A nonprofit community organization Wednesday criticized the San Diego City Council's passage of an ordinance that will prohibit tent encampments in all public spaces throughout the city if shelter beds are available.
After hearing hours of public comment, the council voted 5-4 late Tuesday in favor of the Unsafe Camping Ordinance. Mayor Todd Gloria pushed hard for the ordinance, introduced by Councilman Stephen Whitburn, including asking the public to sign a petition.
The proposal would also ban tent encampments at all times in certain sensitive areas — parks, canyons and near schools, transit stations and homeless shelters — regardless of shelter capacity.
Alliance San Diego called the decision "short-sided," and claimed it will "criminalize" unsheltered people.
"Let's be clear: The ban penalizes the condition of poverty and does nothing to help people get back on their feet," Alliance officials said.
"We applaud the council members — Sean Elo-Rivera, Monica Montgomery, Kent Lee and Vivan Moreno — who understood the information before them, heard the voices of housing experts and unsheltered community members, and voted against the ban, because it was not a plan," Alliance officials said. "These council members acted in good governance and centered human dignity, which is what we need from all elected officials."
Alliance officials also said that by ignoring best practices, the city "jeopardizes grant funding for the thing that San Diego needs most — affordable housing."
Along with Whitburn, Council members Jennifer Campbell, Raul Campillo, Joe LaCava and Marni Von Wilpert voted in favor of the ordinance.
"It takes a lot of bravery to do this," Campbell said. "This is a win-win ordinance," she added, because she said homeless people will have access to services while families won't have to navigate around tents on the streets.
Before the vote, Whitburn said he "heard each and every comment," and reminded critics that the council had approved numerous housing projects over the years.
Public debate also included parents concerned for their children and hospitality workers who quit their jobs due to concerns about encampments, he added. Whitburn added that residents didn't hear from people most impacted by encampments — the homeless — because many of them have died after being preyed upon by drug dealers, being hit by a car or physically attacked.
Von Wilpert said that as she recently walked back to City Hall, she passed a coffee shop where the barista was upset after an assumed homeless man exposed himself to her.
"I don't think this problem will be solved by blaming one side or another," Von Wilpert added. "I don't have a problem with people living on our streets, but I do have a problem with people dying on our streets."
Explaining his no vote, Lee said the ordinance went far beyond seeking to address unsafe camping, and could put the city in a precarious legal position.
"This makes a promise to the public that we can never deliver," Lee added. "We need to be careful about stigmatizing a population that is extremely vulnerable."
Moreno, who suggested continuing a vote on the ordinance until September, said she was concerned about whether police officers would have the necessary resources to enforce any new policy. She said her constituents believe the number of homeless "would never be tolerated in other parts of this city — and they're right."
Passing a new law with no real plan "would achieve very little," she added.
Based on the suggestions of three council members, the ordinance was amended to include a working group to monitor how the ordinance is carried out, and specific enforcement for parks, beaches and open space.
Under an amendment by Von Wilpert, the ordinance won't take effect until 30 days after the first safe sleeping lot is opened on 20th and B streets, to allow non-law enforcement social workers to be the first contact with homeless people. In a statement after the vote, Gloria thanked the five members who supported it.
Many speakers at Tuesday's meeting were opposed to the proposed ordinance, saying it was cruel and wouldn't solve the bigger problem.
Barbara Pinto, a member of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, compared the proposal "to pouring water on a drowning man."
Pinto urged the council to focus on providing more affordable housing. Others suggested the council either table the proposal or scrap the plan altogether and craft a new one.
Gloria said it was reasonable to ask that sidewalks are passable, that public parks are safe and accessible, and that natural canyons aren't under a constant wildfire threat.
"This ordinance is a call to action, and a call to uphold the principals of compassion, fairness and personal responsibility," he added.
A woman who identified herself as a member of the Coastal Coalition said failing to support this ordinance is a failure to protect the community and homeless people.
"This ordinance is the key to success for both sides," she said. "Pass it, staff it, fund it, enforce it."
Gloria said earlier that encampments "pose an immediate threat to public health and safety, for both the people living in them and people living, working or going to school around them."
"Those living in encampments are in constant danger of disease spread amid unsanitary conditions, violence and exploitation by dealers of deadly drugs," he added. "Encampments also frequently ignite fires that put the public and our first responders at great risk."
Large portions of downtown San Diego, Mission Beach, Old Town and Midway would be off-limits under the proposal. Gloria has proposed several in- city campsites to accommodate some people experiencing homelessness.
"This common-sense ordinance will be paired with a robust shelter strategy, which includes two new Safe Sleeping sites where more than 500 people stay in tents in secure areas with access to hygiene and services that will help them get on the path to permanent housing," Gloria said.
"Letting people continue to live in squalor on our sidewalks is not showing compassion; it's showing indifference. We won't let that be the case in our city."
The Safe Sleeping Program sites would be located in Balboa Park at the 20th and B Street lot and Parking Lot O. The program would also provide bathrooms, security and other services for unsheltered individuals. Gloria said he expects one of the sites to open soon after the vote and another in the fall.
A report released last week by the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst said the details of the ordinance, how it will be funded and enforced, remain a mystery.
"Long-term fiscal impacts associated with ordinance implementation remain largely unknown; while (the San Diego Police Department) and (Environmental Services Department) indicate that they may be able to absorb potential costs initially, council should monitor both operational impacts and potential costs during implementation of the ordinance if enacted," the report said.
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KPBS Midday Edition looks at how a controversial new policy could have a major impact on the issue locally. -
The San Diego City Council passed the Unsafe Camping Ordinance after a marathon session on Tuesday. The public camping ban is the latest effort city of San Diego leaders have taken on the rise in homelessness in the city.
