For two hours,12 mayors from San Diego County met behind closed doors with leaders from the Rescue Mission and the Lucky Duck Foundation.
"We surveyed all the mayors before they came down here and one of the themes was they really don’t know what the Rescue Mission does and conversely, I really don’t know all the services they do," said San Diego Rescue Mission President Donnie Dee.
He said if they’re going to take on an issue as complex as homelessness together, this first step is critical.
"If we can build a partnership public and private I really believe that is a much better approach to helping the person that’s living on the streets who really needs us to get our act together," Dee said.
"I think a lot of us are frustrated that we're spending more than we ever have on this problem but it’s not getting better it’s actually getting worse," said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria.
But they all had a lot in common he said.
"The value is the consensus that it’s the number one issue that our constituents that we all want to see change on this and that we all need to rise to the occasion to do that," Gloria said.
Gloria also said this is an opportunity to come together as a region and fight for resources together because every city is looking for solutions to the same problem.
"A regional effort can often mean that we’re more effective," he said. "There’s not enough money to fund every city in the state but if we can go as a region to Sacramento and say that we are supporting Vista’s proposal for a new family affordable housing complex then I suspect they’ll be more successful in their effort."
Matt Hall, the mayor of Carlsbad, said this is something they do in North County but the first time he's had this experience. He's thankful for the invitation to gather as a region and that alone makes him optimistic.
"It was exciting today to come to San Diego just if nothing else to sit and learn about about what's going on here and some of the facilities they have," Hall said.
But he said during the discussion it was obvious more need to be involved. "I think we need to bring in more partners at a higher level to really get to the very heart of what some of the issues are."
Mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis of National City said it's about leveraging the resources, leveraging the relationship, as well as being able to say, "this is our drop in bigger regional bucket."
"In National City we have our 167 homeless through the 'Point in Time Count' but we look at it regionally what are some of the other issues that need to be addressed?" Sotelo-Solis said.
She also said this must be an ongoing conversation.
"This is not a meeting to solve homelessness, this is not the meeting to do this," Sotelo-Solis said. "This is a meeting to discuss what resources are out there, how we can work together, and how we can continue to address this and how we can continue the dialogue."
That dialogue will continue when city managers gather at the Rescue Mission in January.
