OB Rag

By noon, the anointed hour of the City Council hearing on short term vacation rentals, the Council Chambers was packed with only a few seats open here and there. The Green Shirts – those who supported Airbnb – had arrived early and had captured many of the first rows of the cavernous chamber. A second room had to be opened a few steps away on the 12 floor of City Hall for the spill-over.

Because the Blue Shirts – those from Ocean Beach – arrived close to noon, we were left with scattered small sections with which to stake out. The Red Shirts were also scattered about; the Red Shirts were divided into 2 crowds: those who were members and supporters of Save San Diego Neighborhoods – the one group that has persisted for years in opposing short term rentals, and the other group who were members of the union, Unite Here (more on them later).

Local surf photographer Randy Dible has been shooting ocean theme images for over three decades.

Randy grew-up in Mission Beach in the 1970s and 1980s, and now resides on Ocean Beach.

He frequently travels to Hawaii, Mexico and other exotic surf destinations. His images have been published in Surfer, Surfing, Surfer’s Journal, Ocean Magazine and other periodicals world wide.

Creating Commission on Police Practices Moves to Full San Diego City Council.

“Trust is the Issue” was one of our rallying cries at the City Council’s Rules Committee meeting last Wednesday, July 11.

And the committee came through, voting 3-2 to pass the idea of creating a Commission on Police Practices on to the full Council.

That sounds hopeful to me but trying to build trust with the police in San Diego, for communities of color, has been like trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle. One with too many pieces – due to years of bad history.

There’s something compelling about desolation, about lost places filled with traces of forgotten histories both personal and collective. That’s why I’ve always had a penchant for little towns around the Salton Sea, the vast, dying body of water I describe in my first novel, Drift:

It was a mistake, the product of a vulgar utopia gone awry. At the turn of the century, they dreamed of transforming the desert into a garden by bleeding nature of more than she readily offered.

After 5 plus hours of public testimony, a bi-partisan majority of the San Diego City Council today, Monday July 16, halted Mayor Faulconer’s proposal on short term vacation rentals and approved by a vote of 6 to 3 Councilwoman Bry’s proposal to limit the rentals to “primary residence” and onsite granny flat.

In the end, 4 Democrats (Bry, Cole, Gomez, Ward ) and 2 Republicans (Zapf and Kersey) voted for the so-called “Bry Proposal”. In essence, the Bry plan limits short term rentals to the primary residence – and if there’s an accessory unit, a so-called “granny flat” – the host is allowed to rent that out as well, as that still meets the requirement for the host to be on the property during the visit.

This historic vote has, in effect, saved San Diego’s coastal communities – including Ocean Beach

by Andrew Eakes / LomaBeat / July 9, 2018

Amy McClanahan, the woman suing former Point Loma Nazarene University professor and pastor John Wright, is now naming PLNU in her lawsuit. She filed the additional name on May 9. The civil case management was last Friday, June 29 at the San Diego County Courthouse, which was held to discuss how the case would be handled. PLNU did not appear in court.

The university, along with Wright and Mid-City Church of the Nazarene (where Wright was her pastor), is being sued by McClanahan for negligent hiring and retention related to Wright’s employment at PLNU.

Police have detained a man suspected of setting up to 8 fires in Ocean Beach between 11pm Thursday to about 6am Friday morning, July 13.

One fire caused the evacuation of an apartment complex.

SDFD Capt. Cory Beckwith told the media Fire Department crews responded to 8 different fires – all clearly intentionally set from about midnight to about 6 a.m. Friday. The fires were in plastic trash cans, dumpsters and at least one car. Most fires were set in trash bins pulled up next to a car.

And law enforcement may have caught a man red-handed as reportedly he was seen in the process of starting a fire on Long Branch Avenue and was then detained.

It is a truth that is staggering. And it is not hyperbole.

The future of Ocean Beach very likely will be decided this coming Monday, July 16, when the San Diego City Council votes on regulating short term vacation rentals.

This will be their 4th major hearing on these type of rentals, often called mini-hotels – having failed over 3 years to set policy. Up for discussion is Mayor Faulconer’s proposed “compromise” and all he and the short term platform companies like Airbnb need is 5 votes.

If Faulconer’s plan passes in total or in substance – the future of this community has been decided

An explosion and fire in an upstairs apartment building sent an OB resident with burn injuries to the hospital on Wednesday, July 11. The unidentified man’s injuries and their severity are not known.

Firefighters arrived after 911 calls came in after 2:20 pm and quickly doused the flames within 10 minutes at a two-story apartment complex on Bacon Street near Cape May Avenue. From Station 15 we’re assuming.

Fortunately, the fire was contained to a single studio apartment on the second floor.

According to Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Monica Munoz, the fire caused an estimated

By Laura Sisk-Hackworth

SB 237, authored by California State Senator Hertzberg (D-18), threatens to increase the use of fossil fuels in California by undercutting Community Choice Energy (CCE) programs. The bill would allow businesses to circumvent CCE providers and buy electricity directly from suppliers. These suppliers would be subject to the state’s required minimum on the renewable content of the electricity – whereas CCEs consistently exceed those minimums. Therefore, this bill would reduce the use of renewables, hurt renewable energy job growth, and likely bankrupt all current CCEs. This bill would effectively end existing CCE programs and halt their future expansion throughout California.

Community Choice Energy allows communities, rather than the utility companies, to purchase electricity.

“If Brett Kavanaugh wins Senate confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Ken Stone over at The Times of San Diego warns us, “SeaWorld may have a friend in high places.”

It was just in 2014 that Kavanaugh saddled up to SeaWorld’s side in a case involving the death 4 years earlier of a SeaWorld trainer by one of the killer whales. The trainer was Dawn Brancheau and the Orca was named Tilikum, and the case was about a $70,000 OSHA fine slapped on the theme park – which SeaWorld contested and took it to court.