Mayor Bob Filner said Thursday he hopes to find funding to keep the city’s tent shelter for homeless military veterans open year-round, not the four months planned in his next year’s budget.
At an information session for the press, Filner invoked his common refrain about ending homelessness for veterans. So I asked him whether that means keeping the veterans tent open year-round next year. The mayor already plans to keep the city’s other tent shelter open year-round at a cost of $1.3 million next year.
The city’s independent budget analyst estimated adding the extra months to the veterans shelter would add about $600,000 to that tent’s budget next year.
Filner acknowledged that’s not in his proposed budget — “yet,” he said.
“I’m committed to really doing more,” he said. “It’s not only an economic necessity but it’s a moral necessity.”
Meanwhile, the agency operating short-term beds for homeless people at Connections Housing, the city’s new permanent facility, recently said it faces a gap of about $500,000 in the next year.
NBC 7 San Diego’s Catherine Garcia and I outlined that gap, the funding needed if the city keeps the veterans tent open year-round and other changes in funding for homeless shelters under Filner’s administration, in this week’s episode of San Diego Explained:
View more videos at: http://nbcsandiego.com.
I’m Kelly Bennett, reporter for Voice of San Diego. You can reach me directly at kelly.bennett@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.325.0531.
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