OB Rag

The first community forum on the planned installation of the police surveillance cameras has been set for Wednesday, December 9th.

The forum is being sponsored by the OB Citizens Against Privacy Abuse (CAPA) and will be held at the OB Recreation Center. The forum will run from 6:30 to 8:30 pm and will include a presentation or two by members of CAPA as well as a question and answer session with San Diego Police representatives.

Councilwoman Lorie Zapf has been invited to address the forum, as well, as it was her office that found funds for the surveillance cameras.

Waterfront Bistro Will Attempt to Open By Weekend of Dec. 5

One of our favorite restaurants in OB suffered a fire over the Thanksgiving holidays and has been closed ever since.

Shades had a fire in its kitchen – and due to the flames, the sprinkler system went off – and probably damaged more than the fire did.

When we checked on the restaurant on Wednesday, workers and electricians were making repairs.

OB Planning Board Presentation For and Against the Cameras – Tonight, Dec. 2nd

The surveillance cameras to be installed in Ocean Beach have been in the news lately. And only because of the opposition to them being posed by the OB Citizens Against Privacy Abuse (CAPA).

CAPA formed a couple of weeks ago after a collection of OBceans began meeting to share their views against the police-initiated cameras planned for OB’s waterfront.

Opponents of the cameras are also planning a series of public forums and a petition drive, plus have been plastering OB with their Uncle Sam posters. And it is this opposition to the cameras that is drawing press attention.

The Ocean Beach Town Council is hosting its annual auction to benefit their Holiday Food and Toy Drive this Thursday, December 3rd.

Please join them in this great night of fun, hilarity and good vibes … and fund raising for a wonderful cause.

Plus you’ll have a chance to bid on and win fantastic prizes from local businesses and sports teams.

The Silent Auction kicks off at 5:30 p.m. and the Live Auction gets underway at 6:30 at the Sunshine Company Saloon (5028 Newport Avenue).

By Will Falk / San Diego Free Press

Standing in a pinyon-juniper forest on a high slope above Cave Valley not far from Ely, Nevada, I am lost in an ancient vision. It is a vision born under sublime skies stretching above wide, flat valleys bounded by the dramatic mountains of the Great Basin.

The vision grows with the rising flames of morning in the east. The night was cold, but clear, and the sun brings a welcome warmth.

In 2000 OBGO Held Its First ‘Coming-Out’ Community Forum

Grassroots activism has been in the air in OB of late, with a definite spike last year during the campaign to have the OB Community Plan approved, but it also has been seen this year around the Plan at the Coastal Commission. Prior to 2014, however, there had been many a lean year in terms of genuine local activism across the village, many a moon had passed without throwing shadows on such OBcean activity as petitions and community mobilizations.

And that’s the way grassroots activism is, it comes and goes – like the tides that lap OB’s beaches and cliffs.

Coincidentally or not, there has been some talk – also of late – of a former OB activist group. It was mentioned in an article about ‘why SeaWorld can’t build a hotel at its current location’, and it’s also been longingly mentioned at some meetings of another group, the OB Citizens Against Privacy Abuse.

The San Diego Planning Commission is holding a public hearing on proposed short term vacation rental / home sharing amendments to the City of San Diego Municipal Code.

The hearing is on Thursday, December 3rd,at 9 a.m. in the Copper Room in the City Administration Building at 202 C Street in downtown.

The Ocean Beach Planning Board meets Wednesday night, December 2nd, at the OB Rec Center.

On the Board’s agenda is the latest on the OB Community Plan, the issue of short-term vacation rentals, as well as the issue of the planned installation of surveillance cameras at the beach.

Come inside for the official agenda:

By Bill Adams / UrbDeZine

I read an op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune that made me want to stand on top of a downtown high-rise and scream . . . YES!!!

The opinion piece was entitled “A higher and better use for downtown,” and was written by Wayne Raffesberger and co-authored by Rob Quigley, Jack Carpenter, Pete Garcia and David Malmuth – individuals who have exceptional knowledge of downtown San Diego’s East Village neighborhood and a promising vision for its future.*

On November 19th Second District Councilwoman Lorie Zapf presented a City Council proclamation celebrating the 100th anniversary of Sunset Cliffs .

It is a shame that on this anniversary many San Diegans and visitors are not able to access Sunset Cliffs Natural Park. There are two City parking lots for those who wish to visit the south end of the park, one near the water on Ladera St. and one up top on Lomaland Dr. adjacent to Point Loma Nazarene University.

By Jim Miller

There has been much to be dismayed about in the wake of the horrible Paris (and Beirut) attacks, from the carnage itself to the ugly xenophobia it aroused in American politics to the sheer stupidity of the eternal return of the same that is the bipartisan hegemony on foreign policy.

The answer for everything is always an eye for an eye until the whole world is blind with little to no intelligent reflection on the blunders that got us here—that might mean a fundamental rethinking of our role in the world rather than yet another knee-jerk response.

By Walter Einenkel / Daily Kos

Earlier this year it came to our attention that since 1990, almost 1 billion monarch butterflies have vanished. That number was 90 percent of previous peaks in monarch populations. In reaction to this staggering number, conservationists in North America began working in their regions to create something called the “butterfly highway”.