Empty and unused, the 13 trailers just sit next to Morena Boulevard. All photos by Frank Gormlie
The 20-or-so trailers that the City of San Diego received from the State of California 3 years ago for unhoused people and families are still empty and still stored on city property.
The OB Rag located 13 of the unused trailers adjacent to the City’s Rose Canyon Operation Yard at 3775 Morena Boulevard.
Nice and brand new, the trailers are generally 8 feet wide by 25 or 30 feet long and are standard recreational vehicles that are towed behind cars and trucks. They have “pop-out” spare rooms and appear ready to receive needy people experiencing homelessness.
San Diego received the trailers 3 years ago under the Mayor Faulconer administration. Faulconer, obviously, did nothing with them. Then came Todd Gloria, who likewise has not done anything with them.
In January, Kohta Zaiser, a deputy director of community engagement for the mayor, informed a meeting of the Clairemont Community Planning Group through a slide presentation that the 13 trailers “will be converted to stationary living spaces at Rose Canyon and will be offered to and prioritized for families.”
“They include beds, plumbing, bathrooms and showers,” it added. “The camper trailers will not leave the Rose Canyon site until the conclusion of the program.”
When it opens, the Rose Canyon site along Morena Boulevard will serve a maximum of 60 households, and will be managed by Jewish Family Service, the San Diego charity that already operates three other safe-parking sites on city property in Kearny Mesa and Mission Valley.
The U-T reported:
The lot will be open 24 hours a day and served by around-the-clock security. Once approved for residency, clients will receive case-management services, including help finding more permanent housing.
The program is expected to launch later this winter or early spring, depending on a review by the City Attorney’s Office that is now under way, Zaiser told the planning group. At this point, the Rose Canyon project is estimated to last one year. … The Mayor’s Office said it is working with the city Housing Commission to identify other potential locations for the remaining seven trailers.
In the meantime, San Diego is experiencing record numbers of unhoused people downtown. The only walk-in center is cutting back its hours.
Truthfully, this is scandalous and a serious display of government incompetence. The city’s Trailergate is still unbounded and thriving.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Faulconer was pretty dang incompetent.
Gloria is the current Faulconer, though likely much more incompetent.
and even greedier!! …….
I posted this earlier in the wrong place.
As is typical of the government agencies, they did not provide simple trailers, these are expensive trailers evidenced by the pop outs. These would really only be ideal for families because they are so roomy. There is no reason they can’t be in use. They have water and sewage tanks. Water could be brought in and the holding tanks pumped regularly. Electricity is easily available and, if not, generators would solve the problem. There is no reason these trailers could not be occupied today.