In his recent visit to San Diego, President Trump took the time to recognize the positive progress the City has made in the past few months. More specifically, he recognized Mayor Kevin Faulconer in his momentous strides with regard to reducing homelessness. In his speech, Trump explicitly stated, “In the case of San Diego, the mayor’s doing the right thing, he’s doing a good job.”
President Trump continued by using San Diego as a model for other cities. Focusing on Los Angeles and San Francisco, he commented on how the cities are severely below the San Diego standard. Moreover, Housing Secretary Ben Carson reiterated Trump’s comments after he visited a San Diego temporary bridge shelter. Carson, though, did bring a potential overpopulation concern to light due to the recent excellence San Diego is presenting in terms of homelessness resources. Resources that Mayor Faulconer has implemented include safer parking lots, storage and outreach, temporary bridge shelters, and eventually per
manent supportive housing.
Despite the numerous implemented resources, there are still approximately 5,000 homeless people in San Diego—something homeless advocate Michael McConnell focused on when criticizing President’s Trump praise of Mayor Faulconer. McConnell labeled the praise as partisan politics since Trump and Faulconer are both Republican, while the leaders in Los Angeles and San Francisco areas are Democratic. Furthermore, while seeing the productivity of the resolutions, McConnell deemed them as much too broad and temporary for the magnitude of the situation.
In the end, though, most people do not hold the same opinion as McConnell. Bob McElroy, who serves as the head of Alpha Project and the temporary bridge shelter, stated his support of Mayor Faulconer. McElroy commented, “he’s doing better than anybody I know” about Faulconer’s proactivity towards reducing homelessness.
Lastly, when asked about the issue, Mayor Faulconer emphasized how the issue of homelessness is not about politics, but action. Faulconer explained, “We have an action-oriented approach on homelessness in San Diego, and over 40 agencies and cities led by both Republicans and Democrats have come to see our new programs in action. This isn’t a partisan issue, it’s about action, and I appreciate that Washington is recognizing our efforts.”
