As the 2024 election approaches, voters across the country are grappling with a range of issues, including the growing homelessness crisis in many cities. Unfortunately, the Democratic leadership’s response to this issue has been nothing short of disastrous. In San Diego, for example, city officials are requesting state funds to buy three hotels for the city’s homeless at a cost of $383,000 per room. This comes on the heels of a similar initiative that failed last year, in which the city purchased two hotels to house homeless people at a cost of $278,000 to $353,000 per room.
Despite the clear evidence that these expensive hotel purchases are not an effective solution to the homelessness crisis, Democratic leaders in San Diego have doubled down on this strategy, even as the homeless population continues to soar. This is a failure of leadership that is harming vulnerable individuals and wasting taxpayer dollars.
In addition to the misguided hotel purchase strategy, the lack of oversight and accountability within the Democratic-led county’s homeless program has led to tragic consequences. Recently, an underage girl was molested in a taxpayer-funded motel, yet the Democratic leadership has remained silent on the matter. This lack of accountability is unacceptable and puts the safety of nearby residents and business owners at risk.
The Democrats’ response to the homelessness crisis has been costly, ineffective, and lacking in accountability. It is time for voters to hold the Democratic leadership accountable for their failures and demand real solutions to this pressing issue.
by Susannah Luthi
San Diego leaders are requesting state funds to buy three hotels for the city’s homeless at a cost of $383,000 per room, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The wealthy city, where homelessness has surged to record highs in recent months, will apply for the funds from California governor Gavin Newsom’s (D.) latest $736 million round of funding from his homelessness grant program. City officials were unfazed by the cost of the plan, with commissioner Ryan Clumpner calling it “a fantastic value proposition.”
Commissioner Stefanie Benvenuto called the value of the purchases “incredible when you see the cost at the door.”
San Diego is eyeing the hotel purchases despite the recent failure of a similar initiative. In 2020, city commissioners approved the purchase of two hotels to house homeless people at $278,000 to $353,000 per room. A newly opened affordable housing apartment project cost $51.1 million in total, or $583,000 per room. Still, downtown San Diego’s homeless population reached a new record high earlier this year of nearly 2,000 people.
“They’re nuts,” Bob Rauch, a San Diego businessman whose company owns and operates hotels, told the Union-Tribune of the city’s leaders. “They overpaid last time during a pandemic, and they’d be overpaying again.”
Meanwhile, Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass’s (D.) latest budget proposal includes $1.3 billion for the city’s nearly 41,000 homeless, which equates to $32,000 per person. The per capita Los Angeles income is $39,380.
A similar trend has played out on the state level. California Democrats have spent some $20 billion over the past five years to address a growing homelessnes crisis.
Last month, Newsom proposed a ballot initiative to approve a minimum of $1 billion each year to house homeless people who are mentally ill.
According to the federal government’slatest count, California holds nearly a third of the nation’s homeless—multitudes more than any other state.
Earlier this month, a legislative committee approved a bipartisan request for an audit of where local, state and federal funds to address homelessness are going and what the dollars are accomplishing.
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