OB Rag

A number of Ocean Beach and Point Loma community groups are hosting a town hall meeting focused on the recent string of arson and vandalism that has happened in the area, Tuesday, January 16th.

The groups include the OB Town Council, the OB Planning Board, OB Community Development Corp., OB Community Foundation, OB Main St. Association, OB Historical Society, Point Loma Association, and OB Clean Streets Initiative.

The town hall will be held at the Masonic Center at 1711 Sunset Cliffs Blvd, from 6 PM – 8 PM.

It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day and, for those of us who deeply value his legacy, it’s hard not to greet the first official King holiday of the Trump era with a deep sense of painful irony. As I wrote last year at this time on the eve of his inauguration:

Today we are at [a] dead-end with Trump’s administration full of revanchist billionaires, right-wing demagogues, and military strongmen representing the triumph of market fundamentalism married to racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and authoritarian militarism. Simply put, in Trump Nation, King’s “triple evils” [of racism, economic injustice, and militarism] are akin to the holy trinity.

Unfortunately, the last year has done little else but confirm this proclamation, making this year’s remembrance especially important. For King’s critique of American society is now even more relevant than it has been in the decades since his death—it haunts us like a ghost.

It’s time for Ed Harris – the lifeguard union chief – to jump in and rescue the citizens of San Diego City Council District 2.

Why do they need rescuing? Well, consider this …

The next election – the June Primary – is less than 5 months away and incumbent Lori Zapf is up for re-election. Zapf, a Republican, faces a district where registered Democratic voters outnumber registered Republicans by nearly 9,000. That ought to make her very vulnerable come next November.

Yet, she faces a field of weak challengers. All of them – and here is where OB Rag makes enemies – from Bryan Bease to Jordan Beane to Jen Campbell – they all have political flaws that make them unable ultimately to mount the District 2 seat in City Council Chambers downtown. And that’s why Ed Harris – who once sat in that chair for the District – needs to dive in

General Rain Advisory in Effect

The Department of Environmental Health has issued a GENERAL RAIN ADVISORY for the coastal waters of San Diego County due to contamination by urban runoff following rain.

Swimmers, surfers, and other ocean users are warned that levels of bacteria can rise significantly in ocean waters, especially near storm drains, creeks, rivers, and lagoon outlets that discharge urban runoff.

Activities such as swimming, surfing and diving should be avoided for 72 hours following rain.

We’re down to the wire, and the OB Rag is just $125 from our Winter fundraising goal of $1,000.

If you haven’t donated but read us daily or even monthly, please help us over the top. There’s a “Donate” button via PayPal up at the top of our homepage. It’s safe and very easy – and it goes right to our account.

Or mail us a check to our Post Office Box:

OB Rag
PO Box 7012
Ocean Beach CA 92167

At the most recent Ocean Beach Planning Board meeting on January 3rd, the Board heard a presentation on Incentive Based Zoning which is a method of zoning that is designed to keep down over-development of McMansions in communities along the coast, in particular, and the so-called exemptions to Coastal Development Permits. The presentation was by Sharon Wample, who is part of a group called Citizens for Responsible Coastal Development.

For background, this Citizens group was formed originally as an ad hoc committee in 2015 by the La Jolla Community Planning Association with locals who wished to battle McMansions and who wanted to abolish the so-called “50 percent coastal exception rule”. They want to replace it with an “Incentive-based zoning” approval process. This process would reduce the project applicant’s floor area ratio (FAR) and the applicant would then have to conform to a community’s list of design incentives to earn back their right to build their home more densely to the current FAR allowed.

The OB Rag has 2 tickets for Saturday, January 13th at the Springboard West “Band and Brew Crawl” being held in Ocean Beach.

Event hosts describe Saturday as:

Sat, Jan 13th: Band & Brew Crawol, 1PM – 11PM (40 Bands on 4 Stages)

Come Inside for More

* James Gang Up and Roaring
* OB Alley Arsonist Back at It? Fire in Alley Between Brighton and Long Branch Sunday Night
* OB Man with Dementia Goes Missing Twice in Less than 2 Weeks
* OB Kilowatt Gets a Shout-Out at CityBeat
* George Varga Notes Cow Records in Survey of San Diego’s Music History
* Memorial in Coronado for Surfer Who Died After Sunset Cliffs Rescue – Led by Local Mayor with 500 Attending

* OB Elementary School Volunteer Crossing Guards to Have Body-Cams
* Point Loma High Graduate Jamal Agnew Is Now All-Pro
* Blue Water Seafood Market & Grill One of 50 “New Most Anticipated” Restaurants for 2018
* Royale Makes the 10 Hot Plates: San Diego’s Top Food News in January
* Point Loma Makes “the To-Do List” for the San Fran Chron

Terrie Best remembers her friend, Tiffani Kjeldergaard – the Point Loma woman killed in a murder-suicide last Thursday, January 4th -. Best told NBC 7:

“Tiffani was a character. You couldn’t be in the same room with her without knowing she was there. She was whip-smart. Funny. Just a really interesting human being.”

San Diego Homicide detectives have ruled the fatal shooting of Kjeldergaard by 59-year-old Kenneth Everhart, who then turned the gun on himself at the Point Loma apartment complex, a murder-suicide. The two were reportedly having an argument when the shootings began.

By Ed Harris

On December 6th, San Diego Lifeguards voted on whether to pursue an independent department, or to stay within the Fire-Rescue Department.

The fact that 95% of the guards cast a vote, and 80% voted to leave the Fire Department, was unprecedented and clearly shows that there are deep problems. The vote represents an indictment of Fire Department leadership, but also of the structure and history of the Department. It is a clear message to the Mayor and City Council from rank and file Lifeguards who love serving and saving lives.

For the last 40 years, there have been repeated attempts by Fire Department leadership to encroach on Lifeguard job responsibilities.

This has not been a battle fought by the line personnel, who work well together, but rather by the Fire Union and Fire Chief’s determination to expand their Department.

Sit-Down Restaurant a Goal of Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market for Many Years

By Bob Edwards

In mid-December, Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market opened its new restaurant, O.B. Garden Café, just a few doors east of the market on Voltaire Street between Sunset Cliffs and Ebers Street.

O.B. Garden Café is not just another new restaurant, it’s an enterprise that, like People’s Food, is a democratically owned cooperative, dedicated to reinvesting its profits into the community, paying workers a living wage, and keeping the cost of food at a fair and reasonable price.