The flood waters have receded, but in some southeastern San Diego neighborhoods a crisis of trust is now ripping through the streets.
As our Will Huntsberry reports, the Jan. 22 downpour that, in an instant, displaced more than 1,000 people has left victims convinced city leaders don’t care about them, don’t care if they return to their homes and would rather that they don’t. They believe the city knew they were vulnerable to flooding and did nothing to prevent the devastation.
And as they try to put their lives back together, they have become more disillusioned by news stories about politicians’ recovery efforts and a county hotel program that’s had a rocky start.
Read Huntsberry’s full dispatch from Shelltown.
About That County Hotel Program
The county’s new hotel program for flood victims struggled to ramp up to serve all the desperate families in need this week.
As CBS 8 reports, some families feared they’d be left without a place to stay after many hotel vouchers were set to expire this week and they were for a time unable to get answers on where they could go next. And 10 News reported that a county staffer accidentally directed at least one family to a hotel that’s been closed for months.
The county says it’s working with organizations that provided initial 14-day hotel vouchers to extend flood victims’ stays until they can get other housing. A spokesperson told 10 News that the county is working to transition all flood victims who qualify for its program and prioritizing families whose vouchers expire first.
Another county hotel headache: CalMatters recently broke the news that California counties that put homeless residents up in hotels during the pandemic are now on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars after the Federal Emergency Management Agency decided it won’t pay for stays longer than 20 days after mid-June 2021. CalMatters reported that San Diego County could now owe up to $28 million.
Earlier this week, county spokesman Michael Workman told Voice of San Diego that the county was evaluating the impact of FEMA’s decision and couldn’t immediately provide “exact figures” on the blow to the county budget.
The Latest Sobering Homelessness Data
For the 22nd month in a row, the number of people becoming homeless in San Diego County outpaced the number moving into homes.
The Regional Task Force on Homelessness reports that 1,385 San Diegans became homeless for the first time in January and 966 exited homelessness. This data once again shows the volume of people losing their homes is outpacing local efforts to combat homelessness.
In Other News
- The county’s conflict-plagued Human Relations Commission is taking a time out at the urging of two county supervisors. (Union-Tribune)
- The city will release more emissions data to track its progress on its climate action plan following a settlement with environmental activists. (Axios)
- The City Council’s public safety committee this week signed off on the police and fire departments’ use of drones as part of a new process required under the city’s surveillance ordinance. (NBC 7)
- City crews this week hurried to fill potholes ahead of rain expected next week. (CBS 8)
- The La Mesa City Council is moving forward with a single-use plastic ban. (Union-Tribune)
- El Cajon reports that its pilot program allowing nurses to answer non-emergency 911 calls saved an estimated $573,000 and helped hundreds of people in its first year. (CBS 8)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Scott Lewis.