San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria reiterated his call Wednesday for the county rather than the city to fund a homeless shelter on county property in the Midway District. Gloria left funding for the shelter, which serves people with behavioral health conditions, out of his revised city budget proposal.
County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer also unveiled a proposal Wednesday that would use $800,000 in unspent federal stimulus funds to try to chip away at the cost of keeping the shelter open. She did not propose the county fully funding the shelter, as Gloria has demanded, citing an original partnership that called for support from both local governments.
The latest developments only inflamed the uncertainty surrounding the future of the 150-bed shelter, which could close absent an agreement between the city and the county.
That uncertainty has left homeless residents and Alpha Project staff who spend their days and nights at the shelter scared, angry and worried. Several spoke to Voice of San Diego this week about how the situation has rocked their lives.
Marine veteran Michael Evans, 37, and Richard Daniels, 68 – who has osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis and scoliosis – fear they could be forced back on the street despite pledges from city officials to connect all residents with other shelter options if the Midway facility closes. Both have found a haven and stability at the shelter that opened in 2022 with the support of the city, county, Housing Commission and Lucky Duck Foundation.
The project was once hailed as an unprecedented – and ideally, replicable – public-private partnership.
“What do you do now? The foundation has been snatched from under you,” said Daniels, who fought back tears as he considered how a closure could affect shelter residents he considers more vulnerable than himself.
David Kaloo, a case manager at the shelter, wondered what might happen to a resident who can’t walk or use her arms, leaving her reliant on shelter staff. Kaloo also decried a recent decision by city officials to stop welcoming new clients ahead of the possible closure. Even though that’s a typical step the city takes before shelter closures to minimize the number of residents who need to be relocated, it didn’t minimize Kaloo’s concerns.
Eleven beds sat empty Tuesday, frustrating Kaloo and other shelter workers who desperately want to fill them at a time when Housing Commission data shows nine out of 10 requests for shelter have gone unfulfilled.
“I think what the city and the county are doing is sickening,” said Kaloo, who was recently forced to make a tough decision of his own.
Kaloo, formerly homeless himself, recently applied for and accepted a job with another service provider out of fear the uncertainty could imperil his continued recovery. Saturday is his last day.
The case manager who prides himself on doing all he can to help shelter residents get past homelessness, addiction and other challenges decided he needed to follow his own advice.
“I felt like I needed to be my own best client,” Kaloo said.
Gloria didn’t dwell on those concerns during a Wednesday press conference when I asked how he would respond to those residents and shelter workers. He emphasized the commitments the city has made to homelessness as he seeks to close a $258 million budget deficit.
“Given our limited financial situation, we will do what is responsible, stop intakes at this facility, start redirecting individuals to our existing shelters,” Gloria said. “In the last month, this city under this budget crisis have established three new shelters, constituted more than 500 additional sheltering opportunities in the city of San Diego. That’s what being serious about homelessness looks like.”
Gloria also sought to draw more attention to the county.
Under the original arrangement, the county provided the land, utilities and onsite behavioral health services at the shelter. The city and its Housing Commission oversaw contractor Alpha Project.
Part of the beef over the shelter is related to a county redevelopment project that will demolish a building just steps away from the shelter to ultimately supply more behavioral health beds. That demolition will force utilities to be shut off at the shelter, a tab the county initially expected the city to cover. Gloria has argued the county should wait on its demolition project and that the project will unsettle shelter residents, but county officials like Lawson-Remer say the demolition can be undertaken while residents remain in the shelter.
Lawson-Remer wants to use $800,000 in leftover Covid-era funding to help cover the estimated $1 million to $2 million it will cost to reconnect utilities to the shelter. She will ask fellow supervisors to approve that proposal Tuesday, contingent on the city’s agreement to keep the shelter open.
“My belief has been that if the county continues doing its share that the city will continue to be a good partner,” Lawson-Remer said late Wednesday.
She said she has tried to remain focused on bringing various players together to find solutions, including the city and philanthropists.
Lucky Duck Foundation CEO Drew Moser, whose organization supplied the shelter tent that houses the 150 shelter residents, said his organization has urged a joint meeting between city, county and foundation players to come up with a solution. He said the foundation may be willing to help pay for a demolition expert to assess whether shelter residents could safely remain next door during construction – or to support other potential options.
What won’t work, Moser said, is finger pointing.
“The thought of this closing is completely unacceptable,” Moser said. “Lucky Duck is willing to do its part to ensure that there’s no interruption in services and this structure does not close but keeping in mind the city and the county need to come to a reasonable resolution here. Politics should not get in the way of helping our most vulnerable neighbors.”
Alpha Project CEO Bob McElroy couldn’t hide his frustration Wednesday.
McElroy said Kaloo is one of two shelter workers who have put in two weeks’ notice as they grapple with uncertainty.
“To have the rug pulled out from under them like this, it sends shockwaves through Alpha and our staff but residents, most importantly. I just can’t believe it,” McElroy said. “I just think it’s outright despicable and I would ask the mayor if he’s the prime mover of this to come down, look our people in the eye and tell them why this is happening.”
Seven-month shelter resident Ika Monttoya, 42, who is excited to start a job Thursday as a drug and alcohol counselor after support from Alpha Project staff, agreed.
“We’re not just a budget,” Monttoya said. “We’re actually people that are in a situation that are trying to do better.”
Now, those budgets – and the future of the shelter – are likely in the City Council and Board of Supervisors’ hands. They are set to vote on their final budgets next month.
