The Ocean Beach Town Council (OBTC) will host a community dialogue Wednesday, Feb. 24, on the recent influx of a band of young, aggressive panhandlers to the Newport Avenue, Ocean Beach Pier and sea wall areas in recent months. The session is generally intended to address homelessness issues locally — but is expected largely to generate comments from all sides concerning the young adults who call themselves “urban travelers.” In addition, the meeting is scheduled to feature a candidate forum for hopefuls seeking seats in the March 9 Ocean Beach Planning Board election. The candidate forum is slated for the beginning of the OBTC meeting, followed by the dialogue on the residentially challenged. “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. Allemeier said police representatives are expected to speak on what is being done relatative 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. Because of the timing of the candidate forum and the community dialogue on homelessness, look for coverage online at www.peninsulabeacon.com, with full coverage in the March 11 Beacon.