Dear Neighbor,  

We all know that leaving people to live on our streets and sidewalks is not compassionate. And, letting encampments block the public right of way isn’t fair to those who live and work around them. 

One area that has been plagued by encampments is Commercial Street and National Avenue at the boundary of Downtown and Barrio Logan. Right before the Unsafe Camping Ordinance took effect, officers cleared encampments that have long blocked sidewalks there. 

This cleanup shows the end goal: getting people out of unsafe encampments while making sidewalks passable again. 

I’ve said it before: if we have a place for people to go, they may not say “no” to offers of shelter and services. We have space at our Safe Sleeping site at 20th and B, which last night served 127 people. Residents there have access to tents with cots, showers, bathrooms, meals, water and 24-hour security. Clients at the site also work with caseworkers who connect them to services. 

As always, it’s an honor to serve as your Mayor. 

Week One of Unsafe Camping Enforcement Complete

In the weeks leading up to Unsafe Camping Ordinance enforcement, which began last week, outreach teams worked hard to educate people near parks and schools about the new law. Through that process, several people who were unhoused said yes to shelter and services.

Several more people have said yes to the City’s offer of shelter and services after engaging with officers last week during the first few days of Unsafe Camping Ordinance enforcement.

For example, over just the first three days, officers made contact with 30 individuals who were violating the Unsafe Camping Ordinance. Three arrests were made – all of them for outstanding warrants. Two citations were issued, and three people contacted accepted placement into shelter. I will note that one of those three people who accepted shelter did so after being cited for violation of the ordinance.

While major change won’t be immediate, what we’re doing through the Unsafe Camping Ordinance and our other enforcement tools is resetting expectations about what type of behavior is allowed on our public streets and sidewalks.

Those expectations and norms had been clouded during the pandemic and the City’s emergency response to it. But we are now actively reasserting those expectations and being very clear that we are not a city for encampments. We are not a city where people can live in filth. We are not a city where people will be left outside in unsafe encampments.

There will be bumps along the road and we won’t change everyone’s behavior overnight; this is difficult work, and our outreach workers and SDPD officers are out there every single day dealing with people who have very specific individual needs. But as we encounter hurdles and consider feedback from the folks we’re trying to serve, we will continue to be dynamic, responsive and willing to change things as we go to get the job done.

Housing Action Package Will Spur Creation of More Homes More People Can Afford  

The majority of my Housing Action Package 2.0 was approved unanimously by the San Diego Planning Commission and will now head to the Land Use and Housing Committee then the full City Council for the final vote this fall.

If approved, these pro-housing policy reforms will help put a sizeable dent in our housing crisis, which is separating families, contributing to homelessness and endangering our city’s economic future.

The package of policies, dubbed HAP 2.0, will allow the construction of more new homes near transit; provide protections to existing residents; increase the supply of land available for new homes; and spur the building of different types of housing that San Diegans of all income levels can afford.  

Many proposals are focused on protecting San Diegans who need it most, including people experiencing homelessness, students and seniors.

This Housing Action Package would add powerful new tools to the toolbox, including:

• Affordable homes for those at risk of homelessness 
• Fighting for environmental justice in communities of concern 
• Addressing college student home insecurity 
• Preventing displacement and preserving existing affordable homes 
• Homes for seniors and people with disabilities 
• Putting all government land to good use 
• Turning empty strip malls and parking lots into homes 
• Flexible parking requirements
• Building family homes in places with good schools and jobs 

While advancing this package of reforms, the Planning Commission did not advance Senate Bill 10, the state law passed in 2021 that allows for the development of townhomes, rowhomes, small-scale multiple-home buildings and other “missing middle” home types in transit-rich areas. 

I look forward to presenting the policies that did advance to the Land Use and Housing Committee on Sept. 21 and then the full City Council later this fall.

Smart Streetlights Get the Green Light  

As part of our efforts to keep our community safe, the City Council has approved the San Diego Police Department’s proposal to use Smart Street Lights and Automated License Plate Readers. 

These tools have been extremely effective in investigations and have helped our police identify and catch hundreds of suspects involved in serious crimes. Equally as important, they’ve also helped exonerate people who’ve been wrongfully accused. 

Now that these modern public safety tools have been officially approved, they'll soon be back in action in hundreds of locations across San Diego, helping San Diego remain one of the safest big cities in the country. 

Downtown Streetlights Fixed  

More than 700 broken and vandalized streetlights in Downtown have been repaired ahead of schedule as part of a collaborative effort between the City of San Diego and the Downtown San Diego Partnership.

The project, launched in May, focused on East Village and Gaslamp Quarter using data-driven analysis to prioritize repairs by geographical location in Downtown.

In addition to 710 streetlight repairs, crews installed 129 anti-theft covers to prevent future outages, as many of the broken lights were caused by vandals who broke into the light poles and damaged or removed the wiring.

Functioning streetlights are crucial for safe, vibrant and thriving communities. We're continuing to repair a big backlog of streetlights across the city — and we will get it done.

If you have nonfunctioning streetlights in your neighborhood, make sure City crews are aware by submitting a report via our Get it Done app so we can come out and fix them.