The San Diego Housing Commission agreed Friday to use $6.5 million from its permanent housing fund to staff three large tented homeless shelters the city plans to open by the end of the month, but not everybody was on board with the idea.

While the commissioners unanimously supported the plan, the notion of using housing funds for a shelter did not sit well with some advocates for the homeless who saw the move as a step back from seeking long-term solutions.

Three tents will temporarily house 700 homeless people downtown and in the Midway district. The tents are seen as a way of getting hundreds of people off the street while helping stop a hepatitis A outbreak that has left 20 dead and sickened more than 500 — and disproportionately afflicted the homeless.

The tents are referred to as bridge housing, meaning the people they serve will have access to professionals who could help them find permanent housing, jobs and help with various issues that led to their homelessness.


Still, critics of the plan saw the plan as warehousing homeless people at the expense of building housing, and comments at Friday morning’s commission meeting revealed a rift among groups working to solve homelessness in the city.

“How you can approve $6.5 million with no plan and no strategy is beyond me,” said Michael McConnell, a member of Funders Together to End Homelessness San Diego and a former vice chairman of the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless. “We cannot continue to say, ‘We want real solutions, we want real solutions,’ and continue to fund band-aids over and over.”

People critical of the plan also included former San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless board President Thomas Theisen, San Diego Housing Federation Executive Director Stephen Russell, Rick Bates of Build Better San Diego and others.

Among people in favor of the tents were representatives of Father Joe’s Villages, the Alpha Project and Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s office. County Supervisor Ron Roberts, chairman of the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, sent a letter of support that was read at the hearing.


Faulconer announced the plan to use the tents for shelter in September following a push for them by a group of business people and homeless advocates, but he has continued to stress that the city is committed to seeking permanent housing as a long-term solution.

At least one City Council member disagrees with the plan to use the shelter tents, which are estimated to cost about $43 a person a day.

“The cost of beds in these tents for a family of four is estimated to be more than $5,000 per month, more than double the average rent for a 3-bedroom unit in San Diego,” Councilman David Alvarez said in a statement released after the Friday hearing. “Even worse, this proposal eliminates $6.5 million in permanent housing projects simply to set up tents for seven months.”

While true that the cost will come from the commission’s permanent housing fund, Housing Commission President and CEO Rick Gentry said the diverted money will not cause any project delays because the city has committed to making up the loss.


As explained by David Graham, deputy chief operations officer for San Diego, the city will help cover the cost of future Housing Commission projects by using what’s known as housing successor funds, or money from the former San Diego Redevelopment Agency.

That money was not committed to any particular projects, but eventually would have been available to developers proposing low- and moderate-income housing projects. Graham said the city has been able to create 1,500 afford-housing units with the fund.

Restrictions on the housing successor fund prohibit it from being used for temporary housing, so the city could not directly fund the tent. Such restrictions don’t exist on the Housing Commission’s fund, he said.

Deacon Jim Vargas, president and CEO of Father Joe’s Village, spoke at the hearing in favor of the tents, which he said were need to address a crisis.


“This situation on the streets need to be addressed immediately,” he said.

Others questions whether the tents will offer anything more than a temporary respite from the street, as people will only be allowed to stay 120 days and then may be turned out without no permanent home.

Amy Gonyeau, chief operating officer of the Alpha Project, said she is optimistic that people will find housing by then because many in the tents already will be working toward housing, and some even may have housing vouchers.

The Alpha Project will operate one tent in East Village with 350 beds for adult men and women. Father Joe’s Villages will operate a tent on its downtown property with 150 beds for families. Veterans Village of San Diego will operate a tent in the Midway district with 200 bed for single adult men and women veterans.


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gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

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