Candidate for
Council Member; City of San Diego; District 2

POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY

I'm David Diehl, I'm an Ocean Beach community and environmental activist. Politically, I'm registered Independent. I've lived in Ocean Beach since 1968.

UNIVERSITY of SAN DIEGO LAW SCHOOL (Graduated 1971)

Elected first president of the USD Environmental Law Society

COMMUNITY ACTIVIST (1970s, 80s, 90s)

AD HOC COMMITTEE TO SAVE OCEAN BEACH (1970)

Led the fight to save Dog Beach and the San Diego river. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers was in the process of constructing a 1680 foot jetty ( the stub jetty at Dog Beach) that would have doglegged to the left destroying the surf break as far south as Avalanche break.

In addition, Dog Beach was to have been dredged and the river channel was to have been deepened all the way up to Fashion Valley, the bridges over the river were to have been raised and a boat channel created, lined with high rise hotels and a marina built in Fashion Valley.

As a law student I became the plaintiff in a Brown Act (Secrecy in Government) law suit to stop this project and obtained a criminal conviction of most of the San Diego City Council for meeting in secret and voting to take our Dog Beach item off the public meeting agenda.

Our committee also found that a major San Diego construction company had been in effect stealing sand from O.B. beach for their Mission Valley construction projects.

Despite the beating the City was taking, they continued to push their unpopular project, pushing jetty construction to the water's edge, where we announced that they could build all the jettys they wanted along as they did not go into the water.

Upon the jetty entering the ocean,(in August, a bad time of the year to be developing the beach) we, 500 irate citizens of O.B., took over the job site and closed it down. I was conducting the rally at that time and announced the rally was over, telling the crowd that I personally was going to climb the construction fence and climb upon the equipment and shut it down.

During this entire time the City had been saying that they were doing their project to deepen the river for the 100 year flood and that hotel and marina development was an invention of ours. Unfortunately for them, one of our group discovered a model of the project in the basement of City Hall, thus forcing the City to end the project when public support for it evaporated.

OCEAN BEACH COMMUNITY PLANNING GROUP (Early 70s)

In the early 70's land developers were wiping out OBs small cottages and replacing them with large apartment buildings. At that time there was no access for citizen input into the development process. So we formed the Ocean Beach Community Planning Group composed of residents and property owners in Ocean Beach. We held meetings, discussed development projects being planned for O.B. and ultimately held public hearings in the community. We then took the results to the San Diego City Council, who of course, ignored us.

After much turmoil the City finally gave in and recognized our group, making it the first Community Planning Board in the City of San Diego.

OCEAN BEACH PEOPLE'S FOOD (Early 70s)

As a founding member, I served on a 3 member board of directors that created a non profit whole foods store whose motto was "Food for People, Not for Profit." As a member of the workers collective I played an active roll in running the store, serving as a cashier and political director.

The store still exists in O.B. and is being run as a non profit co-op, a change that I drafted and pushed for when membership reached into the thousands.

DAVID DIEHL, MOVEMENT ATTORNEY AT LAW (Mid 70s to early 80s)

In the seventies I was a movement lawyer, defending my friends (and myself) most of whom had been charged with crimes having to do with our democratic community control and antiwar actions. After the antiwar movement, I became an early environmental lawyer making scores of appearances at the Coastal Commission as well as suing to stop environmentally unsound projects. One of the more successfulI cases was when I represented the Imperial Beach Save the Waves Committee and led the successful fight to stop an offshore breakwater that would have run for l.3 miles, parallel to the shore in the surf zone. This monstrosity was supposed to have protected the beach from erosion. As in "we had to destroy the beach to save it."

CAPTAIN DAVE AND THE COSTA RICA HOTEL (Mid 80s to 1992)

In the mid 80's I needed a change so I partnered up with one of my clients and started a Beach and Fishing resort in Costa Rica. As an equal partner I did daily management, constuction, major landscaping, and was the captain of the Silky, our deep sea fishing boat. Returning to the U.S. in 1992, I felt that I had mastered the business of business in a particularly trying location.

SAVE O.B. - STOP THE BOARDWALK (1992)

Upon my return to O.B. In 1992, I discovered a "stealth" boardwalk project that had already been approved and funded without any community meetings or any environmental studies (negative declaration-no impact on the community)

The proposed project would have constructed a 16' wide concrete boardwalk and protective seawall the length of O.B.'s beach. Street ends wouId have extended out onto the beach and grass park areas were to be paved over for parking lots.

I founded and led the O.B. Preservation League which successfuly fought this Mission Beach type boardwalk by demanding a public hearing in O.B. and an environmental impact report. The City finally gave in on the hearing and 1,000 people turned out at the O.B. Rec. center and booed the project and its funding out of O.B.

THE OBECIAN (1996-98) "The only newspaper in the world that gives a damn about Ocean Beach, Ca."

Founder, publisher, editor, staff writer

Four thousand issues a month, a community paper that led the fight to preserve and protect the environment and community character of Ocean Beach. Completely ad supported. Articles dealt extensively with growth robots, redevelopment zombies and wayward government officials. Launched the Wear Watch Satellite that honed in on Council member Byron Wear by tracking his high sugar input. Knowing where he was at all times gave a great sense of relief to the community.

Reported extensively on downtown deal making and provided local news no other publication would cover. Honest in depth interviews and politics from a green perspective.

STOPPED THE OCEAN BEACH REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT (1997)

In 1997, the City led by our Councilman Byron Wear, tried to put O,B. into a Redevelopment District which would have allowed our homes and businesses to be seized for private development. The OB Preservation League successfully fought to stop that from happening by turning out 300 people on one days notice, to demand no redevelopment in Ocean Beach. The City was in the process of calling O.B. a "blighted area, because of many, difficult to consolidate lots, under a multiplicity of owners.

SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL RACE (1998)

Because the City government had almost destroyed O.B. I knew I had to run for Council if there was any chance to save the small town character of O.B. The local business elite and Big Corporate Interests were looting the City Treasury with the incumbent Councilman as their lackey so I ran for City Council, on a platform of "Pulling the Plug on Corporate Welfare." In a field of five candidates, I placed 3rd.,receiving almost 12% of the vote after spending less than $1,000. In contrast the incumbent spent over $300,000 of mainly Special Interest Money.

SAN DIEGO ALLIANCE FOR CLEAN ELECTIONS (1998-2001)

While campaigning in 1998, I joined the San Diego Alliance for Clean Elections, a group dedicated to ending dirty money politics by implementing Clean Money Campaign Finance Reform, becoming the group's president in 99. It is my position that unless and until we reform the way Special Interest Money dominates our political process we will continue to elect Sell-out Politicians who will continue to Loot Taxpayer Dollars for their Special Interest puppet masters. (to be continued) -Copyright David Diehl, 2005