City council is set to vote on Tuesday on a proposal that would ban homeless encampments in many areas across San Diego.
While Mayor Todd Gloria has been garnering support for the proposal, former Mayor Kevin Faulconer says the ordinance falls short.
On Monday, Faulconer and others held a press conference outside the Alpha Project's Bridge Shelter in Barrio Logan to raise their concerns.
"I stand before you this morning to express my deep concern of the proposal that is being put forth at the city council," said Faulconer.
The proposal, called the “unsafe camping ordinance” would ban tent encampments in all public spaces if shelter beds are available. In sensitive areas like parks and near schools and canyons, they would be banned altogether, regardless of shelter capacity.
Faulconer says without the immediate construction of more homeless shelters, the ordinance will be ineffective.
"Bridge shelters such as the one we are at here today…with treatment that is on-site for mental health and substance abuse…that's what works. We need more of them. That's why we're here,” he said.
Faulconer was joined by former San Diego Chief of Police Shelley Zimmerman.
“When a homeless person refuses a shelter bed…which many of them will…there must be intervention and enforcement with a tough love approach,” said Zimmerman.
Zimmerman says her main concern with the ordinance is that by labeling only certain areas as "sensitive,” homeless encampments will simply relocate.
“If this proposal passes as written, this will literally put street against street and neighborhood against neighborhood,” said Zimmerman.
Mayor Todd Gloria has said the ordinance aims to immediately improve the problem in places like schools and parks.
"They have the right and ability to use the parks safely, unfortunately for some communities that's not currently the case,” he said last week.
Gloria has further explained that the ordinance also comes with a companion item: the creation of two new safe sleeping sites at the edge of Balboa Park where people can legally and safely sleep in tents. He says the program will provide bathrooms, security and other services to help individuals end their homelessness.
In response to Faulconer's concerns about the proposed ordinance, a spokesperson for Gloria, Dave Rolland, provided a statement to 10News:
“Mayor Gloria has done far more to address homelessness than anyone in our region’s history – including increasing shelter capacity by 70%, significantly expanding the Safe Parking program and the creation two safe sleeping sites for hundreds of people to camp legally and safely to go along with a prohibition on tent encampments. Our new comprehensive shelter strategy, which Mayor Gloria is bringing forward tomorrow before the City Council, lays out our plans for the short, medium and long term and demonstrates the diligence and intensity of the City’s efforts to address the crisis.”
