The Ocean Beach Town Council (OBTC) will host a community dialogue on the recent influx of a band of young, aggressive panhandlers to the Newport Avenue, OB Pier and sea wall areas — as well as other homelessness issues locally — during a regular meeting Wednesday, Feb. 24. The event, which also features a candidate forum for hopefuls seeking seats in the March 9 Ocean Beach Planning Board election, begins at 7 p.m. at the Masonic Temple, 1711 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. “We’ll have representatives from the police department’s Western Division on hand to address concerns and shed some light on the issue of the homeless in the Ocean Beach area,” said Dan Allemeier, the OBTC’s public relations chairman. “It will be predominantly focused on these traveling youths and the cloud that has come in [with them] in the last few months,” he said. “So we will be taking a look at the disruption this has had on merchants and the quality of life issues we enjoy in our community.” Allemeier said police representatives are expected to speak on the trends and what is being done to deal with issues related to the traveling youths, including unleashed dogs, the blockage of public sidewalks to panhandle residents and tourists aggressively and loitering in the alcoves of nearby businesses. “They are much more engaging — and I don’t mean that in a good way — in their approach to getting money,” Allemeier said. “They are a more unique group than some others we’ve seen.” The community discussion will take place after the candidate forum for the OB planners around 7:30 p.m. Nominations for the planning board election closed Feb. 14, with the formal election set for Tuesday, March 9 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Ave. For more information, call (619) 515-4400, or visit www.obtowncouncil.org. Because the Feb. 24 candidate forum and community discussion will take place in between publication weeks for The Peninsula Beacon, look for coverage online at www.peninsulabeacon.com.