A few weeks ago, a man in the alley behind our house began screaming. Screaming is not unusual around us, unfortunately. But usually it comes and goes – less frequent than the airplanes, more frequent than the helicopters.
One man walks around screaming all the time. Long beard, bike. Sometimes he begs on the corner. Sometimes he disappears for weeks. But he’s always back and almost always screaming.
This wasn’t him. We know him. This was deeper, closer and more disturbed. And it wasn’t going away. It scared my daughter. I went back there with the flashlight and found the man. He was ensconced in a combination of blankets and garbage. He was ranting incoherently, unaware of me even as I tried to get his attention.
I finally yelled “Hey!” He turned and looked right at me. “You’re freaking people out.”
He snapped out of it. “I’m so sorry. I know, I know. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to go.”
The way he snapped out of it turned my anger and fear immediately into pity and wonder. It was like he was two people. The one made mad, screaming at the cold, fueled by the drugs, the trauma. And the one below the surface almost watching himself.
It was cold. San Diego is more comfortable than most places to be homeless but try sleeping in 45 degrees. It is bone-chilling cold. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t last more than a night or two before … well, before I did things that would probably lead to screaming.
…
We are now entering the eighth year of the homeless crisis, counting back to 2017 when their deaths due to viral infections spread through lack of hygiene alarmed San Diego’s leaders so much that they mobilized the government to address it. Now, almost eight years later, it’s as bad as ever.
We are numb to so much of it. The suffering and poverty. The disorder and chaos. The screaming. It almost takes someone new, a visitor, to remind us to look at it.
Matt Greene had that experience. He’s a hotel manager who recently returned to San Diego to become the managing director of Hard Rock San Diego. When he arrived, the disorder in downtown stunned him. The city’s inability to take care of dangerous people or people just suffering left him shocked. He decided to dig in and figure out what is going on. Now, he’s become the latest in a long line of businessmen who tried to solve it. It’s taken him months, since this summer, of research and meetings with law enforcement leaders and city leaders and experts.
He’s gotten, basically, nowhere. Just trying to answer the simple question of why police and prosecutors do not try to enforce the misdemeanor violations they get called on every day has driven him nuts.
“The city and county is completely broken – the way jurisdictions are bifurcated. They don’t work together,” he told me.
He has met with many leaders.
“Everyone does care. You can see it on their faces. They don’t disagree with any of my frustrations. But nobody knows what to do,” he said.
“The last thing I want to be is adversarial. But things have to change and change quickly. It’s at a catastrophic level,” he said.
…
San Diego is facing a catastrophe. The city is teeming with suffering. Its infrastructure is crumbling. Its cost of living is extreme and escalating rapidly. People are leaving. The region’s growth projections, for the first time in decades, show a peak and downturn not because people don’t want to be here but because they can’t afford to be. Public school enrollment is down.
San Diego’s history, however, is full of moments when it seemed irredeemable. Every city has a similar story – moments of prosperity followed by recessions, public health crises, disasters, despair but then great leaps in design, construction and innovation followed by growth and prosperity.
We can, once again, meet the moment. But in 2025, it will take something we did not see in 2024: creativity and leadership.
We enter 2025 with the county Board of Supervisors, once again, lacking leadership. The chair, again, has abruptly vanished. The agency responsible for the region’s giant behavioral health crisis must, again, wait for an election to determine its priorities.
The city of San Diego’s mayor, Todd Gloria, has declared this an “era of austerity.” With a budget deficit as big as the one staring at him, we can expect austerity. But austerity is not vision. It’s a practice, a discipline to raise revenue and cut spending.
What we can’t do is apply austerity to our creativity, as though we must also cut back on ambition and determination.
This isn’t a storm we can hunker down in and let pass. Creativity and ambition is our only way out. We’re going to need people to seize on ideas, hunt for resources and partnerships, press their peers and superiors to cut red tape. All of that just to get the beds we need to treat people, the shelters and spaces they can go to, especially if we are going to run them out of other areas.
