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S1: A joyful resolution to the case that inspired the creation of the California Innocence Project. And a U.S. boon for Bollywood. Indian films capture a U.S. audience. That's ahead on Midday Edition. The Labor Day weekend is traditionally the point where campaigning heats up for the November elections , and the city of San Diego has several big ballot measures coming up , including a proposed fee for trash pickup and removing the 30 foot height limit for redevelopment in the Midway District. And this month , the city council will decide if they agree with Mayor Gloria's pick of the Midway Rising proposal for that sports arena development. Mayor Todd Gloria joins us once again to talk about those issues and give us an update on the city's homeless outreach efforts. And Mayor Gloria , welcome to the program.
S1: This city got the bad news from the point in time homeless count earlier this year that despite new city outreach and shelter programs , the number of unsheltered homeless people had increased in San Diego.
S2: Every city is dealing with this , including San Diego. I think what's different is how we're choosing to react. Today , I shared in my monthly media briefing the results of our intensified outreach efforts across the city. What we've been able to do in the last year , doing twice a month concentrated efforts is serve over 1700 unsheltered San Diegans. Maureen , did you put it in some context ? The city previously just performed these kinds of task once a year. As I mentioned , we're doing it twice a month. And this is in addition to our daily outreach efforts. These outreach is critical because this is how we overcome the trust issues that often cause people to decline shelter services. That outreach leads to shelter , and then it results in permanent housing placements. Our city has placed over 700 individuals into permanent housing solutions through a result of this housing shelter help outreach approach. And we have to continue doing this work. What I'm challenged by as mayor is the lack of affordable housing , the increasing numbers of mental health issues , specifically addiction issues. And we just have to continue working as hard as we are. What we would benefit from is additional efforts by other regional cities and other communities that have problems as big as ours. While our number was increased. Other cities in the county saw significantly higher increases in their homelessness. And May those folks might find themselves in the city of San Diego , taking up shelter placements here in our city. Every city has to do their part. And we had a meeting earlier in the summertime with other fellow mayors , encouraging them to do their part , too.
S2: I want them to understand that generally our libraries and our rec centers , they are open now and we encourage people to go there. But particularly for our unsheltered population , this is a perfect reason to accept a shelter placement. The streets are not good any day of the week. They're particularly bad during a heat wave like this. And so these cool zones that we have are wonderful. The shelters are even better. And then beyond that , Maureen , what we've asked city staff to do is as we perform our outreach efforts , some of our cleaning efforts that we're providing bottles of water directions to the call zones , we recognize that this impacts really all of us. But there's an acute impact on those who are not able to take shelter. But again , I would plead with those individuals , move to a call zone , accept shelter assistance , get off the streets. It's not a safe place to be.
S1: Now , you recently sent out a press release praising the passage of Governor Newsom's care court proposal. And that , of course , could require some homeless people to get mental health treatment.
S2: Many of your listeners probably get very frustrated seeing people who are obviously extremely mentally ill acting out in public and nothing seems to be done about them. I mean , that's not for want of trying. Many of these individuals interact daily about multiple times a day with police officers , the firefighters , the paramedics , and with homeless outreach workers. But under our current system , if they decline those services , that is their right. And they can continue to be in the public without getting care. And that really results in extreme risk to their well-being as well. Extreme cost to taxpayers. CARE Court is designed to focus on what we believe is roughly the 12,000 most severe in our state. Folks who have a significant mental illness , often substantial substance use problems , but who currently decline services. And you make mention of the requirement for them to accept services. The CARE Court also creates a requirement on those of us in government to serve. So it's not enough to say we tried. We're not going to prioritize them. Instead , what it says specifically to counties is they must prioritize the severely mentally ill. This is a game changer. This is a paradigm shift , and this has the potential to be able to take those roughly 12,000 I've talked about before , the most severe of severe cases and get them into care.
S1: Now , speaking of housing. The City Council will be voting soon on which of three proposals is right for the sports arena redevelopment. And your choice is the Midway Rising plan. I believe it's because it includes the most affordable housing units. But KPBS metro reporter Andrew Bowen pointed out to me that the city required each proposal to include a new or renovated sports arena stadium at the site.
S2: Well , the fact is that San Diego is a major American city , and we do need a venue like our sports arena. The problem is our current sports arena is outdated and needs replacement. We're seen as a solution of multiple problems. So in the Midway Rising proposal , not only does it have the most amount of housing and the most amount of affordable housing , but also has the largest arena absent this arena redevelopment. We might not be talking about even doing anything on that site , but what we've been able to do is to solicit global interest in these properties. We had many incredibly well-qualified , thoughtful proposals , but at the end of the day , Midway Rising provides what is my priority the most amount of new housing , over 4000 units , half of which more than half of which are for low and middle income San Diegans. But it also achieves that goal of having a new arena , which is important for our local economy. This is going to create thousands of jobs , tons of economic opportunities and frankly , arts and cultural opportunities for San Diegans to enjoy.
S2: Well , these are different venues , right ? That venue is owned by the state of California for the purposes of SDSU. And you have other outdoor activities , great things like the San Diego Wave and others will be there. But this isn't an indoor opportunity , but we don't have an indoor venue of this size and the size is important , right ? The other proposals had smaller venues that I don't believe will be able to attract the kinds of opportunities that we'd like to have in our city. But the fact is , is that we have long had a stadium and a sports arena. Both of them have been successful. We have a new stadium. It is also time to have a new arena. This proposal will deliver that for San Diego.
S2: I think that San Diegans are understandably frustrated by a current trash collection system. It's one that is very disjointed. You have multiple providers in the same community , different level of service. Frankly , Maureen , maybe your listeners can relate to this , that trash cans get broken and busted and then folks have to pay to actually replace them. You know , this current system is outdated. It reflects what San Diego was 100 years ago , not what it is today. This measure does not implement a fee , but it does allow the council and the community to start dialogue on what we would like to see , how we would like this to operate in the 21st century. I think our obligations around recycling and green waste and composting really means that we have to engage in this conversation , and I'm hopeful that we can do that. At the end of the day. Maureen , I believe that we can create a better situation with better services , higher levels of service that will make citizens lives easier , not the least of which is not having to deal with this current mess when it comes to replacing trash cans.
S1: Now , the Voice of San Diego points out a confusing situation that's developed over sandbags , regional transportation plan that's been submitted to the state Air Resources Board. It includes a plan to introduce a road user fee. But after voting for the plan that included the fee , you said you opposed the fee and asked staff to come up with something better. But the fee is in the plan and sandbags. Executive Director is apparently moving forward with developing a pricing structure.
S2: I am opposed to the road usage charge for the San Diego region because I believe it's unnecessary and ineffective. The confusion stems from a sequencing of issues. We understood that we were pressed to adopt a regional transportation plan on a timeline to preserve access to state and federal funds. We completed that process and then immediately provided direction to SANDAG staff to set about amending that same plan to remove the road usage charge that has been directed to staff on multiple occasions with strong votes of the Board of directors. And while there may be confusion of how we've gotten to this date , there is no confusion about the will of the board , which is to amend the RTP to remove the road usage charge. This direction to staff has been crystal clear. This is not their call. It is the call of the Senate that board and we are resolute in asking for this to be removed and to. Make sure that we're acting in other parts of the plan which are implementable over the timeframe of this current RTP.
S1: Local water managers say San Diego County is mostly protected from the drought that's squeezing water supplies in California and the western United States. But KPBS environment reporter Eric Anderson says the region is not immune to the megadrought punishing the West.
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