The state’s eviction moratorium has come to an end. As of Friday Oct. 1, landlords can evict tenants for not paying rent.
But there are a few caveats, writes Maya Srikrishnan.
Before a landlord can evict a tenant for nonpayment of rent, they must first apply for rental assistance or show that their tenant has already been denied or not completed their rental assistance application. These additional protections come from state law AB 832 and will last until March 2022. But in order to qualify, a tenant must be making at least 25 percent of their monthly rental payments and submit a declaration of financial hardship due to the pandemic.
Srikrishnan breaks down what you need to know about the end of the eviction moratorium, including what we know about how many people are at risk of eviction, what protections and resources remain for renters, and funding proposals to help tenants that are coming in front of the San Diego City Council next week.
Click here to read the full story.
Newsom Signs Police Decertification Bill
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Thursday that will allow law enforcement agencies to take away the badges of police officers, ending California’s run of being one of five states that couldn’t decertify officers for misconduct.
That change, which came as Newsom signed seven other police reform bills, came two years after a collaboration between newsrooms throughout the state, including Voice of San Diego, that found more than 80 officers working in the state at the time were convicted criminals. Our friend Sara Libby noted on Twitter that the bar for decertification is high, and wouldn’t necessarily cover officers accused of domestic violence who plead down to lesser charges. Previously, local agencies could determine when to fire officers — though a felony conviction usually resulted in termination — but this bill standardizes the rules for termination, taking control from local law enforcement leaders.
And by making it possible to decertify officers, the bill could put a stop to problem officers relocating to other departments after they’re fired, which the Mercury News found was a significant problem in the town of McFarland, where one in five officers in the previous decade had been fired, sued or convicted of a crime.
Photo of the Week
From Adriana Heldiz: Doing something over and over again and expecting a different result has become San Diego’s approach to solving homelessness.
That became painfully obvious earlier this week when I witnessed a large homeless camp clean-up in the Midway District.
Here’s how it generally works: Officials will post a notice at least three hours before every sweep to give residents a chance to pack up their belongings and move out of the area. Police officers may cite residents they say they have previously encountered and offered shelter to but have not left the area or moved their belongings for offenses such as encroachment or illegal lodging. Whatever items are not claimed get thrown in the garbage truck. Homeless residents are forced to set up their belongings somewhere else, until they’re forced to leave that area, too.
At first glance, these encampments can be an eyesore. But for the individuals who’ve had to suffer from the city’s inability to provide affordable housing, these tents and belongings hold significant value. These are homes that provide shelter and warmth during the night. These are belongings that could be resold to pay for food and resources. These are items that hold special memories.
Homeless encampments show homeless residents’ resilience and desire to pull together for safety and community amid significant trauma.
To have police officers and city workers constantly disrupt and target those communities in an effort to tackle a problem the city itself created is a concept I will never understand.
In Other News
- According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, only five nursing homes in San Diego County had a fully vaccinated staff as of Sept. 5. (Union-Tribune)
- On Thursday, a San Diego Superior Court judge rejected a request to revoke the state’s masking requirement in schools, after the local group Let Them Breathe argued the emergency move was necessary because the mandate is harmful to some kids’ emotional health. “Kids have been in school for months and protocols have been in place and so I’m not seeing an emergency today that would warrant issuing a temporary restraining order,” the judge said during the hearing, according to the Union-Tribune.
- Mayor Todd Gloria apologized Thursday to the family of a mother and her two-year-old son who died at Petco Park last weekend, after he said earlier in the week that the fall was the result of a mental health crisis. The family’s attorney said SDPD initially investigated the fall as a murder-suicide, NBC 7 San Diego reported, but the family is adamant it was an accident. (NBC 7)
- The Metropolitan Water Agency, the behemoth southern California agency from which the San Diego County Water Authority buys water, has agreed to pay the county’s water agency $36 million for “illegal water charges,” the Union-Tribune reported.
Corrections
Wednesday’s Morning Report said city of San Diego employees needed to be vaccinated unless they submitted to regular COVID-19 testing. Unlike other local governments, the city of San Diego did not include an option to undergo regular testing instead of being vaccinated.
This Morning Report was written by Maya Srikrishnan, Andrew Keatts and Adriana Heldiz, and edited by Megan Wood.