If we are ever to build the infrastructure and housing needed to support a great city, we must go further faster to make the case and marshal the resources.
This New Year will have to be one of ambitious efforts to solve problems. If not, San Diego, the city and broader region, will take another turn down the spiral of decline and despair.
The thing that scared me most when the man in our alley woke up to my voice was his statement: “I’m so sorry. I know, I know. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to go.”
It scared me because I also didn’t know what to do or where to go. I’m one of the most well-connected people in the city. I know more about how it works than almost everyone. And I had no idea what to do for him.
He got up and gathered his things and walked away. I called after him, asking if I could help and he said nothing. As I walked in our house, I could hear the screaming begin again.
Voice of San Diego will complete its 20th year of operation in 2025. It represents a small investment, in the sea of San Diego’s vast wealth, in a conscience for San Diego – a voice in San Diego’s head reminding it how it needs to get better, how it can be better and how it is strong enough to face its problems directly.
We’ll be there in 2025 to report on the beat of San Diego’s future. We have to face the screaming directly.
Well Scott I guess you could have referred him to SUNBREAK RANCH! But of course you fought against SUNBREAK, called it a concentration camp, a fantasy. So this man’s misery is somewhat on you!
Just because you call it a ranch doesn’t make it any less of a camp.
Nazi.
Don’t do that, Gary. Name calling gets us nowhere. Let’s try empathy instead.
Well done. Great article.
Ignore the haters. This is a much needed tone.
I’m so glad I moved away from the SD urban CA (D)elsional (D)ysfunction 9 years ago… it is so much better “out here” in the other 90% of the County.
In a time when the city must raise revenue and reduce cost there isn’t going to be any wildly imaginative plan of action that doesn’t include further waiting the cost of living. This city can’t imagine itself out of any problem that doesn’t involve raising taxes. That concern you think you see in the faces of the city and civic leaders? That’s simply a look of puzzlement as to how they found themselves in this conversation and wonder as to how they can get out of it without ending up looking badly in an article about it. If Hard Rock is working so hard to bring people together to solve the problem why don’t they start by donating 25 percent of the net margin toward a plan of action in 2025? I think we already know the answer to that question.
You mention police and prosecutors and why they don’t press the misdemeanor violations? The police do issue those citations but the City Attorney refuses to issue those cites and help enforce the laws. They have like a 20% issue rate, unless you are a working tax payer then you better your citation will be filed by the city attorney.
Why try to get off the street and away from the drugs and alcohol if you never get in trouble? How can people get help if they are never held in jail to sober up, get decent food, rest and medical attention so that rehab and councilors can speak with them and offer services?
The problem can not be solved with just throwing huge amounts tax payers money at homeless advocacy groups that show no results. Did you know that PATH claims that if they give a homeless person a bottle of water it counts as “services accepted”. Then report that to the city as an accomplishment! What a joke. So I grab a 32 pack of bottles of water and I drive around the city giving homeless people a bottle of water I too should get paid the same millions of tax payers money that PATH gets? What a false dishonest claim of results.
You need the offer of service AND enforcement to help force help homeless with addictions on those who need it. Clean up the illegal drug campsites, start enforcement of vehicle habitation and the problem will become manageable here in San Diego.
Agree.
I too would like to see an audit of spending, because we do spend. If there were an abundance of shelter beds available, many of us would feel that we are honestly addressing the issue of helpless people being forced to sleep out side in 45 degree weather. But there is not an abundance.
i been to shelter long ago they dont help the homeless out. they only care about getting paid so much money is given that homelessness wouldnt exist but its all a sham.
its a circle of greedy high paying city people. lavish homes and cars.
Hear, hear!
The worst thing is how they wrap themselves in cloaks of superiority and holiness.
Scott Lewis has appointed himself “one of the most well-connected people in the city.”
This is a good article in that draws light to the situation, but San Diego (and other California cities) need affordable solutions. California’s been throwing money at the homeless problem for many, many years. There’s no one reason, and any councilor will tell you that working with chronic alcohol or drug abusers is tough — notoriously so. Suggested solutions? Society needs to address the root causes.
