HOT TOPIC
The issue:
After nearly four months and amidst international controversy over people being arrested, the city of El Cajon lifted its food-sharing ban that targeted the homeless.
What people are saying:
“Make sure that we are crystal clear: Mayor Bill Wells, Councilmember Ben Kalasho and the El Cajon City Council did not do any favors for anyone. They were forced to lift their food-sharing ban, because the county lifted the hep A emergency. Do not allow these five wealthy men, to tell you otherwise.”
—Break the Ban organizer Mark Lane (Facebook)
“This has always been about preventing the spread of hepatitis. Ironically, it’s the homeless that are most likely the ones who were most protected by this ban.”
—El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells (San Diego Union-Tribune)
“I defied the ban because it was an ordinance that targeted only some of our community members … I hope that with the publicity that this has garnered and with the rescinding of this unconstitutional ban, that El Cajon and other communities take the time to listen to the individuals most affected by this problem and use data-driven, evidence-based solutions to restore them to our community.”
—Break the Ban activist Blair Overstreet
Our take:
This is proof that collective action can work. CityBeat was one of the first news outlets to report on the controversial ban in detail and even then, the writing was on the wall: Mayor Wells told us back in November that the idea of people getting arrested for feeding the homeless “couldn’t be further from the truth,” and yet people were arrested and issued misdemeanor citations. Councilmember Ben Kalasho told us that the ban was designed to protect “the normal person,” asserting that El Cajon’s homeless population was abnormal. In fact, Kalasho doubled down on Twitter on Tuesday, calling the coverage of the arrests “misleading” and “prejudicial.” Well, the same adjectives could be used to describe the city’s logic for issuing the ban in the first place.
HAM OF THE WEEK
Federal guidelines for low-income rent assistance set up during the Obama administration set up a formula for housing vouchers based on ZIP code, but San Diego Housing Commission CEO Rick Gentry, who is in charge of local housing vouchers, ain’t having it. Despite a recent judge’s ruling upholding the new rules, Gentry says he’d rather follow the more outdated system of the three tiers of low-, middle- and high-rent areas. In an interview with KPBS, he called the new guidelines “bureaucratic overkill” and an attempt at “social engineering.”
COMING DOWN THE PIPE
Previews of the important or idiotic items possibly coming to a ballot of legislature near you.
We’re sure by now, readers have heard of the New California initiative, the latest proposal to redraw state lines. The founders argue that many of the counties in California’s current makeup are “ungovernable” because of their handlings of health care, education, infrastructure and more. The New California initiative would make it so that California encompasses a slim, coastal fraction of counties reaching from Sonoma to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the proposed New California would include the majority of the state’s current land—northern, inland and southern. At the moment, the counties are working to prove they can govern themselves, before diving into discussions with the California State Legislature.
Verdict: First of all, why can’t San Diego be in this new state, but really, this isn’t the first attempt at secession. In the past, other bogus suggestions have been floated, such as breaking up California into six separate states, or just chopping off the northern half. None of those passed, and we aren’t worried about this one. We are maybe a little butthurt that San Diego wasn’t grouped with the progressive fraction. But not as butthurt as the conservatives behind New California, who are using this initiative to force their opinions into government instead of successfully assembling their party. Just for fun, let’s also point out that 17 counties in the would-be New California voted for Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
NEWSY BITS
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