Another big, city-funded shelter will be closing by the end of the year.
It came out during City Council budget deliberations this week that Father Joe’s Villages plans to shutter its 350-bed Paul Mirabile Center shelter in East Village and convert the facility in coming months.
Our Lisa Halverstadt reports that the nonprofit’s plan is to deliver 45 much-needed detox beds for homeless Medi-Cal patients who now usually struggle to access that resource and to provide at least 250 shelter beds in what it dubs a new sober and recovery shelter for homeless San Diegans.
By the numbers: Father Joe’s decision to walk away from the longtime city shelter contract means the city could end the year with 732 fewer city-controlled shelter beds at a time when it isn’t meeting current demand with its current roster of 1,830 beds.
At the same time, Father Joe’s move could increase the region’s share of detox beds serving Medi-Cal patients by 58 percent by sometime next year. Father Joe’s has also said it plans to maintain as many shelter beds as it can at its facility though they’ll now be privately funded.
Don’t forget: Mayor Todd Gloria pledged to add at least 1,000 new city-funded shelter beds by early 2025. His team argues the latest announcement underscores the need for more permanent shelters like the Middletown warehouse he’s eyeing for a 1,000-bed shelter.
What’s next: The Housing Commission and the city have said they are on the hunt for new shelter locations. Father Joe’s hopes to have its new programs up and running next year.
The AI Future of Education Is Now
Teachers in San Diego Unified School District are using AI to grade papers and give students feedback.
San Diego Unified’s school board members didn’t even know it was happening.
Our Jakob McWhinney discovered a contract for a program known as Writable buried in a consent agenda item with dozens of other items.
“In the case of that contract the ability to enter into this was done without any board discussion, any parent discussion or any policies,” San Diego Unified Board Member Richard Barrera said. “Going forward we need to be more vigilant about establishing board policies around the use of AI.”
McWhinney — who is also a college student — noted he has seen many students turn in AI-written assignments. With teachers now using AI to grade papers as well, we are likely living in a world where robots are grading robot writing — while we pretend it is in the service of human learning.
Mayor Still Undecided on Prop. 47 Reform
An initiative to reinstate more severe penalties for less severe crimes qualified for the ballot this week but it still does not have the support of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, who began the year decrying the looser approach to small crimes he blames for worsening the situation in the streets and causing mass retail theft.
Democratic state lawmakers are working on their own reforms to the law, adding stiffer penalties for some crimes. But a controversy erupted this week when they included amendments that would cancel their laws if voters approved the initiative. They say they just want to keep the law from having conflicting policies but supporters of the initiative claim they’re trying to undermine reforms.
Regardless, the discussion has kept Gloria on the sidelines. Spokeswoman Rachel Laing sent this statement:
“Mayor Gloria supports aggressive action to tackle retail theft and other quality-of-life crimes this year and has been in regular communication with state leaders to ensure the strongest possible measures get enacted this June.
“If these bipartisan legislative efforts fail to yield new laws with real consequences for criminal behavior, the mayor will support the citizens’ initiative that recently qualified for the ballot,” she wrote
In Other News
- San Diego County could miss out on $10 million, and the 150 tiny homes it would have paid for, now that county Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas wants to scrap a plan to put the homes in Spring Valley. The tiny homes would have been for people experiencing homelessness. (NBC 7)
- A San Diego police officer who locked himself inside the backseat of a police cruiser with a woman he arrested has resigned. (Union-Tribune)
- Mayor Todd Gloria named Robert Logan, a 24-year veteran of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, as the city’s next fire chief. (10 News)
Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated who has proposed scrapping a plan to pursue sleeping cabins for homeless San Diegans in Spring Valley. County Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas wants to rescind the plan.
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt and Will Huntsberry. It was edited by Scott Lewis.