Some Encinitas residents are criticizing the city’s safe parking program because of recent data showing that most of the participants in the program came from outside of the city.
The safe parking program run by Jewish Family Service allows homeless individuals to park overnight in a designated lot without fear of being kicked out or ticketed. The lot at the Encinitas Community and Senior Center can accommodate up to 25 vehicles.
The program also provides things like hygiene supplies, food and case management, and participants are vetted before they are accepted.
According to data provided by Jewish Family Service, most of the people who have been helped by the program since 2020 came from neighboring North County cities, which has upset a lot of Encinitas residents who say it’s attracting homeless people to the city.
This debate isn’t new when it comes to the larger conversation about resources for the homeless, but it’s particularly interesting here because this is the only safe parking program in North County. This raises the question: Where else should they go?
Click here to read more in this week’s North County Report.
Nurses and Caregivers Strike Deal to Avoid Strike
A one-day strike among Palomar Health nurses and caregivers set for Thursday has been called off.
The public health care district runs hospitals in Escondido and Poway. The nurses and caregivers say their staffing level is dangerously low and cuts are compromising hygiene and sanitation. They’ve been negotiating a new contract for the past 14 months.
As the Union-Tribune reports, the union’s concerns were first raised following pandemic-related layoffs in 2020, but the details of the last-minute negotiations, which stretched 34 straight hours, have yet to be released. The agreements still need to be ratified.
Tenants Rally After Being Told to Move Temporarily
Around the same time the California Nurses Association was announcing a deal out of North County, a group of RV tenants in Imperial Beach was rallying for rent control and better protection.
Earlier this year, the RV park was sold to a real estate investment and consulting firm, and since then the residents have complained about rent increases and new fees for water, sewer and trash. They also say they’re being forced to move their homes off the property every six months for 48 hours and sign new leases, so that the new owner doesn’t have to comply with California tenant protections.
As one resident told CBS 8, “They don’t see us like human beings with a right to have a home, they just see us like a dollar sign.” The Imperial Beach city manager said mobile home parks fall under the jurisdiction of the state but promised to work with the new owners to keep rents low.
In Other News
- San Diego police officers are getting a 10 percent pay increase over the next 13 months as the chief tells the City Council that personnel are leaving. (CBS 8)
- While the U.S. spends millions of dollars on humanitarian aid in Mexico, some shelters in Tijuana say the support isn’t reaching them but the need to house migrants is growing. (inewsource)
- We told you yesterday that San Diego has begun seizing dozens of cars allegedly involved in street takeovers. Police now say they’ve identified a total of 172 “people/vehicles” involved in street takeovers this year alone. (NBC 7)
- As a jury considers the fate of five former naval officers accused of bribery, defense lawyers are again asking the court for a mistrial. They claim federal prosecutors improperly withheld evidence that could help their case, which involves a military contractor known as “Fat Leonard.” (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego’s new street vending rules went into effect Wednesday. NBC 7’s Artie Ojeda took an interesting before and after photo of Balboa Park, where vendors are now banned. And the Union-Tribune reported that beach area business owners and residents are worried about enforcement levels. The city’s new law doesn’t take effect in beach areas yet because it needs the OK from the coastal commission.
This Morning Report was written by Tigist Layne, Jesse Marx and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. It was edited by Megan Wood.