In the past several months, we have seen North County leaders trying to grapple with the homelessness crisis in new ways.
From opening new homeless shelters, to implementing public camping bans, to aggressively pursuing state homelessness funds that could expand resources, elected officials in North County are ramping up their responses to homelessness.
Last week, I moderated a panel with four of North County’s mayors: Oceanside Mayor Esther Sanchez, Carlsbad Mayor Keith Blackburn, Encinitas Mayor Tony Kranz and San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones.
The panel was about recent homelessness policies they’ve implemented, their beliefs about what causes homelessness and what kind of support they feel they need from county and state officials.
Here’s what they said.
Camping bans: In June of this year, a Supreme Court ruling in the Grants Pass v. Johnson case granted cities more power to arrest, cite and fine people who camp in public places regardless of shelter availability.
Since then, several cities across the county have implemented or reinforced their own homeless camping bans, including Escondido, San Marcos, Vista and Encinitas.
- During the panel discussion, I asked Encinitas Mayor Kranz if he believes it’s constructive to give homeless people fines and citations when they likely won’t be able to pay them.
He said that, in the long run, it may not be sustainable to keep fining unhoused people who are already struggling to support themselves. However, Encinitas has seen some decreases in camping ban violations since reinforcing its camping ban, he said, so city officials are hopeful the citations and fines will act as a deterrent.
- Carlsbad has had recent discussions about adopting its own camping ban. Specifically, I wanted to know if Mayor Blackburn feels pressure to adopt a ban because other North County cities have already done so.
His answer was yes, kind of. He is specifically worried that if neighboring cities have camping bans in place that are actively being enforced, then some homeless people could make their way to Carlsbad knowing that the city doesn’t have its own restrictions in place. He also said he is in favor of stronger enforcement that could pressure unhoused people to accept help and resources.
- I asked Oceanside Mayor Sanchez if the city has plans to adopt its own public camping ban.
Sanchez said that Oceanside’s police department has been looking into it and city staff will likely ask city officials to consider adopting one. She added that she is wary of camping bans because they are potentially criminalizing homeless people for being homeless — something homeless people shouldn’t be worried about, she said.
Mental health & substance abuse treatment: All four mayors agreed that mental health issues and substance abuse among homeless people are widespread problems, but that very few resources are available to get people the help they need.
- I asked San Marcos Mayor Jones about whether individual cities should try to fill in the massive gaps that exist when it comes to mental health and substance abuse treatment programs.
Jones said she and other city leaders want to see more of those resources in North County, however, she said it is the county that has a Health and Human Resources Agency, and it is the county’s responsibility to create and implement those resources throughout the San Diego region.
- I asked Carlsbad Mayor Blackburn how mental health and substance abuse issues have impacted city efforts to get unhoused people into shelter and housing.
He said it’s something the city’s homeless outreach workers are struggling with every day. Some homeless people, he said, are in difficult circumstances that are extremely tough to get out of without receiving help. Others, he said, “they don’t want to give up their meth for a house.” Cities need policies from the county and the state that can force people with severe mental health or substance abuse problems into treatment, he said.
The Housing First policy: The official national and state policy when it comes to homelessness is called Housing First, which says a stable home is the first step to helping people recover from life on the streets and drug and mental health crises.
Many state and federal homeless dollars are tied to this policy, so for example, if you open a homeless shelter and require sobriety from your clients, then you won’t get state or federal funding for it.
- I asked Encinitas Mayor Kranz about his thoughts on Housing First and some of the stipulations that come with it.
Kranz said that it was state homelessness dollars secured by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear that helped Encinitas partner with Vista to open the Buena Creek Navigation Center, a homeless shelter. As for the policy itself, he said he tries not to get too deep into it, however he tends to believe that a person’s ability to receive shelter and housing should not be based on any addictions or mental health problems they may have.
- I asked Oceanside Mayor Sanchez if the fact that homelessness dollars are tied to the Housing First policy presents challenges in trying to create and fund homelessness resources.
Sanchez said that Oceanside has benefited from Housing First homelessness dollars from the state. In fact, Oceanside and Carlsbad jointly received an $11 million grant from the state to move hundreds of homeless people from State Route 78 into housing just a few months ago.
In Other News
- ICYMI: Vista’s Republican Mayor John Franklin really wants to unseat Democratic Councilmember Katie Melendez in the upcoming City Council race in favor of Republican newcomer and the mayor’s pick, Denise Barragan. Whoever wins could determine the political dynamics of the council, which currently has the first Democratic majority in Vista’s history. (Voice of San Diego)
- The Del Mar City Council approved new restrictions on short-term rentals including a cap on the number of short-term rentals in the city, a limit on how many short-term rentals one person can have and more. (Coast News)
- Greenbrier Village, Oceanside’s first permanent supportive housing site is officially open. (Coast News)
- San Onofre will remain a state park after the California parks department and the military signed a 25-year lease agreement worth $90 million. Related: Click here to read about why the lease agreement for San Onofre jumped from $1 for 50 years to $90 million for 25 years.