Category: Homelessness

By Colleen O’Connor

More resistance to the Mayor’s mega plans for neighborhoods is afoot.  Not just North Park’s frustration over the high-rise, no parking, increased bicycle lanes and tone deaf  “push on” responses from the Council and Mayor, but repeats in Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Mission Hills, Clairemont, etc.

Always the rush. The closed session meetings, the insistence on a major development will “improve” the obvious problems.

The latest “solution” to homelessness is a proposed 1,000 bed facility on Kettner & Vine.  This in addition to the Tent City dwellings along near Balboa Park on Pershing Drive, the Barracks near the airport and now this.

The San Diego City Council recently approved a nearly $3.2 million settlement in a federal lawsuit case, Michael Bloom, et al. v. City of San Diego, which challenged the existing Vehicle Habitation Ordinance. The settlement set new rules for how the City is allowed to enforce its ordinances against unhoused people who sleep in their vehicles or RVs during a three-year period.

VEHICLE HABITATION ORDINANCE

City Municipal Code Section 86.0137 prohibits the use of streets for storage, service, or sale of vehicles or for habitation stating: It is unlawful for any person to use a vehicle for human habitation on any street or public property, unless specifically authorized for such use by the city manager:

By Ryan Fonseca / Los Angeles Times / April 24, 2024

‘Managing mode, not solutions mode’

San Diego’s mayor created a department in 2021 to find solutions to the homelessness crisis, signaling a new direction. It hasn’t made things better. The city’s homelessness count increased 35% from 2022 to 2023. Nearly half of the unsheltered people counted were considered chronically homeless.

Homeless deaths increased about 135% over five years, up to at least 624 last year, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office. For every 10 people who find housing in San Diego, 13 people become homeless for the first time, says a 2022 report by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.

by Marisa Kendall / Cal-Matters /April 18, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court is about to hear the biggest case about homelessness in decades, and it seems like everyone in California has an opinion. At issue: whether and under what conditions cities can fine or arrest people for camping in public spaces. The ruling will have nationwide implications for how local leaders manage homeless encampments.

By Lisa Mortensen / April 7, 2024

Dear Councilmembers:

In a few weeks’ time, you will be thrown a political football and it’s called Vine and Kettner.  Now, I know the local news media and the current city hall lobbyists will refer to us as NIMBYs but I hope you will see through the smoke and mirrors and make an educated decision on this fast-moving project before giving it a dutiful approval to satisfy Todd Gloria’s political intentions.

I will provide below a summary of bullet points that should be your guide to this very complicated project. 

by Marisa Kendall/ Calmatters / April 11, 2024

Politicians pushing to make homeless encampments illegal across wide swaths of California point to one city as proof it will work.

“San Diego gets it,” Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones said during a recent press conference. “They are having great success so far with their ordinance, and we hope we can take that success across the state.” Jones’ proposal, Senate Bill 1011, is modeled after a controversial new San Diego ordinance that bans encampments near schools, shelters and transit hubs, in parks, and even, if shelter beds are available, on all public sidewalks.

But how well is San Diego’s “Unsafe Camping Ordinance” really working?

On Thursday, April 4, Mayor Todd Gloria announced that he is seeking to turn a large warehouse on Kettner Blvd into a 65,000 square foot homeless shelter. The building — at 3570 Kettner — is at the corner with Vine Street, just next to the I-5 freeway and near Pacific Highway. Gloria says it will be space for 1,000 people, showers, a kitchen, recreational facilities and counseling services.

If his proposal passes the city council, then he plans to turn the controversial H Barracks site into a parking lot for roughly 200 spaces of designated parking to accommodate people living in vehicles.

by Michael Smolens / San Diego Union-Tribune / Feb. 11, 2024

Ambitious proposals to address homelessness and mental health issues are moving forward in San Diego and statewide.

The plans come with considerable promise of improving the quality of life for people without shelter and those with mental and brain illnesses, including substance use disorders.

But history has shown there’s reason to temper expectations heading down this path. For one thing, they may not receive necessary approval, whether from the public or elected officials.

by Lynn La / Cal-Matters / February 6, 2024

Describing California’s homelessness crisis as “inhumane” and “unhealthy,” Senate GOP leader Brian Jones of San Diego and Democratic Sen. Catherine Blakespear of Encinitas today announced a bipartisan bill to ban homeless encampments near “sensitive community areas” statewide.

Modeled after San Diego’s “Unsafe Camping Ordinance,” Senate Bill 1011 prohibits encampments within 500 feet of schools, open spaces and major transit stops. It also bans camping on sidewalks if shelter space is available; requires cities or counties to give an unhoused person 72-hour notice before clearing an encampment; and mandates “enforcement personnel” to provide information about homeless shelters in the area.

Here’s two takes by Rag readers on Monday night’s meeting on H-Barracks.

By Keith Fink / January 29, 2024

As publicized, the Point Loma Association hosted a “Community Conversation” on H-Barracks at the PLNU Conference Center at Liberty Station on the evening of January 29.

Before even entering the venue, it appeared clear that a majority of attendees were not there to hear what the speakers had to say. …

By Gregg Robinson / January 30, 2024

I was at the meeting on H-Barracks last night — Monday — and I have never seen so many angry white people in one place without Trump being at the podium. The only non-white person I could see was the representative from Councilwoman Jen Campbell’s office. …