With the Trump Administration seeking to upend U.S. homelessness policy, debate is raging over Housing First, the prevailing approach that prioritizes rapidly housing homeless people without any preconditions, such as sobriety.
Last year, San Diego joined a multi-state lawsuit seeking to block cuts to federal housing grants. Meanwhile, the cities of Encinitas and El Cajon have rejected grants because of what the cities view as onerous Housing First requirements.
In San Diego’s predominantly Latino border region, a more complex reality is unfolding.
None of the region’s mostly Democratic leaders voice outright opposition to Housing First. But they have made their preferences known in policy choices.
Homelessness strategies in the region’s three major cities focus on clearing encampments, providing temporary shelter and connecting homeless people with treatment and other services.
Building permanent supportive housing units is a relatively small component of each city’s efforts.
Even the two Democratic candidates vying to represent San Diego’s District 8, which covers San Ysidro and other southern portions of the city, are voicing skepticism about the city’s Housing First approach.
“For those individuals that are working two, three jobs but can’t make ends meet, I think housing is a perfect solution,” said District 8 candidate Antonio Martinez. “But… for a person that’s struggling with drug addiction, maybe helping them with their drug addiction first is the first solution before anything else.”
San Diego Mayor to Call for Temporary Data Center Moratorium
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is expected to call for a temporary moratorium on data centers Thursday following the news that developers are considering one near downtown on land owned by the U.S. Navy.
A press release Wednesday says Gloria will use executive powers to establish processes for local data center regulations.
But let’s be clear: Whatever the lawmakers come up with will likely not impact the NAVWAR project. Since the potential data center would be on federal land, the city can’t decide what goes there.
Voice of San Diego broke the news last week that Manchester Financial Group was pitching the idea of a massive 400-megawatt data center at the NAVWAR site near Old Town. Local leaders decried the effort, concerned the site should be reserved for housing and other entertainment uses.
Manchester Financial Group confirmed this week that housing would play a “major role” in their project, the final details of which have not yet been determined.
Council Committee Makes First Move to Cancel Flock
San Diego’s Budget and Government Efficiency Committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to advance a proposal to cancel the city’s contract with the controversial Flock surveillance company. The proposal would also rewrite the city’s surveillance ordinance to restrict police from utilizing automatic license plate readers in the future.
“Rescinding the automated license plate reader policy is not just about reducing surveillance, it’s about safeguarding our fundamental rights and fostering trust within our communities,” said Councilmember Henry Foster, who brought the item to committee.
With the item’s passage in committee, it will move to a vote of the full City Council. Still, whether the effort will succeed is uncertain. The council’s five-member anti-Flock majority will need to conjure a sixth vote to override a likely mayoral veto — and fast.
“This is the best shot we’ve had in as long as we’ve been hammering away at this,” said Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera.
Read a longer version of the story here.
Cops Crack Down on Guerrilla Saxophonist
San Diego’s ruthless crusade against people having fun, for free, in public found a new victim last night: a viral saxophonist known on Instagram as @nathanialpov.
The musician, who we wrote about in yesterday’s Morning Report, is famous for doing pop-up performances in all manner of acoustically blessed locations, including sewers, parking garages and natural landmarks.
But Tuesday night’s show under Snapdragon Stadium’s trolley platform was cut short by San Diego State police for “disturbing the peace,” according to a police media bulletin. While the show attracted a significant crowd of people, numerous videos from the night show attendees silently enjoying the music.
“I genuinely didn’t think we were going to get shut down,” the artist wrote on Instagram yesterday morning.
“I’m glad everyone had a good time,” he continued. “I didn’t expect it to be this difficult for me to work in SD.”
Del Mar and Fairgrounds Still Beefing Over Housing
It’s the affordable housing controversy that won’t die.
Earlier this year, our Tigist Layne reported on the messy demise of a controversial proposal to build affordable housing on part of the San Diego County Fairgrounds in Del Mar.
The project is essentially dead but Del Mar city officials are still feuding with Fairgrounds leaders.
The latest fight involves an unusual request by the Del Mar City Council for a criminal investigation into possible irregularities related to the proposal.
That request went nowhere and now the Fairgrounds is demanding an apology.
Layne has the details, along with more information about some of the more mysterious elements in the city’s investigation request.
Read the North County Report here.
In Other News
- The Grossmont Union High School District will reinstate nine teacher librarians whose jobs were cut last year in a controversial staffing overhaul instigated by the school board. The reinstatement comes as part of a settlement with the district’s teachers union, which filed an unfair practices complaint over the cuts. (Union-Tribune)
- Public records obtained by Times of San Diego show San Diego city leaders, including Mayor Todd Gloria, did not learn of overbilling for trash service until days after residents first began to complain.
- The National City Council this week took a step toward eliminating or reducing controversial councilmember discretionary funds – though an ultimate decision about the funds will not happen until at least late next month, after the election.
- A community group in the East County unincorporated community of Boulevard sued the county of San Diego, seeking to block a solar farm and battery storage project recently approved by the county Board of Supervisors. (Union-Tribune)
- A missing sexually violent predator who turned off his GPS monitor and disappeared from a Rancho Bernardo job site one month ago was found dead earlier this week in a San Diego riverbed. Authorities confirmed the identity of 69-year-old Merle Wakefield, whose disappearance spawned a manhunt and debate about community placement of convicted sexual predators. (Union-Tribune)
- KPBS’ Tammy Murga spoke with the San Diego Natural History Museum’s new curator of ornithology Ryan Terrill, who said San Diego, with its wide range of habitats and species, “is a really special place for birds.” Our MacKenzie Elmer wrote about the former curator who spent half a century establishing the collection at the Nat.
The Morning Report was written by Jim Hinch, Jakob McWhinney and Bella Ross. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.