The city of Escondido is rejecting the state and county “Housing First” initiatives to solve homelessness. Instead, the Escondido City Council voted 4-1 Wednesday in favor of a "public safety first" strategy.
Escondido has 304 unhoused people, according to the last count. It’s the largest population of homeless in North County.
The community hopes that somewhere in this three-page, first-of-its-kind policy statement on homelessness is the solution.
“Everybody is after somebody with lived experience. Here I am,“ Escondido Mayor Dane White said.
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At the age of 17, White was homeless on these same streets.
White and District 2 Councilman Joe Garcia, who is also the police chaplain, put their experiences together to help create the new plan.
“If you only have compassion, it's not going to work. If you only have enforcement, it’s not going to work,” Garcia said.
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The goal is to crack down on specific crimes city leaders say are often associated with homelessness. It promises a sober shelter with a local approach but does not include transitional housing or supportive housing units, which are often part of policies following the state’s “housing first” initiative.
The first to be served will be those already living on Escondido streets.
While Mayor White doesn’t know where it will be built or how much it will cost, he says the kind of shelter Escondido needs can be found in Huntington Beach. Before you enter it, there are amnesty bins for weapons and drugs. It’s broken into sections for men, women and families. There are clean bathrooms showers, beds and a cafeteria.
He says the feel is that of respect and dignity.
“It’s totally reasonable to assume if you are going to stick women, children and families together in a congregate shelter that you require some level of sobriety and accountability if they are going to be there,” White said.
That’s a departure from some county and state Housing First policies that cost taxpayers millions of dollars to provide housing with few restrictions.
“I think it is unfortunate the county and the state are stuck on this one-size-fits-all approach,” White said.
The new policy on homelessness is getting some pushback from Interfaith Community Services.
“If we do not have places to go, expanded outreach will only mean really good relationships, but lots of unsheltered people,“ Interfaith Community Services' CEO Greg Anglea said.
Homeless advocates who attended Wednesday night’s meeting also pushed back.
“I can’t imagine what it is like to be a homeless person and not to be wanted the entire day. No matter where I go, I am rejected and not wanted,“ one woman said.
While the policy was adopted, there is no argument that it is only the first step in solving the homeless crisis that has been developing in Escondido. The city is also considering a camping ban ordinance like that passed in San Diego.
