SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) — San Diego city council will be voting on final approval of the ‘Unsafe Camping Ordinance’ on Tuesday. It passed earlier this month after a 5-4 vote.
Under the ordinance, it would be considered a misdemeanor for unhoused people to have tents in many city areas, including near parks, shelters, schools, and trolley stations.
Rachel Hayes, who is transitioning out of homelessness this week, says criminalizing camping isn’t the answer. Hayes shared with 10News that she has lived on the streets for 11 years.
“Bottom line is…it’s not going to work,” she said. “There’s not enough shelter beds. It’s going to put a lot of hardship not only on the homeless humans, but also on the housed humans because we will move into the neighborhoods where it is allowed at. And people don’t realize that.”
With the ordinance passing, Hayes says she worries most for the increasing number of newly homeless San Diego seniors.
“My neighbor is 71 and he’s disabled. If you’re three or five hundred dollars short every month and you’re a senior…you’re going to lose your house,” she said.
Rather than criminalizing camping, she says the solution she’d like to see instead is more low-income housing built as soon as possible.
“If they build the housing, people will go,” she said.
Rachel and other homeless advocates say they plan to attend Tuesday’s city council meeting to speak.
“These people matter. We’re not just trash to be discarded. Everybody is a human out here and the people who don’t have a voice…I speak for them.”
