One by one Chula Vista residents expressed their frustrations with the city’s approach in handling the increased homeless population throughout the city.
“I heard a lot of people talk about solutions,” ex-Councilman Steve Castaneda told the council. “I haven’t really heard a solution, yet. I’ve heard a lot of people talking about what the problem is. I don’t see our problem being resolved any time soon.”
“There is no clear solution,” said speaker Eloy Villa. “What I have is an observation about this problem. And my observation is that there has been a failure somewhere because (the problem) has increased. The problem is getting worse.”
That was the majority of the sentiments expressed by Chula Vistans who spoke during the council meeting Tuesday night.
The Chula Vista Police Department gave a presentation to the council and the audience that examined the city’s homeless population and ways they are combating it.
Police Chief David Bejarano said San Diego County has the third largest homeless population in the nation.
Police Capt. Roxanna Kennedy said the department has seen an increase in calls for service by 275 percent from 2004 to 2015.
The presentation highlighted homeless hotspots such as Harborside Park with 256 police calls for service. Lauderbach Park got 208 calls for service, Memorial Park had 241 and Eucalyptus Park had 134.
CVPD has partnered with the San Diego Dream Center and other organizations to conduct homeless outreach and services.
And just recently officers have stepped up enforcement for homeless individuals who are in possession of shopping carts that belong to grocery stores.
Kennedy said officers are limited in what they can do.
“The challenge is just because you’re homeless, you have the same right as someone who isn’t,” she said.
Councilwoman Pat Aguilar, who previously had asked that the community discussion be added to the council agenda, said she would like to see more police enforcement against the homeless.
Councilwoman Pamela Bensoussan acknowledged that the city has a homeless issue and said last night’s discussion was productive in terms of coming up with solutions.
“There is no magic wand for this issue,” she said. “I think it’s a very complicated issue and I think we made minor progress with a possible approach of handling this issue.”
The City Council agreed to send a referral to staff to return to council with possible solutions from the public, along with costs for each idea.
