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August 2024 Newsletter

Dear Ocean Beach Community Foundation (OBCF) Supporters,

On Sunday, August 4, the OBCF Board of Directors held a productive retreat. We focused on team building, received professional training on 501(c)(3) operations, and mapped out our action plan for the coming year. We’re excited to share:

• The OBCF Board is gearing up to bring back our traditional holiday events to the OB community.

• We’ve formed 5 committees—Advocacy, Engagement, Events, Finance, and Improvement—and are ready to engage the community.

• Our new website will launch soon!

We invite you to support the OB community by attending our annual events, starting with the Near Pier Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, September 14. Interested volunteers can register for a volunteer shift here. Watch your inbox for an email with details to purchase tickets soon.

Our full event calendar is now available on our website. We’re also seeking sponsors for this year’s holiday events. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact us at [email protected].

Feel free to reach out by replying to this email, messaging us on Facebook, or saying hi if you see us around OB.

Proudly serving OBecians,The Ocean Beach Community Foundation Board

P.S. We value the voice of the OB community and welcome volunteers with time and talent. Complete the forms linked below to share a community issue or donate your time.

P.S. We always want to hear the voice of the OB Community and want to engage volunteers with time and talent to support our operations. Complete the forms linked below to speak up about a community issue or donate your time.

OB Community Voice

Volunteer Support

Community Announcements & Resources

These resources and announcements were shared at the OBCF meeting and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the organization. We are leveraging this monthly newsletter as a platform to share relevant information with the OB community.

Community Event: Sunset Cliffs Auto Show | September 7

Correction Notice: Please mark your calendars for the 2024 Sunset Cliffs Auto Show on September 7. We apologize for any confusion caused by the incorrect 2023 flyer included in our July newsletter.

If you have announcements or resources to share with the OB community, please email PDF or JPG flyers and article content to [email protected].

Reports from our Key Stakeholders

Office of Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer District 3 - Take Action: Become a Mentor

Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer is a firm believer in the power of mentorship and the impact it can have on a child’s life. We all have had someone in our life that has gone out of their way to coach, advise and help give us guidance. That is why Supervisor Lawson-Remer is proud to be supporting Big Brothers and Big Sisters of San Diego County. Big Brothers and Big Sisters of San Diego County has been serving our region’s youth for more than 60 years, creating positive mentorship relationships between “Bigs” (adult volunteers) and “Littles” (kids who need a positive, adult role model).

These relationships can have a profound impact on a young person’s life. The youth that Big Brothers and Big Sisters support in its program are ten times more likely to remain enrolled in high school than their peers. In fact, 100 percent of the organization’s high school senior age Littles graduated from high school in 2022! Will you join Supervisor Lawson-Remer and help be a mentor?

Become a Mentor

Ready to make a difference? Take the first step by filling out the online application a https://sandiego.bbbssd.com/volunteer. Your support and participation can help uplift  the potential of children in our community

Big Brother Big Sister Virtual Info Session

August 22nd at 5:30pm

RSVP Here for Zoom Link

We hope you will join  one of these events. As a Big Brother or Big Sister, you’ll have the opportunity to inspire, support, and empower young people to reach their full potential. Whether it's playing at the park, exploring new hobbies, or simply providing a listening ear, your mentorship can make a world of difference in a child's life. For more information please reach out to Cipriano Vargas at [email protected]

Report from the Office of

Senator Toni Atkins

By Cole Reed

Legislative Update:

The state Legislature reconvened from Summer Recess on Monday, August 5th and will have through August 31st to deliberate on over 1300 bills. This year, Senator Atkins has introduced two pieces of legislation which are focused on health policy and infrastructure:

1.      SB 1213: raises the threshold for the Every Woman Counts (EWC) program and the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program (BCCTP) from 200% of the Federal Poverty Level to 300%, allowing more people to access life-saving cancer screenings and treatment.

2.      SB 1342: makes two local energy and water projects in the San Diego region eligible for streamlining. These would be for the San Vicente Energy Storage Facility Project and a project for the repair, rehabilitation, or replacement of the South Bay Sewage Treatment Plant operated by the International Boundary and Water Commission.

o  Each of these bills passed with near unanimous floor votes in the State Senate and are now located in Assembly Appropriations Committee.

For any questions, feel free to contact Cole Reed at: [email protected]

Sign up for the Senator’s newsletter: https://sd39.senate.ca.gov/contact/newsletter

Office of Assemblymember Tasha Boerner

Fall 2024 Internship Program

ASM Tasha Boerner’s office is accepting applications for the Fall 2024 Internship Program, located at her District Office in Solana Beach. The internship is open to all individuals with an interest in learning more about state government and public service while building professional skills.

Interns will work as unpaid volunteers with flexible part-time hours. This role requires a three-month commitment, with flexible part-time hours and flexible start/end dates.

If interested, please submit a cover letter and resume to Field Representative, Robson Winter, at [email protected] with the subject line "AD77 Fall Internship Application: [Last Name]."

Applications will be accepted year-round. Please share this opportunity with anyone you think may make a good fit!

