Ocean Beach planners will ask voters to decide who will preside over Ocean Beach land-use and planning issues in the upcoming Ocean Beach Planning Board (OBPB) election Tuesday, March 10. The planning board is made up of 14 board members. Seven of the 14 seats come up for election each March. The OBPB election will be held at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Ave., from 4 to 7:30 p.m. A total of eight candidates have thrown their name into the hat, according to OBPB officials. “OB is at a critical point in terms of all the land-use issues that we face,” said election committee chair Seth Connelly. “It’s going to take a lot of the business owners and civic engagement in order to protect the community character of Ocean Beach. So we encourage people to get involved.” The Ocean Beach community planning area is divided into seven districts. Candidates run for a specific district. Most candidates run uncontested in a district because of a small field of candidates. This year only two districts have more than one candidate running for office. Candidates must be at least 18 years old. Candidates also must have lived in Ocean Beach for at least 30 days or own property or have a business license in OB. The planning board allows write-in candidates, provided they qualify. Write-in applications must be turned in before March 10. According to Connelly, candidates running per district this year include: • District 1, incumbent Nancy Taylor, local resident; • District 2, Amanda Lopez-Davies, transportation supervisor; • District 3, Heather Kwiatkowski, archeologist; • District 4, vacant (likely to be filled by board appointment or a write-in candidate); • District 5, incumbent, Bill Bushe, property owner resident; Robert Sullivan, business owner; • District 6, Jane Gawronski, educator/researcher; and • District 7, Brittany Taylor, resident; Elisa Ingrassia, artist. The OBPB typically releases election results a few days after the election. The OBPB acts as an advisory board to the city of San Diego on land-use and planning issues involving Ocean Beach. For more information about the elections, call Seth Connelly (949) 533-2346 or e-mail [email protected].