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The San Diego City Council had a lengthy closed-door discussion Monday on Mayor Todd Gloria’s mega shelter proposal and ended its meeting without any public announcements.
As our Lisa Halverstadt previously reported, the City Council scheduled the closed session to discuss the costs and terms of Gloria’s plan to lease a Middletown warehouse and make it a 1,000-bed homeless shelter amid questions about the initial pitch. That discussion went so long, the City Council had to start its public meeting more than an hour late.
Meanwhile: As the City Council gathered behind closed doors Monday, NBC 7 San Diego reported that activists protested outside the Kettner Boulevard and Vine Street warehouse. Shane Harris of the People’s Association of Justice Advocates separately called a press conference there to urge the City Council to wait at least 60 days before voting on the proposed mega shelter and the city to hold community input sessions in every council district.
More revelations: The Union-Tribune’s Jeff McDonald revealed in a subscriber-only story that Douglas Hamm, who recently bought the warehouse the city’s eyeing, secured millions of dollars in loans for the purchase. McDonald’s reporting on those loans, coupled with local real estate experts’ takes that Gloria’s proposal is particularly favorable to Hamm, could have contributed complexity to the City Council’s private discussion.
What’s next: TBD. Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, whose office would need to schedule a City Council vote, said late Monday there’s no “scheduled date” for the proposed lease to be heard at an open City Council session.
Elo-Rivera, who declined to comment on the closed session discussion, pledged to make sure the City Council can vet the proposed deal before any votes.
“I’m committed to ensuring that the council has every opportunity to make the best decision possible for the city of San Diego,” Elo-Rivera said.