Report from the Office of

Congressman Scott Peters

By Allie Apfeld

Updates from Washington

On July 25, Representatives Scott Peters(D-CA-50) and Nicole Malliotakis (R- NY-11) and U.S. Senators Mark Warner(D-VA) and John Thune (R-SD) introduced the Employer Participation in Repayment Act – bipartisan legislation to help Americans tackle their student loan debt by making permanent a tax provision that allows employers to contribute up to $5,250 tax-free to their employees’ student loans.

In 2020, Rep. Peters along with Sens. Warner and Thune negotiated the inclusion of a provision in the CARES Act that allowed these contributions temporarily. Later that year, as part of the government spending package, they secured an extension allowing this benefit through the end of 2025. By making this tax benefit permanent, today’s legislation would provide employees with much-needed relief and employers with a unique and permanent tool to attract and retain talented employees.

“I relied on student loans to get through college when the cost of higher education was much lower than it is today. Now, the collective debt among Americans is $1.7 trillion, which limits our economic growth and the economic prospects of young adults,” said Rep. Peters. “Over the last four years, this program has been a huge success —employers have helped pay off thousands of employees’ loans and it gave employers a tool to compete for the best talent. This public-private collaboration has proven itself as a cost-effective solution to the student debt crisis and it is imperative that we make it permanent.”

On July 9, Representatives Scott Peters(D-CA-50) and John Curtis (R-UT-3) introduced the Providing Reliable, Objective, Verifiable Emissions Intensity and Transparency (PROVE IT) Act.  The bill would provide high-quality, verifiable data about emissions of U.S.-made products in comparison to international products to ensure fair competition on the global stage. The bill also analyzes the human rights and labor standards of each country producing a covered product. America leads the world in clean manufacturing and the data provided by this study would protect our manufacturers as the European Union and other countries begin to implement carbon-based tariffs.

A Senate version was introduced by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and favorably marked up in the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee this year.

 “To address climate change, we must have a global race to the top, so that all nations have more strong incentives to reduce their emissions,” said Rep. Peters. “Our PROVE IT Act will provide the data to show the benefits of America’s high environmental standards while holding nations like China accountable for their emissions-intensive practices. I am excited to be leading this effort with Representative Curtis, which shows that even in an age of increasing partisanship, we can still work together to advance strong and common-sense environmental and energy policies.”

On June 28, Representatives Scott Peters(D-CA-50) and Dave Joyce (R-OH-14) introduced the bipartisan Cannabis Research Act, legislation to provide legal certainty to researchers studying state-legal cannabis products, create a National Cannabis Research Agenda, and fund 10Centers of Excellence in Cannabis Research. A comprehensive agenda for federal cannabis research will help empower America’s best and brightest researchers to work together, not in a vacuum, to solve unanswered scientific questions about cannabis use.

As states continue to legalize cannabis use, we still lack sufficient data on its safety, efficacy, potential therapeutic value, and long-term effects of use. Additionally, due to varying state laws on cannabis legality, research institutions remain uncertain about how to legally conduct this research while cannabis remains criminalized at the federal level. Despite the recently proposed rule to reschedule marijuana, concerns remain about the ability of researchers to legally study dispensary cannabis.

“In California, you can walk into a store and legally purchase a marijuana gummy to help you fall asleep, but a researcher can’t buy that same gummy to analyze its short- and long-term benefits and risks,” said Rep. Peters. “Our Cannabis Research Act clears the path for scientists, including those at the world-renowned UC San Diego Center for Medical Cannabis Research, to study cannabis without fear of prosecution. Our bill also importantly sets a national agenda to ensure all the Centers of Excellence are coordinated in their research.”

Updates from San Diego

On July 22, Rep. Scott Peters applauded the passage of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024 by the House of Representatives. The WRDA authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to undertake major construction projects that will strengthen the nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure. The bill lays out which local projects and priorities are eligible for this federal funding as well as the funding levels. Then, eligible funds must be appropriated by Congress through separate legislation. The 2024 WRDA authorized the following San Diego projects to be eligible for future appropriation:

o  $200 million for water and wastewater infrastructure in San Diego County. This funding can be used for fixes and upgrades at the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant as Rep. Peters requested, and for other purposes, such as countywide wastewater treatment.

o  Funding for a feasibility study in partnershipwith the Port of San Diego of flood risk management in San Diego Bay associatedwith sea level rise

o  Funding for a feasibility study of flood and coastal storm risk management and ecosystem restoration in San Diego and Orange counties

“While San Diego’s Congressional delegation has been successful in securing money to address the cross-border sewage crisis, fixing and upgrading the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant is a project that should have been completed yesterday. I’m committed to securing every eligible penny possible, as soon as possible, so that South Bay and Coronado residents, Customs and Border Patrol officers, and the Navy SEALS who train off Coronado no longer have to worry about the health risks posed by water polluted with untreated sewage. I will fight for as much of this potential funding as possible to be designated for fixing and upgrading the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant,” Rep. Peters said.

He continued: “The WRDA also includes funding for studies that will make San Diego more resilient and responsive to extreme weather events caused by climate change. I’ll continue to work to secure these investments for San Diegans.”

The 2024 Service Academy nomination application is now open. The application deadline is October 18. Students can apply on Representative Peters’ website.

Join us on October 23 from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at the Point Loma Library Branch or on Zoom for our quarterly OBCF Community Forum.

Our mailing address is:4833 Santa Monica #7959San Diego, CA 92107Want to change how you receive these emails?You can unsubscribe