This is a powerful piece. I live in North Park, and I haven’t encountered so many overt screamers, but many scream with their eyes, or numb themselves so they can’t. I wish I had answers. I always try to at least make eye contact, or say hello if that’s available. So many try to make our brothers and sisters invisible (which may be why some need to scream). I’ve seen how these folks with virtually nothing still try to help each other. Maybe if we led with empathy? I know that’s overly simplistic, but it’s better than just screaming myself.
I work with the homeless and have do so for years. In spite of the “Happy Talk” coming out of City Hall, its getting worse on the streets. I started feeding the homeless along El Cajon Blvd in City Heights when the camping ban went into effect (in addition to our group that feeds downtown). When I started feeding on the stretch of El Cajon Blvd from Park Ave to Montezuma, I would use about 30 – 40 meal bags. I went out New Years Eve and used 100 meal bags.
“. . But nobody knows what to do,”
We are in a boat that is sinking, we are bailing as fast as we can, but we haven’t plugged the holes allow water in. We just keep buying bigger pumps.
I agree we are in an era of austerity, preventing homelessness is a whole lot cheaper than dealing with it on the street. A rent subsidy that keeps a family of 4 off the street might cost $6,000 per year. One trip to the ER for a drug OD by a homeless person could easily cost $40,000.
There was a study done in 2016 by PLNU that estimated the cost of dealing with chronic street homeless in 2010, was $110,000 per person per year. If that study was updated to today we would find the cost to be huge.
In an era of austerity we must work smarter, not harder.
I’m 71 yrs old and my calling is to work with the homeless. Please put me out of business so that I may rest.
You’re a failed candidate for mayor. Just stop it.
I financed, and later built, housing that was affordable to low/or no income people for 30 years. It is a crisis that has existed for many years, not just since 2017, as Mr. Lewis suggests. Despite hundreds of well meaning/dedicated people working for government and local nonprofits, the problem persists because people cannot afford the local rents and/or have serious mental health problems. That issue can be addressed through beefing-up our health departments. Affordability can be addressed by subsidizing developers to build lower rent apartments or by providing people, who need help, with an income. level (which could include a Section 8 certificate or just extra cash) that is sufficient for them to afford the rent. On the scale that is necessary, these strategies cost a fortune to implement.
People cannot afford the rent because they spend their money on weed and booze and even worse. Just stop pretending it’s something else.
I really enjoyed the writing style of this article, feels sincere empathy for the homeless. I also like the comment from David Michaels.
I always think of Mary and Joseph seeking posada. I wish I had it in my heart to help out a pilgrim and welcome them into my house as if Baby Jesus.
The difference between your Bible story and a Harry Potter book is we actually know who made up the Harry Potter book.
Non sequitur.
This summer, my dog was sick and needed to go out. At 3 AM, when you live in a high-rise building, this is quite an effort. My wife and I had to take the elevator down to the street and walk our dog to the makeshift park a block and a half away. Between there and our home, we were attacked by a drugged-out homeless man. During the fight, he bit my face. I had to take anti-hepatitis and anti-HIV pills for months.
On Christmas morning, while walking my dog with my wife (I can never let her walk our dog alone—it’s not safe), there was another drug user rapping at the top of his lungs, enjoying his high. While we were across the street, the lyrics subtly changed to include how someone (I wonder who?) was a “b*tch.” Merry Christmas.
Once, during one of these many encounters, I called the cops. 911 asked for my number so they could call me back (hysterical). They called two hours later and asked mockingly, “Do you want us to come get that guy who is bothering you?”—with more than a little sarcasm. I often wonder if I were to retaliate violently against one of these homeless drug users, would I even get caught? I don’t believe I would, as I don’t think the SDPD would try to solve the case.
This morning, I received an email from my city councilman explaining how “Public Safety remains a top priority.” He was referencing Vision Zero and bicycle safety. His communiqué went on about ribbon cuttings, Balboa Park, and tree-lighting ceremonies. Nothing about drugs, homelessness, crime, or quality of life.
