Around the County with Supervisor Jim Desmond Supervisor Jim Desmond

On Friday morning, Supervisor Jim Desmond, El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells, Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey, Oceanside Councilman Ryan Keim, and Solutions for Change CEO Chris Megison joined forces to address the pressing issue of chronic homelessness in San Diego. The press conference shed light on the failures of the Housing First approach, and pushed for treatment and accountability tied to housing to address core issues with people who are homeless. Solutions For Change graduates joined them, a non-profit group that has made remarkable strides in combating homelessness. Despite its success, Solutions for Change is not eligible for state or federal funding due to its refusal to abide by the Housing First approach.

Tomorrow, the Board of Supervisors will decide on the replacement process for Nathan Fletcher. After taking time and speaking to people in the district, I believe we should go right to an election. The residents of District 4 should have a choice over who their new representative is.

Last week, California utility companies rolled out a new fixed-rate bill proposal. The basics of the proposal are the more you make, the more you pay for the flat rate. Then there will be a reduced usage charges, subsidized for all households by the flat rate.
Here's the breakdown in pricing for San Diegans.
Household income $28,000 – $69,000 would pay $34 a month. Households income from $69,000 – $180,000 would pay $73 a month. Household income above $180,000 would pay $128 a month. All these fees are tacked on before using a single kilowatt hour, meaning median-income San Diegans will pay $876 a year in electricity rates, regardless of whether they use any electricity. Also, you San Diegans will still get charged these monthly rates if they have residential solar.

From 2007 through 2022, the homeless population in California increased by 24% to 172,000. Today, nearly 1 in 3 homeless people live in California. Despite billions of dollars being spent and little improvement, the State has doubled down on the same efforts of Housing First.
Today, I sat down with Jared Klickstein, who lived on the streets of California. We talked about his story, what he learned, and why the approach to homelessness in California is failing.

It is an absolute honor to be on the County Board of Supervisors. This is not a job I take for granted and I will do everything I can to make San Diego County an even better place to live, work and play.

We have been successful at stopping 4 out of the 5 Sexually Violent Predator placements in North County. We did it by coming up with a plan and getting everyone to speak out against these monsters. Thank you to everyone who joined today's town hall.