OB Rag

Editor’s Note: The following is an interview with an Airbnb host.

by Chuck Thassing

I’m sitting down with an Airbnb host to discuss the dollars and sense of short term vacation rentals (STVRs). These have been a hotly debated issue in San Diego, and our 9 city councilmembers are gearing up for a vote on December 12th on how to regulate it. The stories run the gamut from displaced residents and frat parties in residential neighborhoods, to desperately needed supplemental income and other benefits of the “sharing economy”.

Q: So tell us about your rental unit.

A: Last year I converted a little 1 bedroom beach cottage in Ocean Beach into a short term rental and listed it on Airbnb.

By Jim Miller

One would think that in the midst of the Trump era, with so many threats not just to essential government policies and programs but to democracy itself, Democrats would have a pretty clear idea of who their enemy is.

A reasonable observer might also conclude that the Democratic Party in California which has, in many ways, been the vanguard of resistance nationwide would be laser-focused on not only maintaining the blue wall but on working to oust California Republicans from the House of Representatives.

UPDATED WITH PHOTOS OF REMOVAL AND RE-PLANTING

OB’s brand new Christmas Tree – planted at the foot of Newport Ave. this morning – is a true OBcean – it leans to the left.

Thanks to Bob Edwards who met the truck at 7am this morning – we have this first photo of our Christmas Tree on the beach.

Well, it is a true OBcean – planted and raised right here in OB. See this.

Here’s Bob Edward’s pictorial essay of the removal and re-planting of OB’s Christmas Tree for 2017.

By Nick Karma

Dozens of residents of the beach communities rallied in Ocean Beach on Saturday, November 25th in the first of its kind for San Diego – a protest demonstration against short term vacation rentals. Sponsored by the OB Rag and Save San Diego Neighborhoods, the rally kicked off with a few speeches at the corner of Voltaire and Abbott, in front of “the poster boy of short term vacation rentals” – a lot filled with three 2-story modular units. The crowd proceeded on a “Walk of Shame”…

2017 Holiday Parade Theme “California Dreamin’ in the Season of Love”

From OB Town Council

The Ocean Beach Town Council facilitates several local community events during the holiday season:

• the OB Holiday Parade;
• the OB Holiday Tree at the foot of Newport Avenue;
• the OB Holiday Craft Fairs;
• the OB Holiday Auction, and
• the OB Food and Toy Drive.

By Geoff Page

In an attempt to make right on one of its sorrier performances, the Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB), during its regular monthly meeting at the Pt. Loma Library, decided to revisit its bizarre /no decision on a project in July of this year.

At that time, the PCPB voted no on a motion to deny a project and then also voted no on a motion to approve that same project. This rehearing of the project was part of an equally bizarre agenda that had applicants still waiting to present their projects at 9:30 in the evening, three hours after the meeting started. They had to wait while the PCPB discussed internal matters and heard informational items for things that won’t happen until May of 2018.

This year’s OB Christmas Tree, which will soon stand sentry at the foot of Newport Avenue, is a true OBcean.

Sheila Landon knows – for she planted it twenty years in her OB backyard. And Tuesday morning starting at 7 am, it will be cut down and hauled through the streets of OB to its destination and public display of the community’s very own Christmas Tree.

It had to come down – it was destroying the foundation and pipes of the building it was planted next to, the current owners of the tree say.

IT’S AN OB MOMENT! The Ocean Beach Town Council needs your help TONIGHT – Tuesday!

The No Parking signs have to go up (per city requirements).

There may be a period of time when our site appears to be down. Rest assured it will be temporary but it could last anywhere from a few hours to a full day. Word needs to spread across the globe about where we are located. When you arrive at the new host there will be a welcome sign.

If you feel like it’s been too long for us to be out of commission try doing a hard refresh of your browser window by holding down the Control key and pushing the F5 key. If that doesn’t work, you can do a DNS flush. Since everyone is using a different operating system go to Google and search “flush dns cache” followed by your operating system. For example: flush dns cache windows 10.

We’ll see you soon!

OB Rag and Save San Diego Neighborhoods Sponsor Rally in Heart of Airbnb Empire

There’s a noon time protest rally against short term vacation rentals in Ocean Beach on Saturday, November 25th.

Sponsored by the OB Rag and Save San Diego Neighborhoods, the rally will begin at the corner of Voltaire Street and Abbott – right in the heart of Airbnb’s OB Empire.

By Ernie McCray

Folks say to you, when you’ve lost a child: “I can’t imagine your pain.”

And they’ve got something there because the pain wrestling my emotions to the ground is unimaginable. Losing a child is in a category all by itself. It’s surreal.

I looked for a photo to go with the mood I’m in and I saw one that matched just how I am feeling, how I seem to be trudging through a burnt out forest on an LSD trip gone horribly awry with bees stinging the very fabric of my soul. I’m reeling from the very thought that my daughter Debbie’s death was against the natural order of things: she was supposed to some day mourn me — not the other way around.