It was a big deal when they opened it. But the future of a Midway District homeless shelter that both the city and the county financially supported is uncertain after Mayor Todd Gloria released his revised budget Wednesday.
Gloria opted against adding back nearly $5 million in operating cash for the Alpha Project shelter that serves many residents with behavioral health conditions. He is demanding the county pay for it. He says the county has failed to invest adequately in treatment and beds.
The other side: County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, meanwhile, says she’s doing all she can to try to resurrect an original partnership that called for contributions from the city, county and nonprofit Lucky Duck Foundation. The Board of Supervisors will discuss it next week.
Shelter resident Richard Daniels, 68, said he’s “teetering on that uncertainty of it all,” wondering whether he’ll wake up one day and lose the shelter and support he’s been so grateful for in recent months. City officials have promised to connect residents like Daniels with other shelter options or housing if the shelter must close but Daniels and others remain scared – and unsure who to believe.
Read Lisa Halverstadt’s story about the shelter’s uncertain future.
Gloria Revises Budget; Most Cuts Stay
A month of packed council meetings and social media outcry over proposed budget cuts mostly failed to move Mayor Todd Gloria, who presented a revised budget Wednesday with only minor tweaks from last month’s draft.
The new version rolled back some public safety cuts and partly restored the city’s animal services contract with the Humane Society. Cuts to library hours and parks and recreation center hours, however, remain.
“We are maintaining library services in every neighborhood, we are maintaining recreation center services in every neighborhood, just often with fewer hours,” Gloria said.
Cop budget increase: The mayor’s initial budget had proposed increasing police funding by $29 million. Most of that money, however, went to officer pay raises, officials said. While increasing the overall police budget, the initial proposal also included $7 million in operational cuts. Gloria announced some of those cuts would be restored.
“Even with a nearly $30 million increase to our police department budget and a nearly over $20 million increase to our fire department budget, we’re not keeping up with costs,” Gloria said.
What now: The budget’s fate in the hands of the City Council, who will vote on any adjustments before approving a final budget in June.
Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera called the mayor’s cuts “irresponsible and cruel” and vowed to fight them moving forward.
The Learning Curve: Rough Days in Grossmont
Grossmont Union High School District had a rough week.
Board members voted to finalize 61 layoffs that had been in the offing for weeks. Librarians, teachers and support staff will be among those getting the ax.
A high-level administrator was also forced to leave the district — for the second time. Jerry Hobbs, a former teacher, previously resigned after being investigated for misconduct. Then suddenly, years later, he became the district’s chief of staff.
Our Jakob McWhinney broke the big story that Hobbs had taken part in an investigation that helped to clear his own name — and ultimately get him rehired — at the district. (That happened because Hobbs was a paralegal at a law firm that investigated his former boss at the district.)
Board members voted unanimously to approve a resignation settlement with Hobbs that allowed him to walk away with roughly a year’s pay.
Read the full Learning Curve here.
In Other News
- Seven projects across San Diego were awarded with up to $50 million to expand behavioral health housing and treatment options following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement to California cities to promptly address homelessness. (KPBS)
- Alex Morgan is returning to San Diego Wave FC – not as a player, but as a minority investor. (Reuters)
- The California Attorney General’s office launched a civil rights investigation into conditions at San Diego juvenile halls. (ABC10 News)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, Bella Ross and Will Huntsberry. It was edited by Scott Lewis.