The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday issued a blockbuster ruling in the Grants Pass case clarifying that homeless camping bans don’t constitute cruel and unusual punishment, opening the door to more crackdowns on encampments in West Coast cities.
This is what San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and Gov. Gavin Newsom wanted, badly. So what does this mean for San Diego?
Not much.
Representatives for Mayor Todd Gloria and City Attorney Mara Elliott told our Lisa Halverstadt they see the high court’s ruling as a validation for the city’s year-old camping. Gloria’s team says it’s not planning any immediate changes to how police interact with homeless residents.
Not just the city, though: Friday’s ruling could lead to more significant changes elsewhere in the county
Escondido leaders who passed a new camping ban last week have already signaled they might tweak their new ordinance based on Friday’s ruling – even before the court issued its decision.
And San Diego County, which is mulling its own camping ban for the region’s unincorporated areas, is now crafting its ordinance under a new reality.
Politics Report: About the Ruling
Scott Lewis also got into the Grants Pass decision in Saturday’s Politics Report. He also has a major update on state tax policy, which could mean the city’s nascent effort to raise a tax for stormwater infrastructure is either in trouble or totally dead.
And he checks in on Biden Panic from a San Diego angle.
Read the Politics Report here.
Elo-Rivera Pushes Cash Aid, Eminent Domain to Combat Shelter Crisis
Council President Sean Elo-Rivera is proposing bold moves to help the city address the expected loss of hundreds of shelter beds by the end of the year.
In a Friday memo to Mayor Todd Gloria, Elo-Rivera suggested city staff work with the City Attorney’s Office to pursue eminent domain and friendly condemnation processes to secure shelter properties with priority given to vacant, blighted sites and that the city and its housing agency explore a possible direct cash assistance program for current city shelter residents who could secure housing with that support.
Elo-Rivera’s memo also calls for the city to issue a request for proposals from private property owners who might offer up their properties for shelter spaces by Aug. 1 and for the city’s Economic Development Department to present to the City Council its assessment of publicly owned properties and the criteria it uses to determine viability to seek further direction by Sept. 30.
“This is an emergency, and to effectively address this emergency it is imperative that San Diego’s leaders explore and pursue all options to expand our capacity to provide safe and stable shelter for our unhoused neighbors as expeditiously as possible,” Elo-Rivera wrote.
In Other News
- San Diego State University basketball star Jaedon LeDee went undrafted this week but has since signed on to play with the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Las Vegas summer league team. (Union-Tribune)
- BREAKING: The pandas have arrived safely. (Axios)
- The application period for a newly minted San Diego that aims to give people previously incarcerated for cannabis-related crimes access to the industry is now open. Related: Mayor Todd Gloria placed the program on the chopping block in an earlier draft of the city budget, a decision that was later reversed.
- San Diego quadrupled its budget for municipal pool maintenance. Seven local pools will receive major repairs over the next three years. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney, Lisa Halverstadt and Scott Lewis. It was edited by Scott Lewis.