San Diego Board of Supervisors Votes in Favor of Drafting an Unsafe Camping Ordinance
Excerpt from CBS 8
Supervisor Joel Anderson said the ordinance is necessary to handle the ongoing homelessness crisis, and also stressed that it could help reduce wildfire risks.
...
Anderson's proposal also included "asking for support for direction to county staff to identify potential properties that could serve as regional homeless shelter solutions to help ensure the availability of shelter space to move those living in encampments and connect them with wrap around services and a path to permanent housing."
...
"Although the county and its partners successfully cleared encampments such as the North Magnolia Avenue site in unincorporated El Cajon, the county enactment of an unsafe camping ordinance will provide another tool to help clean up similar encampments on a wider scale throughout the county's unincorporated communities," Anderson wrote in a letter to the board.
During Tuesday's meeting, Anderson said he doesn't wish to criminalize homeless people. He touted the county's previous efforts to help people get off the streets, including the purchase of small homes, but added that shelters should be a first option.
...
"If you put yourself in harm's way ... we can prohibit that," Anderson said. "I'm done with the status quo -- I want to see change."