There’s an accomplishment Mayor Todd Gloria has been touting lately.
That is: “The 70 percent increase in shelter beds that this city has invested in in just the last two years,” claimed Gloria two weeks ago at a press conference.
That claim, while central to his reasoning for a new ordinance that would crackdown on homeless encampments, isn’t quite right, as Will Huntsberry reveals in a new story.
Here’s why: Before Covid-19, and when San Diego had a different mayor, the city funded 1,409 shelter beds, according to the San Diego Housing Commission. Now, the city funds roughly 1,805.
That adds up to a 28 percent increase. Definitely not shabby — and definitely not 70 percent.
The distorted picture: Gloria’s team comes up with the 70 percent figure because they are counting from April 1, 2021, nearly four months after Gloria took office. At the time, shelter beds were at an extreme low because of the pandemic.
Here’s the problem with using that date:
“Shelters were opening that day with far less capacity than they’d had in the past — and far less capacity than they would have in the future, when the pandemic ended,” as Huntsberry writes.
Environment Report: Reps React to Treatment Plant Costly Repairs
When news broke last week of just how run down the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment is, congressional representatives were “shocked.”
That’s what one congressman’s office told environment reporter MacKenzie Elmer.
For months, the plant has been taking in more sewage than it can treat due to its deteriorating equipment, Elmer writes.
The South Bay plant is owned and operated by the International Boundary and Water Commission – or the IBWC. That’s the agency that, for years, allowed the plant to get so far behind on maintenance and upkeep.
But fixing it will not only cost a lot more than Congress budgeted for, it will also be really difficult to repair.
Read the Environment Report here.
Related: At the County Board of Supervisors meeting today, the board will consider declaring a local state of emergency over the ongoing sewage spill from flowing from Tijuana into San Diego’s beaches. (Fox 5)
SDSU Analysis: Restroom Access Lacking Along Trolley Lines
A new San Diego State analysis concluded there is limited restroom availability along Metropolitan Transit System trolley lines, especially at stations with the most riders.
The report published by Findings also highlighted challenges with restrooms that are available such as the need to get a key from an adjacent business or time limits.
“There is a high density of restrooms near trolley stations in the Downtown and Old Town neighborhoods where stations have three or four restrooms, respectively,” researchers with SDSU’s Project for Sanitation Justice wrote. “Only two stations have an available restroom at or immediately next to the boarding platform.”
Researchers found the majority of restrooms adjacent to the trolley stops were along the Blue Line, which runs from University City to the border, and the fewest along the Green Line, which runs from East Village to Santee.
In a Monday statement, MTS wrote that the agency is working to make more restrooms available but that its own research showed 70 percent of riders begin or end their trips at stations with nearby restrooms.
“The agency is identifying ways to increase the number of restrooms available for passengers, and the hours of operation,” the agency said.
Among those efforts, according to the agency: Ongoing talks with SDSU to try reopen a restroom adjacent to its campus trolley station and with Sweetwater Union High School District to reopen the restrooms on its adult campus near a National City station, and to try to incorporate restroom facilities in future development projects now under negotiation.
In Other News
- San Diego will spend more than $3 million on a design event after the city previously said city funds wouldn’t be paying for it. Over a year ago, San Diego, along with Tijuana, won a World Design Capital distinction, which comes with a conference and other events in 2024. Mayor Todd Gloria told the U-T in 2021 that city dollars would not be covering the costs. Last month, though, the San Diego City Council voted to allocate $3 million toward the event. (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego’s fight to lift the 30-foot height limit in the Midway District just hit another snag. An appeals court on Friday upheld an earlier ruling by a San Diego Superior Court judge invalidating the 2020 ballot measure that sought to lift the height limit.The decision doesn’t apply to a similar ballot measure passed in 2022, but that measure is also being contested in court. (Union-Tribune) Related: Read Voice of San Diego’s comprehensive coverage of the Sports Arena redevelopment project here.
- A new study found that people in Southeast San Diego die 10 years younger on average than people who live in Central San Diego, KPBS reported. Barry Pollard from Live Well San Diego has been tracking the data for the past several years, and it shows that almost every indicator of health risk, including heart disease, asthma and cancer, is higher in Southeast San Diego than neighboring areas. (KPBS)
- Last year, VOSD contributor Randy Dotinga wrote about local LGBT pioneers. He highlighted the life of the influential and hugely popular Julian Eltinge, an early 20th-century female impersonator who owned a ranch in Alpine. Now, Dotinga has written a full-length profile of Eltinge for The Washington Post. Read it here.
The Morning Report was written by Tigist Layne, Lisa Halverstadt and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.