Opportunities exist to get involved in molding OB\u2019s future<\/b><\/br> <\/br>What\u2019s on your bucket list? Snorkeling with sharks? A trek to the Egyptian pyramids? Jumping from an airplane? If holding elected office is on your list, it perhaps has never been as easy as it is right now in Ocean Beach. When the Ocean Beach Planning Board (OBPB) \u2014 like the 50-plus other planning boards throughout the city \u2014 held annual elections last month, only four names appeared on a ballot with seven district races. When the board holds its next monthly meeting May 2, three of the 14 chairs will be vacant, and can only be filled by appointment until next year. “The vacancies are a concern,” said former OBPB chairman Giovanni Ingolia. “We\u2019re stronger when we have 14 different voices and opinions.” At a time when, according to a poll released by the Pew Research Center in 2010, an estimated 41 percent of the public can\u2019t come up with the name of the vice president of the United States, it\u2019s understandable if you don’t know the name of your representative on the OBPB. But it\u2019s perhaps a bit more noteworthy to have vacancies in Ocean Beach, often considered a firebrand community with a history of citizen input, where the concept of community planning began in the 1970s. In last month\u2019s election, the top three vote-getters \u2014 incumbents Barbara Schmidtknecht and Giovanni Ingolia, and newcomer Kelly Taing \u2014 received a modest three votes each. Incumbent Ronson Shamoun showed up the day of the election with his application and won as a write-in with two votes. District 1 incumbent Landry Watson was unable to gather the necessary signatures in time to appear on the ballot due to personal reasons and gained an appointment to his old slot at the board\u2019s April meeting. Ideally, he said he would have preferred to have an opponent for the position. “I was honestly hoping someone else would run,” Watson said after the meeting. “Democracy needs new blood and competition.” Other local planning boards also reported difficulty recruiting candidates. In the North Bay (Midway\/Pacific Highway area), all eight incumbents ran unopposed. Two of the eight should have been forced out by term limits but, when no other candidates applied, they qualified for an exemption and were persuaded to stick around. In the Point Loma area, the Peninsula Community Planning Board drew six candidates to run for five open slots. But the election drew far less interest from voters than in previous years. The top vote-getter, Julia Quinn, garnered 29 votes \u2014 or 8 percent of the total cast for last year’s top winner, Norm Allenby (349 votes). If the citizens who serve toil in relative obscurity, they take on some pretty weighty assignments. By law, development projects often must be vetted by community planning boards before they advance to the San Diego Planning Commission and City Council. As described on the city\u2019s website, planning boards are also “formally recognized” to make recommendations on land-use planning, quality-of-life issues, rezones, code enforcement issues and public facilities. When the beach restrooms known as the Brighton Street Comfort Station were being designed, the OBPB was allowed to select the artist for the ceiling artwork, Ingolia said. The board also fought to keep certain design elements from getting scrapped when funding was an issue, like the rooftop photovoltaic cells, he said. “To me, we\u2019re kind of like a watchdog. This is what’s going on in the community and here\u2019s our take on it,” said Ingolia, who was elected to his fourth two-year term last month. Asked to explain why he first sought office, Ingolia said he was required to attend any community planning meeting and write a paper for a class in the urban planning and development certificate program at UCSD. He attended a meeting in Mission Valley and was intrigued enough to attend the next Ocean Beach meeting, this time without being forced. He was approached after the meeting by Jane Gawronski \u2014 now the board’s chair \u2014 and asked if he was interested in applying for a vacancy. In Ocean Beach, candidates have an additional requirement, uncommon among other boards, to gather 35 signatures in support of a candidacy. Ingolia, a former paperboy, said he was used to knocking on doors to hustle customers, and the requirement didn\u2019t deter him. “I just knocked on the doors and took a little step back so I\u2019m not invading their space, introduced myself and asked what their concerns were in the community,” he said. A sincere approach goes a long way, and the majority of those asked signed his petition, Ingolia said. “The signature part wasn\u2019t difficult,” Ingolia said. “What\u2019s great is you get to know your neighbors. It opens up a real dialogue.” Asked what characteristics she looks for in a candidate, Gawronski, a former school superintendent, said she\u2019s not partial to any particular resume. “Especially in Ocean Beach, we try to be inclusive, not exclusive,” she said. “It should be people with a passion for land-use issues, a passion for the neighborhood atmosphere in Ocean Beach, and at the same time, a respect for property rights,” said Gawronski, who owns property in three of the seven districts in the planning area. The group\u2019s bylaws state vacancies must be filled within 120 days, or remain vacant until next year\u2019s election. TO QUALIFY FOR THE OB PLANNING BOARD<\/b> To fill one of the three vacancies on the Ocean Beach Planning Board (OBPB), potential candidates must: \u2022 Be 18 or older and live, run a business or own property in the Ocean Beach planning area \u2022 Attend one meeting in the last year \u2022 Download and fill out an application from www.oceanbeachpb.com \u2022 Collect 35 signatures in any district with a vacancy; currently districts 3, 5 and 7 (see website for boundaries) \u2022 Seek appointment from the OBPB. When term is up, a candidate may only run in the district that contains the address of your business, property or residence. \u2022 After appointment, attend a meeting known as COW \u2014 Community Orientation Workshop \u2014 or complete the workshop online. Anyone may download the handbook at www.sandiego.gov\/planning\/community\/cow.shtml. LOCAL PLANNING GROUP ELECTION RESULTS<\/b> Peninsula Community Planning Board (visit www.pcpb.net) \u2022 Election winners: Dominic Carnevale, Bruce Coons, Tyson Hempel, Rich Possanza and Julia Quinn \u2022 Jurisdiction: Ocean Beach Highlands, Point Loma Highlands Loma Alta, Loma Palisades, Loma Portal, Fleetridge, Roseville, Sunset Cliffs, Wooded Area, La Playa, Roseville, Liberty Station \u2022 Meetings: Third Thursday monthly, Pt. Loma Hervey library, 3701 Voltaire St., 6:30 p.m. Ocean Beach Planning Board (visit www.oceanbeachpb.com) \u2022 Election winners: District 2, Barbara Schmidtknecht; District 3, Kelly Taing (two years), Ronson Shamoun (one year); District 5, Giovanni Ingolia \u2022 Jurisdiction: Area west of Froude Street, north of Adair Street and south of the San Diego river. Split into seven districts; see website for boundaries \u2022 Meetings: First Wednesday monthly, Ocean Beach Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Ave., 6 p.m. North Bay Community Planning Group (visit www.sandiego.gov\/planning\/community\/-profiles\/midwaypacifichwycorridor\/agendas.shtml) \u2022 Election winners: Walter Andersen, Tod Howarth, Cathy Kenton, Melanie Nickel, Joe Scaglione, Kurt Sullivan, Kristy Swanston and Mike Swanston \u2022 Jurisdiction: Midway area and Pacific Highway Corridor. \u2022 Meetings: Third Wednesday monthly, San Diego Community College, Continuing Education, West City Campus, 3249 Fordham St., Room 205, 3 p.m.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Opportunities exist to get involved in molding OB\u2019s future What\u2019s on your bucket list? Snorkeling with sharks? A trek to the Egyptian pyramids? Jumping from an airplane? If holding elected office is on your list, it perhaps has never been as easy as it is right now in Ocean Beach. When the Ocean Beach Planning […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Lack of fresh candidates eyeing board seats leaves vacancies, shoo-ins for local incumbents","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11593,11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-300836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-no-images","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300836\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}