SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Middletown community is not letting up. For six months they've been pushing the city to consider alternative options to this proposed 1,000 bed homeless shelter at Kettner and Vine.
"It's way too expensive, it can't accommodate a thousand people, there will be lives jeopardized," said Patty Ducey-Brooks, who lives nearby.
"To me, it's the big box Walmart solution to it. It's impersonal it will fail. I do not support it," said Ed Moore, who lives in Middletown.
Despite pushback the city and the mayor have continued forward. Leaders say they're in the middle of lease negotiations for the site, which could cost around $26 million a year to operate. ABC10News was there in April when Mayor Todd Gloria announced the project.
"This is better, it's safer, more hygienic," Gloria said.
I first met Ed Moore in June, when he joined protests against it. On Wednesday, I followed through with the Ed and Patty, showing them a clip of the ABC10News mayoral debate with each candidate's plans to address homelessness in San Diego.
“Too many people will go to sleep on our streets tonight. We have to be able to offer them a bed. The way to do that is expand our shelter capacity,” Gloria said.
"Identify those people who are close to that eviction, suffering financially, help them out with a couple hundred bucks," said Larry Turner, a candidate for mayor.
"I was very disappointed that Gloria continues to see this as a good location for a homeless facility to house a thousand people," Ducey-Brooks said.
A recent ABC10News-Union Tribune poll found that 71% of San Diegans support the Kettner and Vine shelter.
"Are you worried the city will listen to them and not this community?"
"This is the first time I'm hearing these figures and they don't catch me by surprise," Moore said. "When it comes down to right and wrong and what works and what doesn't, we have that argument on our side."
"I think the public at large is misinformed, they don't understand the issues of the homeless population."
While no decision has been made on the site Moore and Ducey-Brooks believe their protests have made an impact. City council is discussing more than a dozen other shelter locations this week.
