SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Mayor Todd Gloria will deliver his fourth State of the City address at the Balboa Theatre on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
It's his last address before the 2024 election, and four people are running against him for the mayor's seat.
ABC 10News looked at some of the promises Gloria made in his speech last year, mainly regarding homelessness and the housing crisis.
In his 2023 speech, Gloria said he would be partnering with council leaders to tackle the issue and get housing plans passed to build more homes in 2023.
"I have also worked with the housing commission to ensure that those most at risk of becoming homeless receive assistance, and I am pleased to announce the commission will be doubling the funding of our homeless prevention programs from $2 million to $4 million," Gloria said.
Gloria also said the city would build 250 households in 2023 for those who were at risk of homelessness,
He implemented his "Safe Sleeping Program" in the summer of 2023, which converted multiple parking lot locations into safe tent sites for the unhoused. Additionally, Gloria signed the Unsafe Camping Ordinance at the end of June. Under the ordinance, it is a misdemeanor for unhoused citizens to pitch tents in many city areas, such as near parks, shelters, schools, and trolley stations.
According to the Downtown San Diego Partnership's Unsheltered Count, the count as of Dec. 2023 shows that the number of unhoused people has gone down from over 1,800 to just over 800 at the same time in 2022.
RELATED: 30 found in violation of San Diego's Unsafe Camping Ordinance in first days of enforcement
Three of the four opponents running against Mayor Gloria later in 2024 shared their thoughts on the work Gloria's done with the homeless issue.
"They're just not homes. We need someone who is going to create pathways to actual housing," Geneviéve Jones-Wright said. "Parking lots and shelters are not homes. They're not housing and the streets are for no one to sleep on."
"I don't see it getting better. I actually see that the homeless are just being pushed north, out of downtown," Larry Turner said.
"This city has had 50 years to solve the homeless issue," Dan Smiechowski said. "My plan for the issue involves leasing all city-owned land. Not selling the land."
As for the housing crisis, Mayor Gloria promised that in 2023, he would double the amount of new homes in University City, Hillcrest, and the College area.
"Just before coming on stage, I signed an executive order directing all relevant city departments to complete their review and approve 100% affordable housing projects within 30 days," Gloria said in his 2023 speech.
Mayor Gloria's "Housing Action Package 2.0" passed late last yearto expedite the creation of more homes across all communities for all income levels.
The only initiative he was pushing for that did not pass was SB 10, which would have given cities the option to make it easier to rezone single-family lots to allow up to 10 smaller units
Some of Gloria's opponents said his housing package is not enough to solve the housing crisis.
"Home ownership is at an all time low. In San Diego, more people have gone into homelessness over the last few months than provided with housing, and that is a problem," Jones-Wright said.
"We don't have the affordable housing we need in this city," Turner said. "And to keep just tacking on a rule that people are doing 10% with their developments is not going to do it."
"The mayor is building apartment buildings on residential zone property," Smiechowski said. "That's totally wrong and the voters will not accept that."
The mayor is also expected to discuss how he's addressed infrastructure repairs, neighborhood improvements, battling the fentanyl crisis and reducing crime.
To stream the speech, follow this link. The speech begins at 6:30 p.m.
