San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is backing an ordinance banning homeless encampments in most public places that the City Council is scheduled to vote on it June 13.
As proposed, the new Unsafe Camping Ordinance would ban tent encampments in all public spaces “if” a shelter bed is available. It also would bar encampments at all times in certain sensitive areas including parks, canyons, and waterways, as well as near schools and homeless shelters, and at transit stations regardless of shelter capacity.
Recently, Gloria laid out the rationale underpinning the new proposed Unsafe Camping Ordinance, speaking at Perkins Elementary School in Barrio Logan, one of the City’s neighborhoods most heavily impacted by encampments.
“These children and many of our children in schools across our City are witnessing drug use, violence, sex acts, public defecation, and urination on a daily basis,” said Gloria. “It’s absolutely unacceptable. Encampments block our sidewalks forcing people to walk in the middle of the street or around them. That’s why we must pass the City’s proposed Unsafe Camping Ordinance.”
Eradicating encampments is a two-part effort, noted Gloria. “The Unsafe Camping Ordinance will have a companion item at the City Council meeting surrounding our comprehensive shelter strategy,” he said. “It is a safe sleeping program at the edge of Balboa Park that will accommodate hundreds of individuals in City-provided tents. Along with a safe and legal space for people to sleep, this program will provide bathrooms, security, and other services to help these individuals end their homelessness.”
Added Gloria, “With the Unsafe Camping Ordinance, and the safe sleeping program, our message is extremely clear: The street is not a home. The sidewalk is not a home. When we (City) have places for you to go, the (your) answer cannot be no. I’m asking the City Council to send me an ordinance I can sign.”
Dave Rolland, the City’s deputy director of communications, said the situation has gotten to the point where decisive action is needed to curb encampments. “We can’t ignore the real-world impacts of encampments and the immediate and increasing danger they pose to the health and safety of both housed and unhoused residents alike in the City,” Rolland said.
“Kids can’t get to school without walking in the middle of the street. Literally, tons of hazardous garbage and waste are piling up on our sidewalks. Encampments in canyons are igniting fires that threaten homes. Unsheltered residents are being victimized by violence and predatory drug dealers and human traffickers. And, we cannot forget the ongoing threat of hepatitis A, an outbreak of which sickened hundreds and killed 20 people in 2017,” Rolland.
“The Unsafe Camping Ordinance is necessary to protect public health and safety, but it’s not coming forward in a vacuum,” continued Rolland. “It’s being presented in tandem with a Safe Sleeping Program that will add hundreds of new options to the more than 700 shelter beds and safe parking spots we’ve created in the past two years. As we build our network of safe and legal places for unsheltered people to go, our message is clear: Take advantage of the options we’re providing.”
Gloria stressed that protecting children and the schools they attend from the threat posed by encampments is a high priority. “High-quality education giving kids a better shot at life is absolutely disruptive of homelessness on a long-term basis,” he said adding, “And the question is, can they do it without witnessing some of these traumatic things?”
Noting this year’s City budget contains more than $200 million in homeless spending, Gloria concluded: “For that level of investment, the people of this City have the right to clean and passable sidewalks. Let’s tell people that there are better options than sleeping on the sidewalk. Let’s pass this ordinance and support our students, schools, teachers, and principals.”
Coastal-area leaders, residents discuss Unsafe Camping Ordinance
Coastal-area residents are mostly supportive of the City’s proposed Unsafe Camping Ordinance banning tent encampments in most public spaces but do not favor purchasing property for homeless habitation. The proposed ordinance is expected to be voted on by the City Council on June 13.
Residents addressed homelessness, some offering suggestions as to how the City ought to proceed in combating it. Here is what they said:
Phyllis Minick, a La Jolla community parks planner, agreed that “ground rules” need to be established for homelessness. “Find unused open spaces, away from residential/business areas, out-of-the-way, unused properties and provide protection there from the weather with overhead covers (tents, empty buildings),” she said. “Attract the homeless with absolute necessities including toilets, showers, trash removal, and security personnel. Then, offer bins for donors to deposit blankets, towels or clothing, used or gifted, and toiletries. Attempts at cleanliness at these (homeless) sites have proven useless. Trash, garbage, and urine are common. Therefore, these suggestions are no solution. The simple objective is to get the homeless off public streets.”
PB community planner Carolyn Chase believes increasing homelessness in cities nationwide is partly pandemic-driven. “But I don’t see anyone mentioning that,” she said, suggesting earlier intervention might be one possible solution. “What’s most troubling is the way politicians seem to link it somehow to building more housing,” Chase said. “New housing is expensive housing and never helps the unhoused. By the time someone is living on the streets or in their cars, they are not capable of making rent. That’s why they’re in that situation, to begin with. There needs to be some help before they get to that point.”
