OB Rag

By Bob Dorn / San Diego Free Press

I got one of those faux political surveys from the Democratic National Committee in the mail recently, the one my now-deceased mother-in-law used to receive because we listed her address as our own after she fell into Alzheimers years ago.

The surveys continued to arrive at our address, perhaps four times a year, until this time my name showed up on the envelope.

The introductory letter from the chair of the DNC, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, addressed me as a party leader — odd because I’m registered as “no party preference” — but I suppose that means Wasserman Schultz sees me as a California leftie and dropped the survey on me in hopes I can be attracted to Hillary.

Here are the “unofficial” results of Wednesday’s election of the Ocean Beach Planning Board:

• District 4
  

There is no winner as there is a tie between Craig Klein and Marissa Spata. The Board Election committee is awaiting for direction from city staff;

• District 5

Jane Gawronski was re-elected;

• District 6

John Ambert was elected.

By Geoff Page:

On Wednesday, March 2nd, OB Dude’s comment on the Rag’s camera story alerted me to a Channel 10 News story about transient-set fires in Ocean Beach. Here is the link posted to the story:

If you look at the video, you can see a four lane road with a median and an overpass. The only place this could be is Nimitz Blvd. and the overpass is Famosa Blvd. There is no overpass within the boundaries of Ocean Beach, this area is Point Loma.

By Marjorie Cohn / Common Dreams

Hillary Clinton refuses to make public the transcripts of her speeches to big banks, three of which were worth a total of $675,000 to Goldman Sachs. She says she would release the transcripts “if everybody does it, and that includes Republicans.” After all, she complained, “Why is there one standard for me, and not for everybody else?”

As the New York Times editorial board pointed out, “The only different standard here is the one Mrs. Clinton set for herself, by personally earning $11 million in 2014 and the first quarter of 2015 for 51 speeches to banks and other groups and industries.”

Troubling Trend Continues When City Departments Fail to Show at OBTC Meeting

We have to call it the way we see it. It appears that the City has once again snubbed Ocean Beach.

Point in fact: No one, not one soul, from the City’s Department of Transportation and Storm Water nor from the City department that repairs street lights, nor from the City’s PR department showed up at the most recent OB Town Council meeting to debrief the community on what was going on.

These folks – these representatives of the City’s bureaucracy and departments that serve the public – had been invited by the Town Council to discuss with Ocean Beach their measures to prevent future flooding and their schedule to repair broken streetlights.

We all know how badly OB was hit with the January storms.

Nuclear Shutdown News for February 2016

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the US nuclear power industry in this country and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free world.

Last year Nuclear Shutdown News reported on a scandal involving the San Onofre nuclear plant shutdown, and a secret deal that left its ratepayers holding the bag for a multibillion dollar debt for which the public bears no responsibility. This onerous debt will take consumers and their descendants decades to pay off if the powers that be get their way. But the people are fighting back.

Iconic OB Pier Turns 50 This Summer

The famous Ocean Beach Pier turns 50 this July, and the OB Mainstreet Association is planning big celebrations to honor the 2nd longest pier on the West Coast, and completed in 1966.

One of the neat things the merchants’ group is doing is collecting stories and photos about and of the pier.

OBMA is asking people to share their stories and pics – and send them to the merchants’ group staff who plan on publishing a PierBook at some point with the stories and photos.

Here is the link to the page where you can share them.

Isabel Clark is the Program Director with the OBMA leading the efforts surrounding the Pier’s celebration. She encourages people to send the memories, photos and pier memorabilia directly to her (isabel@oceanbeachsandiego.com ) or bring materials by the OBMA office.

… and It’s Not Obamacare’s Fault

By John Lawrence

You can blame lobbyists from the health insurance and pharmaceutical industry in conjunction with Republican lawmakers who lobbied the Affordable Care Act to death making it in the long run unaffordable and probably untenable. Why? Because there are no cost containment features in the Act. None. Nada. Zippo.

What that means is that the drug companies can raise the prices of drugs 5000% like Martin Shkreli of Turing Pharmaceuticals did for Daraprim without breaking the law. Shkreli’s arrogance, the latest example of which is calling the Congressmen who interrogated him “imbeciles”, has gotten him into much trouble but not for raising the price of a life-saving drug 5000%.

Another big name has entered the San Diego mayoral contest – Ed Harris – who represented Ocean Beach and Point Loma and the rest of District 2 for most of 2014 as an interim councilman – is in the race.

Harris – a Democrat – announced Tuesday he’s throwing his hat in the ring (any other analogies out there?).

Besides sitting on the City Council, Harris has been the head of the city’s lifeguards union. Harris has been a strong advocate for getting better health care for lifeguards, and has been alerting the City to a looming lifeguard shortage, as many experienced people are retiring over the next 2 years.

While on the City Council, he continued his support for labor issues, as well as community issues. He took issue with the City contracts with businesses leasing Belmont Park, popularizing the view that the City wasn’t getting enough out of the deal. His efforts were overturned later by Councilwoman Lorie Zapf, who won the seat in the primary.

The OB Rag is running a poll on whether local OBceans and Point Lomans think there is less or more airplane noise now.

The poll is over at our sidebar.

There has been some debate in recent articles that there are changes in the noise level plus we’ve heard from local friends that they are experiencing changes. What do you think? What have you experienced lately?

Hey – Make sure you vote in the annual election to the Ocean Beach Planning Board today Wednesday, March 2nd.

Today – Wednesday, March 2nd – is the Ocean Beach Planning Board’s annual election. It will be held from 4 pm to 7pm at the OB Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Avenue. (For details, see OB Planning Board’s website.)

Seven of the 14 seats on the Board will be up for election.

The March 2nd monthly meeting of the OB Planning Board will be one hour later than usual so members can count the ballots of the annual election to be held that day.

The meeting will begin at 7pm, at the OB Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Avenue. The election is from 4pm to 7pm at the OB Rec Center, in the main meeting room. Eligible residents, property owners and business owners are urged to participate in the annual election of Board members. Usually there is one seat from each of the 7 planning districts open for election. The meeting will be held in the same room as the balloting, after ballots are counted.