What a difference a Supreme Court ruling makes.
In June, the Supreme Court freed cities from an earlier requirement that they provide adequate shelter before clearing encampments from public property.
Now, a growing number of cities, and possibly the county itself, are cracking down on people who sleep on the street. South County reporter Jim Hinch reports that this week, National City and Chula Vista are expected to become the latest in a growing number of municipalities banning public camping.
Already, San Diego, Escondido, Poway, Vista and San Marcos outlaw encampments. Carlsbad and the County Board of Supervisors are considering updating their own policies. Advocates for the homeless acknowledge the changing political landscape and call the bans “a foregone conclusion.”
Experts say research doesn’t show that banning encampments helps to reduce homelessness. City officials counter that they’ve tried offering services but many homeless people refuse them. Stricter penalties, they say, might persuade some people to accept help. “This isn’t a solution for homelessness,” one Councilmember said. “But it is a tool our residents have asked for.”
Politics Report: Has Time Finally Run Out for Carl DeMaio?
For decades, former San Diego City Councilmember Carl DeMaio has managed to remain a force in California Republican politics despite a string of election losses and a series of high-profile fallouts with friends and former allies.
Now, it’s beginning to look like DeMaio may have burned one bridge too many. As our Scott Lewis reports, last week, Republican Party Chairman Corey Gustafson–one of those many former allies–gave the green light to other Republicans to back DeMaio’s Republican opponent in the race to represent the 75th Assembly District.
Already, hundreds of thousands of dollars are flowing into a political action committee opposing DeMaio–all of it from Republicans or their allies. It’s a remarkable intra-party feud. And testimony to DeMaio’s continued ability to roil the waters in state Republican politics.
As Lewis explains, this particular feud dates back years and originates in a decades-old dispute between DeMaio and San Diego police officers, who were outraged that DeMaio failed to support their efforts to hang onto their pensions amid city budget problems.
Read the Politics Report here.
The Cap on Conflicts and its Impact on Campaign $$$
We tapped a fellow campaign financing nerd to dig into just how much has changed for local elections since a law implemented new conflict-of-interest rules.
SB 1439 prohibits any member of an elected agency from voting on any issue that would affect any donor who gave $250 or more to that elected official’s campaign.
So, what was the impact of the law? Voice contributor Mason Herron found that there has been a significant shift in campaign contributions. The number of contributions went up, but the dollar amount went down.
Read the full analysis in the Sacramento Report here.
VOSD Podcast: Gassy Dispute in South Bay
In this week’s podcast, our hosts are joined by our environment reporter, Mackenzie Elmer, to discuss the recent findings of toxic gases in the Tijuana River Valley and the county’s response to these claims. Hosts Scott Lewis, Andrea Lopez-Villafana, and Jakob McWhinney also explore issues related to shelter shortages in the region and recent heated debates over battery storage facilities.
Listen to the full episode here.
In Other News
- Need to catch up? Our managing editor rounded up all the Voice stories you need to read to start your week. Read Cup of Chisme here.
- Axios reports that the poverty rate in San Diego has been on the decline, dropping .5% between 2022 and 2023. At 10.1%, it’s the lowest it’s been in over a decade. One thing to consider: The cost-of-living crisis is pushing people out. Those who can’t afford to live here are moving away.
- The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District is stepping up their game with an alert system to warn residents near the Tijuana River Valley of toxic gas levels. The district has also begun deploying air purifiers to impacted households in the South County community. (Union Tribune)
- Union-Tribune reports that local officials have voted to scale back MTS service upgrade plans due to budget deficits, cutting funding for more frequent trolley and bus services. The revised plan means smaller scale improvements than originally proposed plus expected delays in trolley and bus upgrades.
- Several San Diego County schools were recently hit with prank mass shooting threats, ABC News10 reports. Last week, police arrested a 12-year-old Bonita Vista Middle School student in Chula Vista on suspicion of making fake threats. A middle school in Ramona also received threats. Two 13-year-old National City Middle School students admitted to police they sent a fake threat to their school “because they did not want to go to school.”
The Morning Report was written by Jim Hinch, Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and Emily Ito. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.