Morning Report: Progress Report on the City’s Safe Sleeping Sites

More than 10 months ago, the city opened the first of two large campgrounds for homeless San Diegans and many have wondered: How many people who moved into those sites later landed a permanent home?

Our Lisa Halverstadt found that at least 82 people have moved from the city’s two Balboa Park campsites into permanent homes. That’s the equivalent of about 10 percent of the hundreds who have left the sites since the first one opened last summer.

How’s that compare? Eighteen percent of people who departed homeless shelters overseen by the city’s housing agency landed permanent homes during a similar period. 

Halverstadt found that this percentage reflects both a brutal housing market and differences between the two approaches.

Some hiccups: A handful of current and former safe sleeping residents – including one who got housing – told Halverstadt they received minimal support from service workers they expected to help them. Their experience speaks to both the unique staffing model for the program and the learning curve the city and providers acknowledge they’ve faced as they ramp up the sites. 

Read the full story here. 

Environment Report: It’s Mud Versus Everything Else in Mission Bay

San Diego’s City Council has a shot at doing something substantive to combat climate change with their vote on Tuesday. The decision before them is whether to restore coastal wetlands which both protect land from sea level rise and sequester planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere.

Tuesday’s vote moves the Mission Bay park’s master plan toward restoring over 100 acres of wetland at the expense of campsites and regional park land.

Less than one percent of Mission Bay’s wetlands remain. The Audubon Society has been at odds with the city and San Diegans that don’t want to give up campsites or other recreational uses for wetlands in the bay’s northeast corner.

Read more in the Environment Report here.

City Council Appoints Next Top Cop

San Diego will get a new police chief next month.

On Monday, the City Council voted 9-0 to appoint Assistant Police Chief Scott Wahl to replace longtime Chief David Nisleit when he retires on June 7.

Refresher: Wahl, a 26-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department, now oversees special projects and legislative affairs, and helped create the police division focused on homelessness in 2018. You can read more about his past work here.

Councilmember Henry Foster III, the sole vote against Wahl’s appointment during an earlier committee review, said Wahl won him over after almost immediately reaching out to schedule a meeting after last month’s vote. Foster said he appreciated Wahl’s acknowledgement that there are needs for operational improvements at the San Diego Police Department, commitment to address bias issues during police stops and promise to working with the city’s Commission on Police Practices.

“I must say you did not shy away from the uncomfortable conversations and the issues that I raised, and I do think that speaks to your character,” Foster told Wahl during Monday’s meeting.

“I won’t let you guys down,” Wahl said Monday before the City Council voted to approve his appointment. “I mean that.”

Not an easy gig: Wahl is preparing to take the helm of a department that has struggled with staffing shortages and surging response times. The department has also faced community concerns over racial disparities in police stops, its surveillance tactics and more.

In Other News

• The City Attorney’s Office said there was no immediate news to report following a second City Council closed-door meeting on a lease proposal for a Middletown warehouse that Mayor Todd Gloria wants to turn into a 1,000-bed shelter. But Gloria said Monday that negotiations “are on track.”
• A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Palomar Health by one of its own board members, Laurie Edwards-Tate. Remember: Edwards-Tate sued the public health care district after she learned she was being investigated and threatened with sanctions for comments she made to Voice about the district’s financial health. The Union-Tribune reports that the judge ruled she did not have enough to pursue the case. 
• A public parking lot in Ocean Beach that drew what officials described as “safety issues” remains closed, but that has become an inconvenience for visitors to the beach and nearby softball fields. (NBC 7) 
• Crews are hard at work to prevent the Del Mar bluffs from collapsing and halting San Diego’s rail lines, but not everyone is on board with the preservation efforts. (Union-Tribune) 
• Efforts are underway to restore the old Mission Hills library. (NBC 7) 
• Pedestrian and bike safety advocates are asking the city of San Diego to fix 15 of the most dangerous intersections. (CBS 8) 

The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, MacKenzie Elmer and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. 

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