Report raises concerns about San Diego 'mega shelter' lease

Good Morning, I’m Andrew Bowen, in for Debbie Cruz….it’s Wednesday, July 17th

A new report criticizes the real estate deal behind San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed 1000-bed homeless shelter.More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….######

U-S Customs and Border Protection says illegal border crossings from Mexico fell 29 percent in June.

More than 83 thousand people were arrested last month, that’s down from nearly 118 thousand in May, marking the lowest tally since January 2021.

San Diego was the busiest of the Border Patrol’s nine sectors by number of arrests.

June’s numbers are the first released since President Joe Biden’s executive actions that temporarily suspended asylum.

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The San Diego County Board of Supervisors yesterday approved plans to place up to 70 sleeping cabins in Lemon Grove, near Troy Street and Sweetwater Road.

The cabins will provide temporary housing for individuals experiencing homelessness, as well as other services like case management, 24-hour security and behavioral health support.

The board estimates it’ll take 2 years for the cabins to be ready for residents.

The site will replace a sleeping cabin proposal in Spring Valley that supervisors rejected last month.

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San Diego Pride week is here!

To mark the start of Pride, Saint Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral will hold an interfaith celebration, bringing together diverse faith communities to celebrate unity, love, and acceptance.

After the service the cathedral will be lit up in Pride colors.

The event starts at 7 PM and will be livestreamed on the Cathedral’s YouTube.

And don’t forget … the San Diego Pride Parade is Saturday, July 20 and starts at 10 AM.

For more info about these and other events, go to S-D Pride dot org.

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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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San Diego's independent budget analyst has issued a report that's deeply critical of Mayor Todd Gloria's proposal for a new 1,000-bed homeless shelter.

The report found the city would be paying above-market rent for the warehouse in the Middletown neighborhood.

And budget analyst Charles Modica says the deal came about not from an open and competitive process, but a direct call to mayoral staff from the property's owner.

"It is somewhat reactive. The city essentially relied on someone to approach the city with an offer as opposed to proactively asking for anyone else who might have an appropriate site to approach the city."

The report also notes the city has managed to negotiate better lease terms since the shelter proposal was first announced in april.

The city council is scheduled to vote on the deal on Monday.

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A major decision at the end of June by the Supreme Court has given more power to cities across the country to fine or arrest people for sleeping in public.

Reporter Kori Suzuki says that the ruling is likely to reshape how many cities regulate homelessness, particularly in the South Bay.

Rachel Hayes was in a work meeting when she heard the news. The Supreme Court had issued a ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson, one of the most important cases on homelessness in decades. The court had given cities more power to punish residents for sleeping in public. Overturning years of legal protections for unhoused people. It was a very quiet meeting that day. [...] It weighed heavy on all of our hearts because that was the last thing that protected the homeless. Until just last year, Hayes was unhoused. Living in a tent in downtown San Diego. Last June, she finally moved off the street and into permanent supportive housing in San Ysidro. Now, she works with a local advocacy group for unhoused people. And so hearing the Supreme Court’s decision hurt. Partly because of what it meant to her, as someone who’s lived homelessness. Partly because she worries about what it means for everyone still living on the street. It scares me that [...] To me, it's like a free for for the city. The police now have free reign. In the last few years, a growing number of West Coast cities have started to crack down harder on homelessness. The number of unhoused people has grown steadily across the country since the pandemic began. But unhoused people have also had some legal protection. In 2018, a federal court said cities could NOT punish people for sleeping outside unless they had shelters or other emergency housing available. The whole point of that ruling was to hold, originally, was to hold cities accountable to doing their part. Sebastian Martinez is with Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance. He says those past court rulings held cities to a higher standard. But the Supreme Court’s ruling last month changes all of that. It's a totally new conversation. Due to the Supreme Court's decision, they no longer have to meet that threshold and can comfortably fine ticket or jail people for sleeping outside. The ruling won’t necessarily change much for San Diego itself, which already has one of those controversial anti-camping laws. But it could change things in other parts of the county. Especially in South Bay. Where several cities are still deciding how to regulate homelessness. The biggest impact could happen in Chula Vista. The county’s second-largest city. I have always been in favor of doing an encampment ban. Chula Vista Mayor John McCann. We were waiting to be able to have the Supreme Court ruling before we brought that to city council. It will now come to city council in August. The Supreme Court’s ruling could also change things in neighboring National City. City leaders there recently rejected a first proposal for an encampment ban. Here’s City Councilmember Marcus Bush speaking at that meeting in April. I think we need to talk more about the root causes of this and be more solutions-oriented. And I just don’t think that this approach, this ban is solutions-oriented. Now though, National City officials tell KPBS the ruling will almost certainly change how the city moved forward. Although they say it’s too early to say what that might look like. Before this, both National City and Chula Vista could have been sued if they passed an encampment ban. Because neither of them have enough shelter space. When it comes to the other parts of South Bay, it’s a little less clear what’s going to happen. Since San Ysidro and Nestor are part of the city of San Diego, they probably won’t see any immediate changes. Officials in Imperial Beach say they’re still discussing the ruling. Coronado officials didn’t respond to a request for comment. McCann, in Chula Vista, says he hopes to work together more with other cities. He says the ruling frees up city leaders to make sure there isn’t anything illegal happening in public areas, like drug use. Especially in poorer neighborhoods. We want to make sure that our low income areas are protected the most because that's where the homeless encampments are popping up. Jennifer Nations says she understands, in some ways, why cities are turning to these tactics. Nations is the director of UCSD’s Homelessness Hub. And she says it’s the easiest – and sometimes least expensive – thing for a city to do. Using its police budget to clear people off the street and try to force them into shelters. But Nations says these bans and sweeps can be intensely traumatic for people on the receiving end. And they don’t do anything to address the root causes continuing to push people into homelessness. I don't think elected officials are heartless by any means… But these temporary solutions, they are bandaids on a problem. And so until we can really address the cost of living, deep housing needs, real health and mental health support needs, then we are not moving toward lasting solutions. Back in San Ysidro, Hayes, the recently unhoused advocate, says her experience is an example of what does work: getting people into permanent homes with supportive services. It’s been a hard process at times. But she’s been in her apartment for more than a year now, and it is starting to get easier. And Hayes has a message for the elected officials who are now deciding what to do next. Think with your hearts, not just your heads, your hearts, because these are human people, too. Everyone, she says, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. In Chula Vista, Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.

