A reference to tainted apple juice being the cause of an intestinal illness breakout at one of the City of San Diego’s safe camping sites for homeless people stirred controversy at a political debate held January 31, 2024.
All four candidates for the District 3 seat on the San Diego City Council politely jabbed each other in a debate setting held in front of a capacity crowd in Bard Hall in Hillcrest’s First Unitarian Church.
It was the first time all four candidates met face-to-face in a public forum.
Incumbent Democratic D3 councilmember Stephen Whitburn mostly defended current city policy that was often derided by Democratic challengers Kate Callen and Coleen Cusack and Republican candidate Ellis California Jones.
Moderated by The Women’s League of Voters, the night featured a smorgasbord of questions about homelessness, recent flooding, deferred maintenance, bike lanes, affordable housing and a host of other local issues.
Early in the forum, Callen noted that she and Cusack were friends. And that Cusack told her the recent intestinal sickness (which affected 30 safe camping site residents and five onsite service providers at the “O Lot” in Balboa Park) was caused by people drinking apple juice that was past its expiration date.
“We are feeding the homeless drinks and food that make them sick,” Callen said during the debate. “This is so wrong.”
After the forum, Cusack, a lawyer who does extensive pro bono work for the homeless, reiterated the accusation that apple juice was the cause of the outbreak. She says the information came to her after a United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to Adequate Housing came to San Diego and observed the city’s two safe camping sites.
UN special rapporteur Balakrishnan Rajagopal could not immediately be reached for comment.
Whitburn did not deny the accusation during the debate. Afterward, Whitburn aides questioned the validity of the apple juice claim.
Matthew Hoffman, the city’s spokesperson for Homelessness Strategies and Solutions responded to The Sun via email: “County health officials have concluded their investigation into the reported illness. While they have previously said they do not believe the source of transmission to be food-borne, I would refer you to them for specific questions as they were the lead investigators.”
The County’s response: “As there is no pathogen identified, an outbreak definition cannot be established therefore the investigation has concluded. In summary, the investigation revealed a diarrheal illness of short duration, likely transmitted person-to-person rather than food borne…Symptoms were mostly diarrhea. There were no associated hospitalizations.”
A spokesperson for Dreams For Change, a city-hired service provider for the O Lot responded by email: “All Dreams For Change staff and participants are fully recovered…”
Callen, who raised the issue at the forum, followed up later with this comment: “‘No conclusive evidence’ sidesteps what I think is the key issue here: Have people at the site been given any out-of-date food products? Coleen likely spends more time at that site than anyone who doesn’t live or work there, which is heroic. She is a credible reporter of the conditions there, and I commend her for drawing attention to this.”
Check back later on The Sun for: 1. Any new developments or comments on the O Lot outbreak. 2. More reporting on other topics covered by D3 city council candidates at their first debate. SDSun
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