Most politicians and political candidates–as well as the public–rank homelessness and housing costs as the top issues plaguing urban San Diego.
In the District 3 race for San Diego City Council, the unsheltered population begins and ends most discussions on who’s best fit to be elected to lead on the issue.
Incumbent Democrat Stephen Whitburn is seeking a second term. He points to initiatives he proposed that banned street encampments under certain conditions and created a pair of safe sleeping sites (another is in planning stages).
Democratic challenger Kate Callen defines the encampment ban as a “whack-a-mole” approach, while opponent and fellow Dem Coleen Cusack says the city’s new safe sleeping sites have been an “unmitigated humanitarian disaster.”
Republican Ellis California Jones is promoting a “strong, helping hand” to people experiencing homelessness, in which individuals are not able to “slap our hand away” when assistance is offered.
On January 31, those four are billed to appear in the first D3 San Diego City Council Candidate Forum. Exacerbated by San Diego’s recent flooding of shelters due to heavy rainfall, homelessness will no doubt take center stage.
In a likely preview to that discussion, The San Diego Sun asked each candidate for a 250-word statement addressing: “The current situation (positives/negatives) and…your plans/solutions to alleviate homelessness.”
Here are those responses:
STEPHEN WHITBURN
As your city councilmember, I have advanced two initiatives that are reducing unsheltered homelessness downtown.
Those of us who live downtown know encampments on our sidewalks are unsafe and unhealthy for people experiencing homelessness and for our neighborhood.
One of my initiatives opened two safe sleeping sites outside of downtown. More than 500 people have left the streets and moved into these sites which have security, restrooms, showers, laundry, meals, and connections to housing. The sites help people stabilize and get back on their feet.
My other initiative enacted a city ordinance prohibiting encampments on public property when better options like safe sleeping sites, indoor shelters, and affordable housing are available.
These initiatives are making a difference. The Downtown San Diego Partnership reports the number of people on the streets dropped from 2,104 in May to 846 in December, a 60% decrease.
We are moving in the right direction, but there are still too many people living on the streets.
We must build upon our progress and help get the remaining folks into safer and healthier places.
This year, we plan to open 1,000 additional shelter beds in other parts of the city. Thousands of units of affordable housing are in the development pipeline. And we are working to ensure those who need mental health or addiction treatment receive it.
We must keep moving forward. I would be honored to have your support for my reelection so I can continue leading our city council in advancing solutions to homelessness.
KATE CALLEN
The City’s piecemeal response to the humanitarian crisis of homelessness demonstrates why our local government is broken.
The “Unsafe Camping Ordinance” is a whack-a-mole measure; it shuffles the homeless around–especially here in District 3–but it doesn’t get them off the streets. The O Lot “Safe Sleeping” site was just decimated by an abdominal illness infecting dozens. How safe is that?
We need far better coordination in regional homeless services. We need to listen more intently to nonprofit service leaders who are more knowledgeable than bureaucratic administrators. We must have full transparency in how federal and state funds are spent. And we must measure the returns on those public investments.
Every crisis demands a triage approach that sets priorities. Our top priority should be getting homeless families with children off the streets and into stable housing. Today’s homeless youth are tomorrow’s homeless adults. The public would get behind this, and the philanthropic community would support it.
The homeless population keeps growing because more people are losing their homes and landing on the street. This is preventable! Rental stipends to prevent evictions cost less than emergency services to the unsheltered. Let’s ramp that up.
One of the biggest contributing factors to the homeless crisis has been the heedless demolition of single-room occupancy (SRO) complexes to make way for market-rate housing. It’s not too late for a course correction. We need to replenish the stock of SRO housing using every available option. And we need to act fast.
COLEEN CUSACK
Positives: I believe Safe Lots provide autonomy, dignity and community to housing refugees.
Negatives: 20th and B / O Lots are an unmitigated humanitarian disaster.
Housing is the only solution to homelessness. Homelessness is the natural consequence of market rate rents outpacing workers wages, complicated by a severely restricted, below-market housing supply.
Shelters are not housing. Every person in a shelter is still a homeless person. Shelters are not gateways to housing; only 13% of persons in shelters get placed into housing. Safe camps are not shelters. Every unsheltered person moved from downtown to Balboa Park is still an unsheltered person. If we reduced San Diego’s population to 100, only one-half of one person is homeless. What if we all helped one homeless person? I’ve helped dozens through my pro bono legal representation.
During the incumbent’s term, above market housing production has out-paced below market units by 20x, but above-market units are not going to house our homeless residents. The price of land makes creation of affordable housing difficult without builder subsidies or bonuses. I will address this housing disaster by building on public land: city, county and federal.
I will seek to convert 101 Ash Street and vacant office space downtown into single rental occupancy units, master-lease vacation rentals to shelter homeless seniors, disabled persons and families and support a public ballot initiative to tax real estate transactions over $2 million to generate a sustainable fund that will help fund affordable housing construction and would prevent homelessness through subsidies.
ELLIS CALIFORNIA JONES
It’s not the City of San Diego’s job to solve the root cause of homelessness. We can provide assistance but no longer will an individual be allowed to slap our hand away when we offer it.
Drawing from my personal experience with homelessness and as a formerly incarcerated individual, I approach this issue with empathy and understanding. However, boundaries must be clearly defined, and we as a city have been taken advantage of…So here’s my plan:
1. Inspect/Audit the Existing Systems: Identify and eliminate service duplications, consolidating them into a streamlined, results-oriented framework.
2. Enact a City-Wide Encampment Ban: I will push for a City-Wide Amendment to the encampment ban. To thoroughly assess/promote local shelters, I will stay overnight if needed.
3. Offer Shelter or Ultimatum: Our focus should be on constructing immediate, low-cost shelter beds, not temporary tents. As we add bed space, we will remove the option of sleeping out in public.
The Triage, Treatment, and Transition (TTT) Plan includes:
- Triage: Triage the homeless according to specific issues such as mental health, economic hardship, substance abuse, legal issues, philosophical beliefs, system exploiters and nonlocals, to deliver specific, effective solutions.
- Treatment: Advocate using Senate Bill 43 to support mentally ill unsheltered individuals and redirect funds to effective nonprofits, prioritizing experienced field service providers over bureaucratic housing “experts.”
- Transition: Convert spaces into housing, encourage businesses to employ individuals transitioning from homelessness, and promote alternative programs with wraparound services.
My plan will provide a strong but helping hand! SDSun
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