OB Rag

By John Lawrence

On Saturday, April 2, the Chargers published a whole section of the San Diego Union-Tribune devoted to their proposal to build a football stadium for the Chargers combined with a non-contiguous expansion of the Convention Center.

The title of this section was “Notice of Intent to Circulate Petition.” Right off the bat I found several things wrong with this proposal. But before I go into that I want to discuss the MAJOR thing wrong with this proposal.

You see the Chargers think combining a Convention Center Expansion with a new stadium will make it more palatable to San Diego voters especially if the tax that will be raised to pay for it will be a tax on visitors not on locals.

By Michael Tan, Staff Attorney, Immigrants’ Rights Project, ACLU

In the federal criminal bail system, judges are required to consider someone’s financial ability to pay a bond and determine if alternative conditions of supervision — check-ins, travel restrictions — are enough to get the person to show up for court.

But such protections don’t apply to immigrants locked up in detention centers. The result is that people like Cesar Matias, a gay man from Honduras, end up jailed simply because they’re poor.

“Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease.”

In the “Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease” Department, the OB Rag has just been informed that because of concerns expressed by local OBceans on the encroachment into public space by The Joint restaurant on Newport Avenue, the City did a site inspection which resulted in the eatery’s owner being given a “correction notice”.

OBceans have for weeks been complaining to the City, via the OB Rag, through a poll we conducted, and through calls to Lorie Zapf’s office, that the recent installation of a gated outside railing by The Joint was encroaching too much into the space for the public sidewalk. Some thought it created a dangerous situation, especially on crowded days such as the weekly Farmers Market.

Apparently, on Wednesday, April 6th, a site visit was performed by the City’s Development Services inspection team with the restaurant’s owner, Mr. Lowe, present. Measurements were taken and at least a few of them “were found to be inconsistent with the approved and community plans,” ….

Sushi Pho Sure
3944 W. Pt. Loma, Suite D & E
San Diego, CA 92110
619-223-7624

Many years ago when my husband was still alive, we ate frequently at the Kobe Udon in the Longs Shopping Center.(Midway Towne Center). Kobe Udon is no more, nor is Longs, but “Sushi Pho Sure” is in the same location that Kobe Udon was those many years ago. Since Hitomi and I were going to shop at the Grocery Outlet we decided to try out the restaurant and see how it compared to “Seaside Pho & Grill”, which we reviewed several weeks ago.

I had hoped that they had continued with the Udon that I always enjoyed at Kobe’s, but they had not. The menu is extensive, in that there are many varieties of sushi and sashimi available. (Maki sushi; specialty sushi; Hand Rolls; Nigiri sushi; Special sushi’s, etc.) Their prices were also reasonable starting at about $3.85 for a 5 piece hand roll. In fact, all of their prices were very reasonable, from their starters at $1.00 – egg roll – to $5 for many of their items. I didn’t see anything on the menu more than $10.

Local Takes Tourist On Epic Search for the Only Taco Worth Writing Home About

By Sunny Rey

I met Shawn on a Saturday night, he mentioned he was in town for only the week and was here to find the best fish taco. This excited me. As a local, one of my biggest highs is showing the town off to noobs and cruising around seeing the city through the eyes of the traveler. The first time experience of Sunset Cliffs, the hearts feeling of repositioning itself during twilight at Seaport Village, lining your body up against the docked boats with a backdrop of silver and salmon colored sky.

A walk around the cross at Mt. Soledad, the families the edge and teen spirit at the boardwalk. The bars the craft donuts the music scene and pretty bodies on gorgeous beaches, all of it too much to squeeze into a week itinerary, but this small goal to find the best fish taco?! That- I could most defiantly take on!

Editor: Here we post, unedited, a statement from Ed Harris who is running for San Diego’s mayor. We do welcome statements from other candidates.

A mayoral debate has been set for the next OB Town Council meeting for Wednesday, April 27th. Harris and Lori Saldana have confirmed for the debate, but Mayor Kevin Faulconer has not.

Progress, Not Politics

By Ed Harris

Kevin Faulconer is a nice enough guy. He’s worked hard to build an image as a down-to-earth
problem solver. His political handlers claim that polls show he’s viewed favorably by most
voters. In fact, they say he’s done such a good job that he’s now a contender to be California’s
next governor.

So an obvious question is, why am I running against him for mayor in the June 7 primary
election?

By Jim Miller

Time to give credit where credit is due. It was not the noblesse oblige of individual politicians or the Democratic Party that brought us the $15 dollar an hour minimum wage, it was the labor movement.

Surely, the governors of New York and California and their fellow Democrats in those statehouses deserve credit for listening to the cry for economic justice and having the good sense to do the right thing, but the historic victory of the Fight for $15 that we have just celebrated would never have come to pass without the bold vision and prolonged struggle of working people standing together and demanding what many called impossible.

By Matthew Rice / Veterans Democratic Club of San Diego

The strongest right we as Americans have is our freedom of speech. On Monday 11 April 2016 at 4pm, we plan to use that speech to PROTEST TED CRUZ in San Diego! He is speaking from 6-8pm at:

Town and Country Resort
500 Hotel Circle North
San Diego, CA 92108

By Anna Daniels / San Diego Free Press

Quick— imagine a homeless person.

Did you conjure up the image of an utterly ordinary looking seventy year old white woman attending classes at SDSU? or a neatly dressed young Latino waiting at a bus stop? or a pregnant African American woman passing by your house? or a neighborhood kid who disappears and reappears and seems disconnected, rootless?

We don’t hear much about these men and women, young and old, who are homeless. Instead, we read about the uptrodden who have to deal with homeless people crapping on the sidewalk in front of their expensive condos downtown or the bad optics and shabby aesthetics of the tents and battered pieces of cardboard where the homeless visibly bed down every night, also downtown.

SoCal Parrot is hosting a community forum for the Ocean Beach area regarding local wild parrots and the recent killings of those parrots. The forum will be in the Community Room of the OB Rec Center, Monday, April 11th from 6 to 8 pm. The OB Rec Center is located at 4726 Santa Monica Avenue.

SoCal Parrot will give a 30 to 45 minute presentation, followed by an open question and answer session. Also being presented will be an outline of ways that everyone member of the public can help deter those unnecessary acts of animal cruelty in the future.

A lot going on at last night’s OB Planning Board meeting. As nearly two dozen people crowded into the Community Meeting room at the OB Rec Center, they were witnesses to a type of mini-mayoral candidate debate, when candidates Ed Harris and Lori Saldana addressed the meeting.

Also, the Board certified its March election and there was a change of chairs, as several planners left the group, a newly-elected member was seated, and the Board selected their officers for the next year. John Ambert will sit as chair for another term and Blake Herrschaft will continue as vice-chair.

And then finally, the Board reviewed the proposed project for 4620 Del Mar Avenue and voted to recommend its approval.

By Barbara Zaragoza / San Diego Free Press

They’re witty. They’re irreverent. They have names such as Sister Hungry Bitch and Sister Hysterectoria. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, San Diego Chapter seek “to promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt.”

They’ve been called drag queens. They’ve been called a sorority of gay men. As a matter of fact, to be a Sister is a calling and their focus is on helping community members who have been marginalized or ignored.

The Sisters have a rich history that dates back to the days when AIDS ravaged the gay male population and few people—if any—wanted to serve their needs. Since then, the Sisters have grown into many chapters nationally and internationally. Their work encompasses improv street theater, charitable activities and a general call to serve others.