Pro housing policies and the presidential election
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, August 30th.>>>>
The impact of pro housing policies on the presidential election.
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….######
A 13-month-old baby is the fourth person in the county this year to contract measles.
County health officials say the child was not vaccinated and recently traveled overseas.
County health officials are warning that people may have been exposed to measles at Rady Grossmont Pediatric Unit in La Mesa on August 20th, or at Rady Children’s Emergency Department and Inpatient Unit 4 East on Sunday and Monday.
Measles symptoms develop one to three weeks after exposure and include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a red rash.
Before this year, the last confirmed measles case in the county was in 20-19.
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It’s going to be a sunny long weekend in San Diego.
The National Weather Service says we can expect warmer than average temperatures for this time of year.
Today (Friday) and through the holiday weekend temperatures in the inland areas will be in the 80s, by the coast and in the mountains, temps will be in the high 70s, and in the deserts, it’s expected to reach 110 degrees.
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All public county offices, public health clinics, family resource centers, libraries and animal shelters will be closed Monday for Labor Day.
But county parks, campgrounds and neighborhood day-use parks will be open.
Essential services, including law enforcement and emergency animal control response, will be available through the holiday.
All county offices will resume normal business hours on Tuesday.
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From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
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Local housing politics have found their way into the race for president.
Metro reporter Andrew Bowen says it reflects a shift in the democratic party to embrace the term YIMBY.
YIMBYSFORHARRIS 1 (ab) 1:18 soq
AB: YIMBY stands for Yes In My Backyard, a slogan championed by activists who believe building a lot more housing is key to making it less expensive. Thousands of supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris joined a nationwide YIMBYs for Harris Zoom call this week. Congressman Scott Peters was among the speakers. SP: So I'm excited to work with the Harris Walz administration to make this vision a reality, pass policies like my Building More Housing Near Transit Act, which would increase supply in transit-oriented neighborhoods, boost public transit ridership and get cars off the road. AB: Housing policies like zoning and density limits have long been the concern of city governments. But Harris says the federal government, too, should push for faster approvals of housing. Jordan Latchford is president of the YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County. She says Democrats increasingly see building more housing as a position that wins elections. JL: Both in San Diego, at the state level, federal level, those that are pushing pro-housing policies have been successful. And I think it really demonstrates that the more someone is supportive of housing in their communities and their neighborhoods, the more likely they are to do well. AB: Donald Trump has boasted of his efforts to block affordable housing in suburban communities, saying it would help keep criminals out of the neighborhood. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
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State law limits how much landlords can raise the rent on most tenants.
In the county, increases cannot exceed 8-point-6 percent.
But what happens when they do?
i-newsource reporter Cody Dulaney has this story about tenants who have few resources available to fight back.
RENTFOLO 1 (3:47) "...reporter Cody Dulaney."
Kendra Sherman is sitting at her kitchen table in El Cajon, thumbing through the notices she’s received over the years telling her that the rent was going up. SHERMAN: “... this one’s from $1,525. I mean, I’ve been here 10 years, it’s been going up and up and up.” But these increases were predictable. That changed when her apartment building was sold last year. And when it came time to renew her lease this summer, the new landlord wanted to raise the rent more than $300 a month. A 14% increase; that’s nearly twice as high as state law allows. So, Kendra talked to her landlord. SHERMAN: “I was trying to find out, like, why is it so high?” And he said … SHERMAN: “... because your building is below market.” And that’s pretty much where it ended. The new lease took effect this month and she paid the new rent. SHERMAN: “It felt horrible, but I have to set it to the side because of my anxiety. … Because now I know it’s going to be more credit cards, so that’s how I’m going to have to bounce everything around into another credit card.” She felt helpless and didn’t know where to turn. SHERMAN: “It’s not like I’m going to call the police or something. It’s like who do I contact? You know, who can I tell this to? Her landlord, Eddy Wibowo, didn’t want to participate in an interview. But Kendra is not alone. State law sets a cap on rent increases. With some exceptions, the cap in San Diego County this year is 8.6% — meaning rent increases cannot exceed that amount. But attorneys and advocates say it happens too often. inewsource reporting over the past couple years has uncovered tenants at all income levels facing rent increases that exceed the cap set by state law. Some tenants are lucky enough to have help paying rent with federal assistance, but inewsource revealed even the backing of a government agency wasn’t enough to protect low-income tenants from excessive rent increases. Here’s Wendy Patrick in an interview in December 2022. After a change in ownership, her new landlord also raised the rent $400 a month. The 33% increase was approved by her local housing authority. PATRICK: “I was in shock for probably almost a month. And then I started looking into it because I thought, this isn’t right. That’s an incredible amount, there’s no way.” Policies have since changed and now all six public housing authorities in San Diego County say they are ensuring rent increases follow state law. That means nearly 30,000 low-income families across the region have been promised the same protections that are guaranteed to other tenants. But this problem is widespread, affecting tenants like Kendra who don’t have any form of rental assistance or the backing of a government agency tasked with protecting her. And in San Diego County, the only recourse for tenants who feel they have been wronged is to hire an attorney. That’s impossible for tenants like Kendra, who say they’re struggling to get by. SHERMAN: “I mean, I looked at moving and right now that just wouldn’t be feasible for me. You know, I couldn’t even save any money right now to move.” For now, Kendra said she has been working with someone from the Legal Aid Society, one of the few resources in San Diego County that offers free legal assistance. The nonprofit has in recent years put a focus on advising tenants about rent increases. Gil Vera is the deputy director with Legal Aid. VERA: “So, we're trying to identify if we can intervene early and advise you about an illegal rent increase, then we might prevent an eviction, or we might prevent someone from moving when they don't have to.” If you’d like to know more about our reporting on rent increases, go to inewsource dot O-R-G. For KPBS, I’m inewsource investigative reporter Cody Dulaney.
