Sept. 20, 1977 …… San Diego’s wild, ‘Nude Beach’ election Classic is Remembered

Jim SillsJim Sills 5 Comments

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The political summer of 1977 was  dominated  by debate over nude sunbathing at Black’s Beach, briefly legalized by a City Council majority in the mid-1970s.  Public pressure led to a referendum pitting the Nude Beaches Committee (No on Prop. D)  vs.  Councilman  Lee Hubbard’s Save the Beaches committee  (Yes on Prop. D).  Ten days out a  San Diego Union  poll showed the Nude Beaches Committee leading 52% to 38% … but on Election Night, Sept. 20, 1977, Lee Hubbard’s  side won a convincing 55% to 45% upset  victory, 86,113 to 70,884.

Thirty-four years later, Black’s Beach has returned to its pre-1970s status:  a shared secret among the devotees, but without the huge crowds and Circus atmosphere of 1975-1977.  A tacit  San Diego solution and understanding has now survived for a Generation.

REVIEWING THE CAMPAIGN … AND VOTING PATTERNS

Post-election analysis showed a Cultural, not partisan divide, among San Diego voters.  The Yes-on-D coalition included the city’s  strongest GOP neighborhoods  (Rancho Bernardo, La Jolla, Point Loma) voting together with the strongest Democratic communities (Southeast San Diego, Logan Heights, Chollas Park).   The No-on-D areas numbered college student strongholds (Mission Beach, UCSD, Ocean Beach) along with GOP  zones like Penasquitos, Del Mar Hts. and Scripps Ranch (!).

The Save the Beaches Committee was aided by a rare coalition of laymen from the LDS, Catholic and Protestant communities.

The Nude Beaches Committee ran a creative election campaign with radio ads stressing personal choice, T-shirts reading “See me at Black’s Beach” and ubiquitous bumper stickers (see above).   Ironically, their principal fundraising source was the sale of clothing,  specifically T-shirts and hats!

The Save the Beaches campaign featured billboards like the one above, “Don’t Pay for Their Play” referring to higher law enforcement and public safety expenses following the legalization vote by a split city council.  The group also did mailings targeted to high propensity voters.

…. COUNCILMAN LEE HUBBARD……  WALKING  TALL

The eventual victor, City Councilman Lee Hubbard, was a native San Diegan.  At 6’4″,  230 pounds he was  a lineman on the San Diego State football team.  After graduation he was an Army combat engineer during the Korean War.  With the war over, he founded L.R. Hubbard Construction which grew to be one of San Diego’s most-respected businesses, specializing on concrete projects.

He defeated an incumbent city council member in 1973 and was later voted “Mr. San Diego”.  He is remembered today as a Leader who took all of the blame when things went wrong, and happily shared out all the Credit when things went well.   The practical benefits of that unselfish approach were  evident in his signature Black’s Beach election triumph of 1977.

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Comments 5

  1. Lee Hubbard was a giant of a man, not only in size but in courage, wisdom, and integrity. San Diego could have used a few more men like him.

  2. Jim, thanks for the history lesson. Always love to read about SD political history that you can’t really find in the books.

    – Tom Mitchell

  3. Tom Mitchell:

    Thanks for the shout out and encouragement. When
    anniversaries of past events come along, I’ll look for
    similar opportunities.

    Lee HUBBARD was the kind of person Reader’s
    Digest had in mind with their long-running series,
    “My Most Unforgettable Character.”

  4. Lee Hubbard was and is a hero of mine.

    His untimely death deprived San Diego of a courageus, caring, and loving man.

    We all miss him.

    Larry Stirling

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