THE SUFFERING ON THE STREET HAS TO STOP IN SAN DIEGO

In January 2020, 4,887 persons were identified as experiencing homelessness in the city of San Diego during the annual Point-in-time Count. Meanwhile, the city continues to be one of the least affordable metro areas in the country to obtain housing, putting thousands more at risk of falling into homelessness particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be incumbent on our next cohort of elected leaders at City Hall to find solutions to relieve that suffering in order to make San

Diego a better place in 2021 and beyond.

The good news is that the city has adopted a well-reasoned plan to connect our unsheltered neighbors to housing, the Community Action Plan on Homelessness. The plan aims to deliver thousands of supportive housing units to uplift people experiencing homelessness, along with focused outreach services. It would also fund rental assistance to keep people on the brink of homelessness housed and safe. The difficulty lies in the cost — an estimated $1.9 billion over the next decade, for which no new dedicated city funding source has been identified.

Our new City Council will need strong leadership that has traditionally come from the District 3 councilmember to make funding the Community Action Plan its top legislative priority. That will mean taking bold stands to support new revenue sources. And when those materialize, it will mean building coalitions in our neigh

Olsen was a candidate for San Diego City Council District 3 in the 2020 primary election.