OB Rag

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.

As we complete our romping review of Ocean Beach’s planning districts, we round out our visit with District 7 – the South End of OB.

This has been our efforts at a public service as the OB Planning Board is holding its annual election on Tuesday, March 2nd, between 4 and 7pm at the OB Recreation Center, 4826 Santa Monica Avenue.

Here’s District 7

Here in south OB, the ubiquitous airplanes are off in the distance, as are the other attributes of living in a highly packed urban beach area, the noise, the traffic, the parking problems, the congestion, the tourists and other visitors. One can almost feel part of a different neighborhood than the raucous community to the north, the loud OB.

What OB Planning Area District do you live in? You’ll need to know in order to vote in the annual election to the Ocean Beach Planning Board coming up on Wednesday, March 2nd. This 14-member board reviews, approves and monitors development in OB as it adheres to the newly updated and approved OB Community Plan as the blueprint for the community.

OB Plan Area Map goodIn looking to heighten interest within the Village of OB for the election and the Planning Board itself, the OB Rag will be posting descriptions and a brief analysis of each of the seven planning districts over the course of the next 5 business days. Many of them are updated and edited versions of what we published 2 years ago.

As we move south across the map of OB in our continuing series about the different planning districts within the Ocean Beach Planning Area – we come to District 6 – “The Hills of OB“.

The review of this district is part of the OB Rag’s public education service to build support and knowledge of the upcoming OB Planning Board annual election on March 2nd, 2016.

District 6 of the Ocean Beach Community Planning Area

Stretching from the lowlands of Cable Street going east, District 6 immediately begins to climb up the hill – the hill of Point Loma – which is very steep at times, hence “Niagara Avenue” – and reaches the “peak” of OB at the intersection of Coronado Avenue and Froude Street. This is the highest point in “official” Ocean Beach – the geographical area of the community of OB that is recognized by the City of San Diego.

By Ernie McCray

I was watching the women on The View the other day talk about a video of John Kasich saying, in reference to a campaign he had won in Ohio years ago, that he had been victorious because “many women left their kitchens” to go door to door for him.

A woman didn’t take well to his remark and let him know that she would, never-the-less, come out to support him but wouldn’t do so from her “kitchen.”

“I gotcha,” Kasich replied, a bit embarrassed by his “a woman’s place is in the home” kind of faux pas.

In our continuing series of looking at each of the seven planning districts in Ocean Beach, we come to District 5 in southwestern OB.

The OB Rag is performing this public education service as the OB Planning Board is having its annual election on March 2nd. And we feel that development issues are coming to the fore once again in OB’s history, as funds bottled up during the Great Recession are being unleashed and the village is facing multiple pressures – and in fact, is at a development crossroads.

Here are the other districts we have covered. Here’s why it’s important.)

District 5 – the Cliffs at Ocean Beach

The fifth district within OB is the smallest district geographically, but because it hugs the gorgeous Sunset Cliffs, it has some of the most stunning views of sunsets, the coast, the surf, and provides an aura of solitude at those cliffs.

Editor: As we continue in our series looking at the different districts within the Ocean Beach Planning Area, today we settle in District 4 – the Hub of OB. See their website for details.

District 4 – The Center of the Village – the Hub of OB

It’s easy to see why District 4 is indeed the center and hub of the community of Ocean Beach. Just look at a map and you’ll see that the business district and the main beach are both in this district.

Downtown OB – the 3 commercial blocks of Newport Avenue and the adjacent side streets – is certainly the center of the community, no matter how you measure it. Traffic, pedestrians, events, happenings, music, food – and of course drink – it all – or most of it anyhow – happens right there.

By Jim Miller

If you are an observant reader you might have noticed that last week, amidst the usual banal political commentary surrounding the Presidential race, the New York Times matter-of-factly reported that, “Seas are Rising at Fastest Rate in Last 28 Centuries”.

If you managed not to spit out your coffee, you read the alarming news that:

The worsening of tidal flooding in American coastal communities is largely a consequence of greenhouse gases from human activity, and the problem will grow far worse in coming decades, scientists reported . .

Those emissions, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels, are causing the ocean to rise at the fastest rate since at least the founding of ancient Rome, the scientists said.

And if that didn’t send you into a morning funk, you might have …

Summary – Pt. Loma Democratic Club Meeting

The meeting was called to order by President Susan Peinado with a full agenda awaiting the audience. Rather than go into much detail, the following is a brief synopsis of the meeting itself:

1. There was a petition to abolish the death penalty discussed by the originators of the petition. This is very similar to the one presented a few years back, but there are some changes that will make it more palatable this year, or so the originators think.

2. Lawrence Zynda made a brief presentation as to why he is thinking of running for mayor.

3. The campaign manager for Lori Saldana made a presentation as to her running for mayor as an Independent this year against the current mayor. It should be noted that she has always been a Democrat, but the party treated her poorly during the Filner fiasco, and although her beliefs are primarily those of the party, she will run as an Independent.

By Annie Lane

Men are from Mars and women are from Venus. We all know this. But there’s a pretty key difference in how women prep for dates — especially first dates — and it’s way bigger than shaving our legs, trying on multiple outfits multiple times or otherwise attempting to look cute.

In a “so sad it’s funny” social commentary, the YouTube channel Unsolicited Project offers up its newest video, How Women Get Ready for First Dates. In it, the woman tells her roommate: “Just remember exactly what I’m wearing right now just in case I go missing.” By contrast, the guy throws on a jacket and heads out the door.

The third district of the OB Planning Area is an anomaly because its neighborhoods are diverse and a good portion is physically separated from the others.

The district includes OB’s most north-eastern area, that neighborhood hemmed in by West Point Loma Boulevard and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, but also includes a huge section on the other side of Nimitz Boulevard that has some more expensive condos as well as a sizable area of affordable housing.

The district almost looks like a giant bow tie (or maybe a giant seagull) with two large wings centered at Seaside and Nimitz.

Restaurant Review:

Kanda Thai Cuisine
3545 Midway Drive #M

It seems that I am still celebrating my birthday last week, because my friend Mary wanted to treat me to a special birthday. I really wanted to have good Chinese food in a restaurant, but could not find any locally that have good reviews. I had a coupon for the “Kanda Thai” restaurant in the same location that another Thai restaurant was at only six months ago and we decided to try it. (It is interested to note that our waitress told us that the “Kanda” is owned by the same owner that owned the now defunct “Thai Time II.”)

The coupon stated that it was their “Grand Opening” but when we asked the waitress how long they had been there the answer was six months. This is important because of several things that occurred during our meal.