Tag: OB Town Council

Come meet the OB Town Council of yesteryear … of 1972. OB community activists were engaged in a stand-off with the then president Bob Miller. Here is a portion of the front page of the original OB Rag in March 1972.

By Christopher Cadelago / UNION-TRIBUNE /August 26, 2010

OCEAN BEACH — It’s official. Frank Gormlie, the activist, lawyer and co-founder of the OB Rag, will not be on the ballot as a candidate for the Ocean Beach Town Council’s board of directors. Gormlie, who hoped to be one of eight candidates – including six incumbents – vying for seven seats on the dais, had been told that because the business was based out of his Lemon Grove home, he was not eligible to run.

At town council meeting Wednesday night, Gormlie said he had secured a lease in Ocean Beach to house his business, but was told he was still not eligible to run because he did not submit the business address by the Aug. 16 deadline.

The following was originally published on August 26, 2010, exactly 11 years ago to the day. It was another time and another moment, but it’s still interesting, I think. Many of my friends on the OBTC are not aware of this ancient history – and I bear no grudges.

[caption id="attachment_23897" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Here is the official OB Town Council Elections announcement, released August 20, 2010. Notice my name, Frank Gormlie, listed as an official candidate.[/caption]

Last night at their packed public meeting, I pleaded with the Ocean Beach Town Council to allow me to remain a candidate on their ballot for the annual Board election which has just begun.

Today, around mid-morning, I received a phone call from Nancy Vaughn, the elections coordinator for the Ocean Beach Town Council. As you may know, the OBTC is having their annual elections beginning tomorrow (Wednesday Aug 25th) with their Candidates Forum – and up to now, I have been an official candidate.

On the phone Nancy Vaughn told me that I am in fact ineligible to be a candidate for the Board. She even told me that the OB Rag is ineligible to be a member. The Rag had joined the OBTC over three months ago and our dues fees were accepted. My name was on the official list of candidates sent out by the Council two days ago. My Letter of Intent declaring my candidacy had been accepted over a week ago. Yet on the eve of the balloting, I’m told I can’t run for one of the 7 seats that are open.

Here is the reason that Vaughn cited ….

A confluence of events is merging here in Ocean Beach this week that in themselves display a healthy village, a social stage active with its many players: on Tuesday night – August 24th – there is the second in a series of community forums on OB homelessness at the local Baptist Church.

And then on Wednesday night -the 25th – there is the OB Town Council meeting and its annual Candidates Forum up at the Masonic Center.

With these two important neighborhood meetings conjoined closely in time, we have a strong indication here of a an active – hence healthy – social and political life underwriting this coastal village.

The Ocean Beach Town Council is having an election starting this week to fill 7 seats that are being opened. And there are eight candidates running for those seats, six of them incumbents.

The Council is sponsoring a Candidates’ Forum during their regular public meeting, this Wednesday, August 24th, at the Masonic Center located at 1711 Sunset Cliffs Boulevard.

Here are the names and statements of the candidates, provided to us by the OBTC …..

ALL LINKS AND DETAILS INSIDE:

Jolly Roger Pirate Captured by Lifeguards
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OB Town Council Candidates Needed – Apply by August 16th
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Community and Alley Clean-Up on August 21st
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Second Community Forum on Homelessness – August 24th
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Candidate Forum for Town Council – August 25th
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Point Loma – Midway Community Meeting on Transforming the Post Office
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Peninsula Planners to Review Bylaws on August 19th

The same guy who will be speaking about “education reform” at the next OB Town Council meeting on July 28th, spoke at a Tierrasanta community meeting Wednesday night (7/21/10). He wasn’t received all that well by local residents there.

Scott Himelstein, the leader of the newly named “San Diegans 4 Great Schools”, told the residents gathered at the Tierrasanta meeting that his group was disappointed with test scores in San Diego Unified schools and that “governance” was the problem. “Governance” is a cloaked term for “how the school board works”.

The OB Town Council is now accepting applications for grants that the Council will fund for the year 2010. Through the Ocean Beach Tree Festival Committee, the OBTC provides organizations and groups an opportunity to receive funds, raised by its Annual Tree Festival.

Last year the OBTC provided over $15,000 to a wide variety of organizations.

Nearly a dozen residents who support keeping OB’s fire rings showed up at the Town Council’s regular meeting, Wednesday night, April 28th, and about half of them spoke up at the Masonic Temple meet before the very attentive Council on maintaining the community’s icons.

And even though the Town Council did not take a vote during the meeting, those members of the Council who spoke on the issue gave strong indications the Council would vote during their next meeting in support of the fire rings. About two years, the Council had passed a similar proposal in support of the pits.

Show the OB Town Council – and everybody else (like the Mayor) – that you want to save the fire rings of Ocean Beach. They’re on the agenda tonight, April 28th, of the Town Council.

They meet at 7 pm at the Masonic Temple, corner of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and Santa Moncia Ave.

Mayor Sanders is threatening to begin removing all 185 of San Diego’s fire rings, including the remaining eight here in OB, beginning July 1. (We used to have 16 during the summer months.)

The City says the is no more funds to maintain them, that it costs $120,ooo to clean all the pits every week.

by OB Cindi

For those of you who need to be brought up to speed, last night from 7pm to 9pm there was an OB Town Council Meeting.

Earlier yesterday (Wed 2/24) I walked around Ocean Beach and handed out a flier to a handful of people under the pier. My flier had a map giving directions to the Masonic Temple, the time of the meeting, and a request for those the OBRag Ad Hoc Committee were representing to add their voices to the Town Council’s issue on homeless.

I asked about a dozen youth to come to the meeting to talk about their experience and to help push for a local shelter/camp city and more restrooms.

As the meeting started, I took a seat amongst the youth as I had promised–I practice and preach tolerance and coexistence.

The meeting kicked off with people running for various districts pushing their platforms.