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A new California law bans “forced outings” of L-G-B-T-Q-plus students to their parents.

Reporter Katie Anastas says it’s the first state law of its kind.

The law prohibits school districts from requiring staff to notify parents about a student’s sexual orientation or gender i dentity. San Diego Democratic Assemblymember Chris Ward introduced the bill. He says it's meant to protect students’ privacy and safety. We’ve heard an immense amount of testimony that people who are in an unsupportive home environment, when they are outed before they’re ready to have that conversation, that it’s harmful to their mental health, sometimes physically harmful. A 2024 survey from the Trevor Project found that trans and nonbinary youth who felt their schools were gender-affirming reported fewer suicide attempts. The Lakeside Union School District board passed a “parents bill of rights” in May. It requires the district to notify parents about changes in their child’s gender identity. Ward says the new law makes those kinds of policies unenforceable. Lakeside’s school board president did not respond to an interview request. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.

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U-C San Diego is in the midst of a building boom to add more student housing on campus.

But Reporter Alexander Nguyen says more could be added in the next 10 years if the U-C Board of Regents approves a 2-billion-dollar plan.

This fall UCSD will add 13 hundred dorm beds for undergraduates. Next year about 25 hundred more will be added. Campus Planner Robert Clossin says in the past 5 to 7 years 10,000 new beds have been added or are currently under construction. But that’s only enough to house roughly 50% of the 43-thousand or so graduate and undergraduate students on campus. Our target is 65% or thereabouts. Where we can be able to provide a four year housing guarantee for all the students that want to live on campus. So while that's a lot of beds, it's still not quite enough to meet our goals. That’s why UCSD Chancellor Pra-deep Khosla is presenting to the UC Board of Regents on Wednesday a 10-year, 2-billion-dollar plan to build more. If approved … the plan would add 6 thousand more beds in village-style dorms on the eastern edge of campus. The first phase would start in the summer of 20-26 … adding up to 2 thousand more beds. AN/KPBS

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The city of Del Mar is a major stakeholder in SANDAG’s rail relocation project.

On Tuesday the city had its chance to respond to the proposals presented for the coastal rail line.

North County reporter Tania Thorne says the city has more questions than answers.

SANDAG has presented- 3 options. All have an impact on residents and businesses. Ahead of SANDAGs deadline for public comment, the city of Del Mar is getting their say on the plans. Here’s Del Mar mayor David Druker.  Well, the city of Delmar is not going to take a position on which alignment. we wanna make sure is that All of the impacts are studied appropriately…. and we want to make sure that the questions are answered for the Del Mar residents as to what the impact would be of a tunnel under Del Mar. He hopes to continue working with SANDAG, the city of Solana Beach and the fairgrounds to find a route with the least amount of disruption to all. SANDAG has said the routes are not final and could change based on public comments which are open until Friday. TT KPBS News 

That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Join us again tomorrow for the day’s top stories. I’m Andrew Bowen. Thanks for listening and have a great day.