool taken, every booth claimed, as the staff smartly bustled for hungry mouths. No “OB Time” here at lunch time. This is a typical scene these days. It was a noisy but friendly atmosphere. I spoke to a few people waiting in line outside.

By Julie Gallant / Ramona Sentinel / Feb. 3, 2021

The next mural to be showcased in Ramona will be a tribute to the Kumeyaay Native Americans. And if artist Simon Melnyk stays true to his ambitions, it will be an historically accurate rendition that celebrates how the tribe lived in harmony with nature for so many years.

Melnyk is just getting started on the 1,200-square-foot mural that will take up about two-thirds of the blank canvas on the Verizon building at 1530 Main St.

A preliminary investigation into the shooting death of OB resident, Ashli Babbitt, during the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol has found insufficient evidence to criminally charge the U.S. Capitol Police lieutenant who fatally shot her. Babbitt, a pro-Trump insurrectionist and Qanon supporter, was shot as she tried to enter the Speaker’s Lobby via a broken window taken out by her and her fellow rioters. Video captured the moment.

Minutes earlier Babbitt and others were hammering the doors between them and the House chamber while lawmakers were being evacuated. Apparently, the unidentified lieutenant was alone to confront the mob as they were breaking into the chamber.

However, the preliminary report is just that – it’s preliminary.

By Colleen O’Connor, U.S. and G.L. Goggin, Mexico

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” Helen Keller

United States:

1. Don’t cry for Liz Cheney.
the stalwart Republican who stood up to Trump on mask mandates and voted to impeach him, is now beating back calls to “resign” her post as the #3 in House GOP leadership position. Her response “I’m not going anywhere.

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. Plus, Mitch McConnell is now calling Cheney “courageous.”

2.The impeachment of Trump is a win-win for Democrats.
Trump’s conviction would be a win for the rule of law. His acquittal at Republican hands guarantees the Democrats will picked up more seats in 2022.

3. Trump-ism is radioactive. Economic boycotts, internal GOP strife, and more damaging court cases and investigations will infect all things Trump.