Where are we? This city and its leaders have zero desire to change a single thing, and I honestly don’t believe they have the capability. They are incompetent, and more than one is corrupt in a literal sense.
It’s time to stop arguing about divisive politics and start talking about the things that matter to each of us on either end of the spectrum. If you want a New Year’s resolution, try that one. Forget about the distractions and try talking to someone with whom you disagree on most things about the one thing that matters to both of you. You may be surprised. Before you know it, the two of you may be looking at each other and saying to yourselves, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Whether you are liberal, conservative or somewhere in between, we have all just about had it. Uniting against the political machine(s) and the financial interest that control this city is the only way we will be able to bring about any positive change.
If you retaliated against that person, the answer to your question about whether SDPD would respond is: no, they wouldn’t. Based on the description you provided of your city council member it sounds like we both live in the same district. That council member is, to say the least, tone deaf and seems to be teeing off on a 2028 mayoral campaign. I’ve had several of our taxpayer-funded police dispatchers literally at me when I’ve called in an emergency that the emergency wasn’t one because the person screaming at me and threatening me while blocking me in my garage didn’t have a gun. Or at least one I couldn’t see. As if the onus to check in the heat of a crisis were on me. Ridiculous and shameful what we’ve allowed to happen to our city.
San Diego residents voted for more of this so there you go
The State of California and the City of San Diego have allowed developers to build whatever they want, without regard to what the citizens require. We no longer have subdivisions of “starter” homes, 1200 sq ft, that move people out of rentals and into ownership, we get 2400+ sq ft homes that only an existing homeowner can afford. We’ve eliminated downtown housing for the bottom – single room occupancy (SRO) – and put up luxury condos, without replacing the SROs. If we want lots of smaller homes that people can actually afford, jack up the government fees on the McMansions and luxury condos and watch the developers move over to build the now-more-profitable, and higher quantity, small homes. Have the builders build what we need, not what they want, while they make their money.
I’ve got to be honest. Even if I thought housing would solve the issue—which I don’t—it would take decades of building. Definitely more than one decade. How does that help us today? You’re drinking the Kool-Aid.
It’s the zoning, stupid!
Scott Lewis is paid six figures to edit three stories a week, write one column, and name himself “most connected.” He’s the most overprivileged pseudointellect in this town, and he’s a tool for the Jacobs family. Scott, stop sharing your rich boy opinions. You’re a spoiled brat who can’t relate to reality.
Can you handle criticism, you fraud?
unless conjecture
I am convinced those homeless who simply have had a run of bad luck, and are capable of recovering, have been helped by City or State welfare and charitable organizations. Note the words, capable of recovering.
It is my opinion that the remaining homeless we see on the streets today are beyond recovery due to drug or alcohol abuse. These people did not have a simple run of bad luck, their entire lives have been a disaster, and their families do not want them either. Institutionalization and hospice-style euthanasia is the only solution for those who are incapable of caring for themselves. If it is good enough for our aging seniors, it is certainly good enough for them.
Now how we reduce/stop homelessness is another story. It is becoming clear marijuana should never have been legalized as it does lead to long term damage and leads to other drug use. Illicit drugs must be banned and a real war on drugs initiated. Alcohol laws must be strengthened to prevent abuse.
Next, we need to stop the almost weekly/monthly price hikes on something here in California. Our water, electricity and rent prices are outrageous. Democrats own this and should be held accountable.
Tough problems require tough solutions.
So much for the New Years resolution I was hoping for, huh Stevey?
I was in Tennessee last year for a week and saw two guys that might have been homeless…eating dinner at MacDonald’s. If the cause is solely due to individual’s problems why are there 16 times more people with problems in California than Tennessee?
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/homeless-population-by-state
A homeless solution in Texas (and I think in California) is where homeless individuals are paired with ~cabins rather than government $500,000 housing, and is a better solution for the homeless than screaming and freezing in an alley.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=texas+homelss+cabins
Government (regulators) may be a problem with this solution in California???
as long as you feed them and supply clean needles, the problem will solve it self