San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
DATA: 20% OF REGION’S HOMELESS LIVE IN EAST COUNTY
A fifth of San Diego County’s homeless population now lives in East County, a notable increase and a challenge for local leaders debating how best to respond.
There were nearly 1,700 people without homes near the start of the year, according to a tally released Thursday by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.
Two years ago, fewer than 1,100 people were counted, making up only about 14 percent of the county’s total.
In comparison, the share of homeless people in North and South Counties barely changed.
City officials, homeless advocates and people living on the street cited a range of possible factors, including rising housing costs, the end of a pandemic-era hotel voucher program and the spread of drug addiction.
“I lost everything I owned,” said Daniel Beas, who until recently lived in the Magnolia Avenue tent camp near the border of El Cajon. He said his RV with all his possessions was impounded about a year ago for a parking violation, putting him on the street until a voucher helped him into a hotel two weeks ago.
Thursday’s estimate only offers a snapshot of a single day, in this case a Thursday in February, meaning the tally is likely an undercount. The numbers include both people on the street and those in shelters or transitional housing.
El Cajon and Santee
Only two cities had totals in the triple digits or higher.
El Cajon, East County’s largest city, logged the highest number by far with more than 1,300 people, according to the data.
The vast majority were in some form of shelter.
City Manager Graham Mitchell said he felt the report should have provided more detail about where people were specifically staying.
El Cajon did see a decrease in the number of people on the street, according to the data. While more than 300 were unsheltered before the pandemic, 185 were counted earlier this year.
City leaders recently threw their support behind a proposed court system that could more easily mandate mental healthcare.
“Some people unfortunately need to be forced into treatment,” said Ivan Andujar, acting CEO of the East County Transitional Living Center in El Cajon. “The ‘housing first’ model isn’t the solution.”
The facility hosts around 400 people a day between three campuses, he said. While there is a waiting list for families, Andujar said there are open beds for single men and women.
More singles are showing up as pandemic-era government aid winds down, he added.
Santee had nearly 150 people total, about a third of whom did not have shelter.
That city’s street population almost doubled since the last count, from 25 to 48.
City Councilmembers have repeatedly raised concerns that people living by the river may accidentally ignite the underbrush when they light fires at night. Sheriff’s Department Capt. Michael Mcneill said there had not been any recent blazes, but added that deputies were in regular contact with both homeless people and the fire department.
Councilmember Laura Koval added that the 99 people listed as living in Santee shelters may be an inaccurate figure. The nonprofit Crisis House has its headquarters in the city, so their clients may be counted locally even if they’re living elsewhere, she said.
An increase in one city’s homeless population could just mean people were pressured to leave a neighboring town, said Tim Schneider, who’s lived on the streets on and off for decades and is an activist affiliated with the Sacramento Homeless Union.
That once happened to him, he said. “It’s an endless cycle.”
It didn’t help that it could take years to find housing through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, he said. Schneider said he is currently on a waiting list.
La Mesa and Lemon Grove
Other East County cities logged fewer than 100 people.
La Mesa had 53. While most were unsheltered, the tally did note a decrease in people on the streets compared to the previous count.
La Mesa’s mayor credited the dip to the “good work” of the city’s Homeless Outreach and Mobile Engagement Team, or HOME team.
“The City will continue to explore every option to help the homeless become sheltered,” Mayor Mark Arapostathis said in a statement.
City Councilmember Laura Lothian said local businesses were nonetheless hurting.
About a dozen recently told her they had to spend extra money on security and to clean areas where people had defecated.
Part of the problem was La Mesa offered too many services to people, Lothian said in an interview.
“The word on the streets are gonna be, ‘La Mesa is a nice place to be homeless,” she said.
Lothian’s colleagues recently rejected her proposal to explore moving people to a former U.S. military barracks in Campo, more than 40 miles outside the city.
The task force’s report tallied 31 people in Lemon Grove. All were unsheltered. The number was an increase from two years ago.
“We’re doing everything that we can,” Mayor Racquel Vasquez said in an interview. The city had set aside a $100,000 grant for outreach and workers had logged hundreds of conversations with people trying to connect them with services and housing, officials said.
Vasquez also praised a proposed agreement between East County cities to increase the number of available beds.
The memorandum of understanding still needs to be voted on in Lemon Grove. While it has been approved by El Cajon and La Mesa, it does not have a timeline for when sites must be found or include specific amounts cities must spend.
Unincorporated towns
Lakeside’s and Spring Valley’s homeless populations were all unsheltered.
Lakeside logged 63 people, an increase from the previous tally.
Some may have been forced outside because rules governing hotel stays were sometimes arbitrarily enforced, according to Judy Scheuer, who runs the local nonprofit Hope for the Homeless Lakeside. She also worried that funding for emergency shelters was running out as the most serious phase of the pandemic appears to be over.
Spring Valley had 60 homeless people, a decrease from two years ago, according to the data.
Alpine logged only a single person in both tallies.