Morning Report: Surge in San Diego’s New Homelessness Outpaces Housing Efforts

There’s a stark truth behind San Diego’s increasingly visible homelessness crisis: Hundreds of homeless residents move into homes each month, but the service system can’t keep up with San Diego’s influx of homeless people.

New data from the Regional Homelessness Task Force, a county-wide group that coordinates the local homelessness response, shows that in the past 12 months, 11,861 people who were previously homeless found homes and 15,327 became homeless for the first time.

Simply put, on average, there were 10 people for every 13 homeless people, reports Lisa Halverstadt.

The disconnect explains the region’s lack of apparent progress in addressing the crisis, despite increased local investment in shelters and other services.

“This system for responding to the homeless crisis is not built for this number,” said Task Force CEO Tamera Kohler.

You can read the whole thing here.

Highly related: The surge in the number of new homeless people has inspired renewed discussion about how San Diego can better prevent homelessness, including new pilot programs in cities and counties to help people keep their homes.

Today, Nathan Fletcher, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, will ask other supervisors to support his proposal to direct county staff to create a homelessness prevention program that uses data to predict a person’s likelihood of becoming homeless and directs resources accordingly.

More details – in “Tribune Soyuz”. Details of Fletcher’s performancewhich is modeled after Los Angeles County’s highly touted multi-agency program that focuses on residents most at risk of losing their homes.

Vista City Manager Resigns Over New City Council Policy

Patrick Johnson, Vista’s city manager for 11 years, resigned Oct. 13 over a new council policy that limits his hiring authority.

The council approved a measure last month that requires the city manager to get the approval of a majority of the city council before hiring department heads. For the past 11 years, Johnson has had full authority to hire and appoint department heads.

Johnson tendered his resignation a day before the new policy took effect, saying the policy fundamentally changed his position and that he could no longer continue in the position because of it.

Today, the City Executive Committee will discuss the agreement on separation at a closed meeting and appoint Acting President at an open meeting.

Read the full shop here.

In other news

• In a new op-ed for the Voice of San Diego, Corey Gustafson, the candidate running against Rep. Scott Peters, advocates why Congress must approve the money transfer to the International Commission on Boundaries and Waters to solve the problem of the sewage system, due to which local beaches are often closed.
• State test results for students in San Diego County and statewide decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to spring 2022 results released by the state on Monday. In San Diego County, the number of students who passed the English test decreased by 4 percent and the number of students who passed the math test decreased by 6 percent compared to 2019. (Union-Tribune)
• In September, there was a spike in migrant apprehensions in San Diego County and along the southern border. According to Customs and Border Protection, border agents apprehended 15,898 migrants in San Diego County last month, more than a thousand more than in August. (CBS 8)
• ICYMI: Election season is upon us, and this year we’ve gathered our in-depth reporting, news analysis, podcast episodes, and live debates all in one place. Visit the San Diego Election Center to get the necessary information before voting.

The morning report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, Tigist Lane and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. He edited it Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.