San Diego County supervisors on Tuesday voted to delay implementing a state bill that would have expanded eligibility for conservatorships in January.
The county board voted 3-2 to postpone implementation of SB 43 until January 2025 — though supes committed to a March briefing where they could opt to speed things up.
SB 43 makes people with severe substance use disorder eligible for short-term holds that last for up to 72 hours and for longer-term conservatorships. The state law is expected to put more pressure on hospital emergency rooms and a treatment system now often unable to deliver immediate voluntary care. That’s why officials decided to pump the brakes.They want more time to prepare.
Not everyone agreed. Supervisors Joel Anderson and Terra Lawson Remer opposed the postponement. Anderson and Lawson-Remer were eager to move forward more quickly. Lawson-Remer argued the county should have begun preparing for SB 43 implementation once it realized the legislation was likely to pass.
“Significant time and energy was spent finding the best ways to delay implementing Senate Bill 43 but our region and most importantly the people in dire need of treatment, would have been better served if all those same people worked on an implementation strategy,” Lawson-Remer wrote in a statement after the vote.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, who called a Tuesday morning press conference to implore supervisors to proceed with SB 43 in the new year, was also disappointed.
“I’m hopeful that the progress report included in today’s action will hold county staff accountable to implement this desperately needed program to get severely ill people the care they need no later than Jan. 1, 2025,” Gloria wrote in a statement after the vote. “Every day that passes without action is a day these folks are at risk on our streets.”
What’s next: Vargas plans to soon gather stakeholders to begin the planning process. Luke Bergmann, the county’s behavioral health services director, said county staff will be focused on increasing substance use treatment options and connections and plan to lobby for changes to state law to increase care options for people with substance use disorder.
City Hall Gets In On Behavioral Health Action
Hours before the county vote on conservatorship reform, the San Diego City Council voted 8-0 to declare a behavioral health bed crisis in the city.
Councilman Raul Campillo, who pushed the declaration, said it encourages the city to advocate for state and federal legislation, regularly engage with other stakeholders and explore permitting issues now hindering efforts to add beds.
“San Diegans can’t afford to wait any longer for serious progress on mental illness and addiction,” Campillo wrote in a statement after Tuesday’s vote. “Today’s declaration helps the City of San Diego work efficiently with partners at all levels of government to address this crisis.”
The context: San Diego County’s behavioral health system is clogged. Mental health patients often face long waits for longer-term care that can lead to delays for others seeking care and residential substance use treatment is rarely available on demand.
Montgomery Steppe First Day on the Job
She was welcomed by cheers and applause.
County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe took her seat on the Board of Supervisors Tuesday. The moment’s historic significance was not lost on anyone in the room.
“I am acutely aware of the weight of responsibility and the honor to be chosen by the people as the first Black woman to serve on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors in the history of this county,” she said.
KPBS has more on the swearing-in ceremony. Read it here.
Ex-Mayor Backs Sunbreak Ranch, Not H Barracks
Former mayor Kevin Faulconer is endorsing Sunbreak Ranch, a controversial proposal to establish a remote camp for homeless San Diegans where services could be concentrated.
“We need bold and creative ideas to reduce homelessness in our region. Sunbreak Ranch is one of those creative ideas,” Faulconer wrote in a Tuesday statement. “I’m endorsing this concept as a way to get people off the streets and giving them the help they need to turn their lives around.”
Voice of San Diego asked a Faulconer spokesman how the former mayor would respond to concerns about relocating people far from where they are now staying or the East Miramar location, a spot that Sunbreak Ranch backers are eyeing that the commanding officer of the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar has said isn’t workable.
Spokesman Gus Portela’s response: “The concept of Sunbreak Ranch is not site specific,” Portela wrote. “It does exactly what the City of San Diego did under Mayor Faulconer’s tenure during COVID (at the convention center in partnership with the County) where we had all the help needed to turn lives around under one roof.”
What Faulconer’s not endorsing: Portela said Faulconer, a longtime Point Loma resident, doesn’t support a yet-to-be detailed city plan to convert H Barracks, a space it’s long used as a public safety training center, into a shelter site for hundreds of homeless San Diegans. The proposal has faced an avalanche of concerns. Portela declined to elaborate on Faulconer’s beefs with it, but said he’ll have more to say soon.
Song of the Week
If you’ve been listening to my “Song of the Week,” selections for any amount of time you’ve likely noticed some similarities between my picks. I’m an absolute sucker for lofi synthwave. Hit me with some distorted, reverby vocals, a post punky bassline and an arpeggiator and my heart melts. Luckily for me, San Diego has no shortage of artists – past or present – that fit the bill, from Island Boy to Trit 95 to even the short-lived Other Bodies. Mercury Girl wasn’t a project I had previously heard of, but needless to say it fits the bill.
Mercury Girl, “In The Morning”: I think the best lofi synthpop transports you to a place not quite now and not quite then – a sort of temporal liminal space. That’s what “In The Morning,” does for me. There are shades of the sonic optimism of Modern English (always a good sign), but it’s even more stripped down and synthed up. Even though what I can make out of the lyrics seem to be about loneliness, what really carries throughout the track is a sense of warmth – almost like the empty bed you’ve returned to wants to give you a big hug.
Like what you hear? Check out Mercury Girl at The Ken Club on Sunday, December 10.
Do you have a “Song of the Week” suggestion? Shoot us an email and a sentence or two about why you’ve been bumping this song lately. Friendly reminder: all songs should be by local artists!
In Other News
- The Union-Tribune reports that the Del Mar City Council voted earlier this week to censure a colleague for statements he made to the media and other agencies without clarifying that he wasn’t speaking for the city.
- 10 News reports that the Port of San Diego on Tuesday took an initial step to potentially welcome a Topgolf facility on Harbor Island.
- CBS 8 reports that parking meters could be coming to Kearny Mesa and San Ysidro.
- After a drop in football season ticket sales last year, The Union-Tribune reports that San Diego State is slashing season-ticket prices.
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and Jakob McWhinney. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.