Escondido Metropolis Council approves new coverage addressing homelessness

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) — On Wednesday night time, the Escondido Metropolis Council authorized its new coverage towards homelessness.

“I feel the coverage is short-sighted, restricted and divisive,” Escondido resident Meg Decker mentioned

Some locally, together with Greg Angela, the CEO of Interfaith Neighborhood Companies, attended the assembly to voice their issues to the council.

“It’s actually regarding {that a} coverage was handed with none enter from the native folks right here in Escondido doing this work each day,” Anglea mentioned.

Apart from transferring away from the housing-first mannequin, the authorized coverage adjusts Escondido now not supporting applications that will allow drug use or enable folks to maintain residing on the road, as talked about within the coverage.

That features distributing sources and the hopes of city-run shelters requiring sobriety.

“If we’re going to take a position a big quantity of our tax-payer {dollars}, I feel it’s completely applicable to require some degree of accountability,” Escondido Mayor Dane White mentioned.

This public safety-first mannequin additionally adjusts the way in which the town handles homelessness by focusing efforts on cracking down on crime related to the homeless locally.

“I feel it’s completely applicable to implement the regulation,” White mentioned. “And I feel the essential distinction, you recognize, such as you heard from our police chief, we will’t inform any individual you possibly can’t camp on the sidewalk. We’ve acquired to offer them a spot to go. So, we’re searching for options, not criminalizing homelessness.”

Mayor White mentioned he feels Wednesday night time’s dialogue in regards to the coverage cleared up some confusion on what he calls step one that’s been put in place.

However Anglea mentioned that’s not the case, as he’s pushing for extra sources locally.

“What it looks like is that we haven’t made any progress in the direction of creating locations for the people who find themselves on the streets tonight to go tomorrow,” Anglea mentioned.

Mayor White instructed ABC 10News what’s to come back is getting native service and well being care suppliers to determine the subsequent steps ahead for Escondido’s unhoused.

“We look ahead to working in partnership with the town once they present alternative and return our telephone calls and emails to take action. As a result of we actually wish to do it collectively,” Anglea mentioned.