The city of San Diego’s first-ever dedicated shelter for homeless seniors is now sitting vacant while the city pays about $77,000 in monthly rent.
Our Lisa Halverstadt reveals that the city shut down the Little Italy motel shelter after deciding that required building repairs made the project too costly to continue. The city and provider Serving Seniors soon moved 16 homeless seniors out of the facility ahead of the conclusion of the city’s contract with the nonprofit and a motel lease that ends June 30. The seniors were offered other places to stay and most relocated to housing or other shelters. Two opted to return to the street.
Representatives for both the city and Serving Seniors say they are sad to end a program that served unsheltered seniors who make up one of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population.
The city notes that it has opened new beds for seniors at other city-funded facilities in recent history but Serving Seniors CEO Paul Downey says his team is on the hunt for a new shelter facility just for those over 55. Downey wants to replicate the program which focused on serving homeless seniors who were often ill-suited for other shelter programs but already had a housing voucher or subsidy when they moved in, a dynamic that translated into more success moving clients into permanent homes.
South County Report: National City Councilmember Really Doesn’t Like City Attorney
National City Councilmember Marcus Bush has beef with the city’s top lawyer, Barry Schultz. He told our South County reporter Jim Hinch that Schultz’s failures included giving preferential treatment to certain councilmembers, leaving the city vulnerable to lawsuits by insufficiently reviewing policy proposals and even botching the city’s cannabis review process. It has become a pattern, Bush said.
Now, the councilmember may have done something about it by filing a complaint against Schultz with the State Bar. Some documents seem to indicate he has. But Bush won’t confirm whether he has.
Also in the South County Report: The race for San Diego County Supervisor District 1 is getting spicier. The mailers going out to voters have taken a negative turn but it’s not all bad. One political consultant told Hinch what that means for their candidate’s chances.
“Presume good if our opponents are desperately, breathlessly attacking us,” he said.
Read the South County Report here.
Song of the Week
The Cometeers, “Convoy”: The Cometeers specialize in a sort of smoky-roomed funk. It’s a crunchy, seductive mixture that will get you moving while also making you feel like you want to take a deep hit of … something. Sometimes, the band’s little dose of psychedelic energy will have you feel like you’re moving in slow motion, like on “Snake Boots.” At other times, they’ll add a dash of flute to their deep grooves, like on “Ponto.” The blown-out horns and spectacular percussion of standout “Convoy,” inject a delicious pseudo-Latin, pseudo-surf rock flavor to the cocktail. The surf-tinged guitar work makes the whole thing sing.
Like what you hear? Check out The Cometeers at Til-Two Club on Thursday, March 27.
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
- Mayor Todd Gloria is proposing reforms to the city’s accessory dwelling unit program. (Times of San Diego)
- SDG&E customers will get a little bit knocked off their energy bills next month. A statewide program will automatically deduct up to $135 from ratepayers’ April bills. (Union-Tribune)
- We are two weeks away for the District 1 special election. Our Jim Hinch spoke to NBC 7 about the race.
- San Diego police shot and killed a man in Scripps Ranch who was walking around barefoot with a gun and holding it up. (NBC 7)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt and Jakob McWhinney. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.