Three tent shelters for homeless people went up in Barrio Logan, Midway and East Village near the beginning of the year.
It happened quickly as part of the city’s response to the deadly hepatitis A outbreak, which hit the homeless population the hardest.
The city paid for the tents, in part, by pulling from funding set aside to build permanent housing. For a future funding stream, the city floated the idea of using more than $30 million from the $140 million a tax hike measure was expected to generate for expanded homeless services, according to a draft plan obtained by Voice of San Diego’s Lisa Halverstadt.
That ballot measure, though, fell apart.
On this week’s podcast, Andrew Keatts, Sara Libby and Scott Lewis talk about what’s happening with the tents now that the money from the failed hotel-tax increase is off the table.
The city said it will find funding to keep the tents open. But hasn’t yet nailed down specifics on where the money might come from or how it could impact other city services.
Also on the podcast: On Thursday, Share San Diego, HomeAway and Airbnb joined San Diego City Councilman Scott Sherman, homeowners, hosts, small business leaders and voters from across the city to announce they have collected the necessary signatures to qualify a referendum to overturn the new short-term rental regulations passed by the City Council last month. The hosts discuss the motivations behind the referendum and the possible outcomes.
Hero of the Week
The Union-Tribune editorial board is the hero. The board’s recent Q-and-A with San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten is expansive and informative. The interview includes Marten responding to Voice of San Diego’s investigative work explaining San Diego Unified’s graduation rates. Marten’s Q-an-A is one of several the editorial board has conducted. All of the interviews are useful, and the board goes into them prepared and ready to ask sharp follow-up questions.
Goat of the Week
San Diego Unified School District is the goat. The district’s Associated Student Body funds are often mismanaged and sometimes spent on staff-only events like parties or teacher training, according to a recent internal audit. Those accounts can be as big as a million dollars. The issue was uncovered by the lone auditor in the district’s auditing department. The rest of the district’s auditors were let go during downsizing in recent years.
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