TAG: i-newsource is an independently funded, nonprofit partner of KPBS.
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A San Diego nonprofit furnishes homes for people emerging from homelessness.
Reporter Katie Anastas says new research from UC-SD shows the program led to greater mental, emotional and physical health.
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When Jexsi Grey left the Air Force, he wasn’t sure what to do next. He became homeless and lived in hotel rooms and his car for two years. Once he got an apartment, Humble Design fully furnished it. GREY Now I felt like I had something to protect and to work for even more so. You know, it wasn't just an apartment. This was a home. Researchers surveyed more than 150 Humble Design recipients. Eight out of ten people reported an increased sense of self-worth and security. New beds meant people got better sleep, while dining room tables and living room couches meant they could entertain friends and family. Most survey participants moved into housing in 2021 and 2022, and nearly all of them have stayed in their homes. County-wide, a quarter of people who enter housing return to homelessness within two years. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.
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We have an update on our story from yesterday about the encampment discussion at the Carlsbad City Council meeting this week.
We incorrectly reported that Carlsbad does not have an encampment ban.
A ban was approved by the City Council in 20-21.
The discussion was about updating the ban to reflect the latest U-S Supreme Court ruling, not requiring shelter beds to be available before issuing a citation.
We apologize for the error.
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An Encinitas resident is offering to donate 100-thousand-dollars to the city to build a park.
North County reporter Tania Thorne says the proposed park’s location is also at the heart of a contentious affordable housing debate.
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Glenn Johnson has offered the city $100,000 to establish a park on the lot and name it after his wife, Sally Johnson. I want to do something good for my neighbors. They've been good to me. I've really enjoyed living in Encinitas, Before the city can accept the donations, the parks and rec. department would need to study the feasibility of a park on the 9 acre lot. In June city council discussed an affordable housing development of 30 to 45 units on the same site. No decision was made and the council formed a new task force instead … that will explore locations for affordable housing in Encinitas. One resident suggested accepting the donation would be undemocratic. Council was divided but approved the study of a park also due later this year. TT KPBS News.
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After years of neglect, more than 400-million dollars is now being spent to upgrade and expand the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Reporter John Carroll says yesterday (Thursday), members of San Diego's congressional delegation got a first-hand look at the situation.
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With the smell of sewage in the air, San Diego Representatives Scott Peters, Juan Vargas and Sara Jacobs got to see the plant for themselves. Federal and state officials, including Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma, were along for the tour as well. Peters says the problem is finally getting the attention it needs from all levels of government. “This has taken too long to get fixed, but thankfully we are on a better path today.” Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre says she’s thankful for the repairs and expansion to the treatment plant. But she says a more immediate problem is millions of gallons of sewage flowing daily into the Tijuana River. “The levels of hydrogen sulfide that we are all being exposed to are hundreds of times above the safety levels for humans. Aguirre says she fears even with all the money being spent to solve the problem, a true, lasting solution is still years away. JC, KPBS News.
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Sunday (September 1) has been designated as “Letter-er Appreciation Day,” and arts reporter Beth Accomando wants to share her appreciation for Eisner award-winning letter-er Stan Sakai [Seh-keye].
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Like film editing, comic book lettering can be an invisible art that goes unappreciated. But a good letterer enhances a comic and one of the best is Stan Sakai. STAN SAKAI I love the craft of making comics. I'm one of the very few people in the industry that still do hand lettering. That means physically penciling in the scripted words on the original artwork, and not on a computer. Sakai got into lettering through calligraphy and still relies on that craft when working on his comic about a samurai rabbit Usagi Yojimbo. STAN SAKAI Most of my sound effects for Usagi is done with a brush to denote the Japanese style of brush calligraphy. We have different sound effects, onomatopoeia, where sounds become words like kazum or blam. We try to create lettering that would reflect that where you're trying to reflect the words themselves or the sounds themselves. Celebrate Letterer Appreciation Day this Sunday by taking time to not just read a comic but also to recognize the art of lettering. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is produced by Emilyn Mohebbi and edited by Brooke Ruth. We’d also like to thank editor Megan Burke for helping the podcast team this week. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. The podcast will be back on Tuesday. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and enjoy the long weekend.
