Excerpt from The Alpine Sun
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District 2 Supervisor Joel Anderson said while there are examples of successful homeless programs, ones which hopefully can be replicated and expanded, the overall homeless population in San Diego county is growing.

“We must embrace new solutions,” Anderson said.

Anderson said he “loves the di­rection” the ideas are going but is concerned about the effect on com­munities surrounding areas like Spring Valley’s Lamar park which he said is so saturated with home­less encampments that families no longer take their children there to play.

“I get that they have no place to go and absolutely, I don’t think it should be criminalized. But, by the same token, it’s not La Jolla that’s being invaded. It’s the poorer areas of my community and I don’t think it’s fair to make those people go without parks in their community if we provide housing for the home­less,” Anderson said.

Anderson later said it’s impor­tant to acknowledge that many homeless people are dependent on drugs, alcohol, and are dealing with severe mental health condi­tions that must be addressed inde­pendently, while also addressing the need to build attainable hous­ing for rental and ownership.