Mayor Todd Gloria’s team is promising that he will not wind down three rapid rehousing programs designed to help house homeless San Diegans days after city housing commissioners learned that was set to happen at the city’s direction.
Last Thursday, a trio of city Housing Commission board members spoke out after learning from agency officials that the city had decided to reduce funding for three housing subsidy programs, forcing the commission to wind down the programs that provide temporary housing assistance in the budget year beginning in July — and at a time of an expected boom in need.
Gloria’s office and the Housing Commission told our Lisa Halverstadt they are now discussing options to continue the programs.
The budgeting dispute is the latest controversy for the city and its Housing Commission. The City Council earlier this year created a temporary committee tasked with potentially reforming the agency. The committee is poised to consider, among other things, whether the agency should continue to oversee city homeless programs.
Meanwhile, the city is beefing up its still fledgling Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department, which now wants to start overseeing some contracts historically handled by the Housing Commission.
That’s created uncertainty and tension at a time of immense need for housing aid and homeless services.
Transit Measure Is on Track for November Ballot
Voice podcast fans certainly heard about the “bananas ballot” we’ve been following — mostly related to what measures are going to make the cut for November.
Now, Andrew Keatts reports that backers of the citizens’ initiative to raise sales tax for transit, roads and highways are certain they will have more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. Again, this is a measure brought forward by a private group, not the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) though the agency is certainly counting on it passing.
Read more about the transit measure here.
More politics: As usual, we like to track how candidates are doing in the money race. The Politics Report broke down fundraising totals as the primary election approaches. (Note: The weekly newsletter is exclusively for Voice of San Diego members, but we pulled out the goods for you.) Take a look at how much candidates have raised in each race here.
ICYMI the Voice team put together a handy guide of all the local and state races you’ll find in your primary election ballot. Bookmark this bad boy if you need help filling out your ballot.
Lawmakers Target Trash in Tijuana River Valley
With the federal Environmental Protection Agency taking on water quality in the Tijuana River valley, Southern California lawmakers want the state EPA to take on the trash.
Assemblymembers Eduardo Garcia and Chris Ward are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to grant $100 million to help resolve pollution problems in the Tijuana and New Rivers. Reporter MacKenzie Elmer dug into what that might be spent on in the latest Environment Report.
Plus, just how much poo was crossing the border during the latest mystery spill.
Read the Environment Report here.
In Other News
- At least 300 protestors marched through Balboa Park on Mother’s Day to show support for abortion rights. The rally was one of several in San Diego over the past week after the leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe V. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion. (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego County saw an uptick in COVID-19 cases last week, with thousands of new cases being reported in the last several days. However, COVID hospitalizations and deaths have remained relatively low, according to public health officials. (CBS 8)
- Dog walkers raised more than $300,000 on Saturday for the San Diego Humane Society’s Walk for Animals event. Around 5,000 walkers and 1,000 dogs participated in the annual fundraiser at the Liberty Station NTC Park, including San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. (NBC 7).
- Early voting for the June Primary elections is officially underway. More than 1.9 million ballots are on their way to San Diego County voters, who started receiving their ballots as early as Monday. (County News Center)
This Morning Report was written by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, Tigist Layne, Lisa Halverstadt and MacKenzie Elmer. It was edited by Megan Wood.