Judy Adams Halter of La Jolla favors banning encampments “if there is a plan to relocate these individuals.” She added, “Seventy percent of the unhoused are struggling with mental health issues. My suggestion is for Mayor Gloria to work closely with the County on establishing 50 facilities that each house 100 people and provide mental health services. I also suggest the County homeless chair work closely with the veterans’ nonprofit groups. Veterans comprise 25% or more of our unhoused population. Some of the funding for these facilities could come out of the DOD.”
PB community planner Steve Pruett noted homelessness is a complicated issue, and adding wrap-around services is key to finding a solution. “This population is not homogeneous,” he said. “There are many facets, causes. Any ordinance that bans homeless encampments must be enacted with complimentary ordinances, programs, and resources. Banning encampments in public spaces without alternative locations is extremely short-sighted. We know the City lacks thousands of residences, therefore there is nowhere for most of these persons to go. Only addressing the camps via an ordinance has the appearance of a campaign tactic to get re-elected, not a part of a comprehensive plan to attack homelessness.”
Fellow La Jollan Melinda Merryweather concurred with Adams Halter’s view. “If the mayor wants to ban encampments in public space he should have a place for these people to go,” she said. “Ronald Reagan did away with most mental institutions, with no thought of what was to become of troubled people. This country is in great need of mental help. Lots of these people are experiencing homelessness for the first time. Until we correct the way money is distributed in the country, nothing will change. It is an absolute disgrace in this country for anyone to be without a home and to go to bed hungry.”
La Jollan Ann Dynes noted “None of us are experts” on homelessness. Referencing Gloria’s push for mandatory conservatorships for addicts and mentally ill homeless people, Dynes said, “That would not be an expedient solution to taking damaged people off of the streets. It would be better than nothing. But it is disturbing to see what has happened since Gov. Reagan terminated institutionalization of mentally ill/dysfunctional people in the 1970s.”
Karen Andersen-Thatcher, of the Walter Andersen Nursery family in Midway, agreed that curbing tent encampments is a good first step. “Absolutely, the mayor should be doing something to clean up the encampments, especially near schools and parks,” she said. “However, emphasizing those areas will only increase the encampments in other parts of the City. There will never be enough shelter beds. We have thousands of unsheltered people living on our streets. Hoping for the best for everyone, but the City seems lost when it comes to dealing with the homeless.”
“I wish they could outlaw camping but I’m afraid it can’t happen,” agreed nursery owner Walter Andersen. “They do not enforce the laws we have now. What makes anyone think the new laws will be enforced?”
Andersen also doesn’t agree with another alternative City solution for homelessness. “Buying nice hotels is not the answer for most homeless,” he said. “They don’t want to conform to the rules that will apply. I’m thinking of using empty warehouses or recycling shipping containers. It will be a long process, whatever they plan.”
“I strongly support the new law banning homeless encampments,” said Fred Kosmo, chair of the Peninsula Community Planning Board, speaking on his own behalf. “As common sense, people can plainly see, the homeless problem is completely out of control, and the current policies are a failure. The current situation leads to unnecessary problems of crime, danger to public safety, and public health issues. Something needs to be done. This is a step in the right direction.”
“This (encampment) ordinance will only work if it has a comprehensive plan to robustly enforce it, and then if the City is willing to enforce it in the face of possible litigation,” said Janie Emerson, president of La Jolla Shores Association.
David Little of La Jolla likes the unsafe encampment ordinance but doesn’t agree with converting hotels into homeless housing. “Mayor Gloria is on the right track with banning homeless encampments, or any camping, in all public spaces except for those set-aside and designated as homeless camping locations and that are furnished with restroom facilities,” he said. “But I do not support the recent initiative by the City Council, with the County’s support, of purchasing hotels to provide housing for the homeless.
“At approximately $400,000 per unit, it is too costly and has no mandatory drug-alcohol treatment or counseling required as a provision for lodging qualification. These units will only attract more homeless to our City, cost the City bundles in upkeep and oversight, encourage many homeless to stay indefinitely on the nickel of the taxpayers, and be a long-term blight on the neighborhoods surrounding these homeless hotel-apartment buildings.”
COMPREHENSIVE HOMELESS SHELTER STRATEGY
The City’s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department has unveiled a new plan for tackling homelessness with short-, medium- and long-term solutions addressing the diverse needs of the homeless population. This new, data-driven Comprehensive Homeless Shelter Strategy recognizes that, while homelessness is primarily a housing issue, it’s a multifaceted challenge that will require a range of supportive services, in addition to housing.
Key elements of the shelter strategy include:
– Expanding shelter types to fit the specific needs of veterans, seniors, youth, and others;
– Engaging with San Diego Unified School District and other community partners to identify more potential short- and long-term shelter sites;
– Wraparound services that provide compassionate and equitable services to each individual experiencing homelessness;
– Enhancing the existing Family Reunification Program to connect individuals with their families and personal support systems proven to keep people rehoused.
