Dear Neighbor, 

For the second year in a row, unsheltered homelessness is down in San Diego. 

The latest Point-in-Time Count shows another year of declines in unsheltered homelessness, with a 6.6 percent drop over the past year in the City of San Diego, after a 13.5 percent drop in overall homelessness the year before. This progress reflects a clear focus on our comprehensive strategy to reduce homelessness: expanding shelter options, connecting people to services, and building more affordable homes.  

We’ve moved away from one-size-fits-all approaches and built a system that serves people where they are. That includes more options for families, seniors, veterans, and young people, along with programs like Safe Sleeping and Safe Parking that are helping bring people off the streets who’ve been hesitant to accept help in the past into safer, more stable environments. 

At the same time, we are building more homes than we have in decades and bringing more affordable homes online faster. That’s helping ease pressure on rents and create pathways out of homelessness. 

This is the result of sustained investment and a strategy focused on outcomes. And it’s why, even in a tight budget year, we are working to protect the programs that are delivering results. 

There is more work to do. Too many people are still living without stable housing, and we continue to see too many on our street suffering from mental health and addiction. But we are moving in the right direction, and we will stay focused on the fundamentals that are making a difference in neighborhoods across San Diego. 

As always, it’s an honor to serve as your Mayor.  

Since releasing the City’s draft budget on April 15, I’ve heard from many residents, community groups, and advocates about what these proposals mean for their neighborhoods. In the coming weeks, I’ll answer some of the most common questions here. 

It’s important to continue to be clear about the situation we’re in: this is a draft and reflects the difficult position of reducing spending in areas we have long supported. As City leaders, we are required to make hard choices that past administrations avoided. It’s also about meeting our legal obligation to balance the budget while prioritizing the core services residents rely on every day, like keeping communities safe, fixing our roads, reducing homelessness, and building more homes. 

This proposal will continue to evolve with updated financial information, input from the City Council, and from you. The budget survey and upcoming Budget Review Committee meetings are opportunities to share your input and help shape the final plan. 

Question: Why is the City proposing to cut support for children and youth? 

Answer: Even in a difficult budget year, the City will continue to fund and operate a wide range of programs that serve children, teens, and families every day. 

That includes keeping recreation centers and sports fields open as much as we can, maintaining after-school and summer programming, and continuing initiatives like Parks After Dark, which provides safe spaces and activities for youth in the evenings. At our libraries, programs like Do Your Homework at the Library remain in place, along with literacy programs, summer meals, and thousands of educational activities that reach families across the city every day. 

Community Development Block Grant funding continues to support youth-serving organizations across San Diego, including programs like Reality Changers that help students stay on track to college and build brighter futures.

We’re investing in two Transition Age Youth shelters to provide safe housing and services for young adults experiencing homelessness.

Workforce opportunities for young people remain a priority. The Employ & Empower program, funded through the State’s Youth Service Corps, is helping San Diegans gain paid work experience and build career pathways in public service without impacting the City’s budget.

We’re also funding the San Diego Police Department’s No Shots Fired program, a violence intervention effort that reaches youth and helps prevent gang violence.

At the same time, this budget does include reductions. The Office of Child and Youth Success is being eliminated as a standalone office and consolidated into the Library Department. These changes are part of a broader package of organizational and service-level reductions, including about $5.3 million in reorganization savings across departments. 

These are difficult decisions, and I understand their impact. 

The reality is that we are facing a significant deficit, and every department is seeing reductions. To maintain the services that residents depend on most, we have to focus on the fundamentals: public safety, neighborhood services like fixing roads, reducing homelessness, and building more homes. 

Again, your voice matters. Take the survey or attend a Budget Review Committee meeting to share your priorities. 

A new independent audit of the City’s response to homeless encampments shows measurable progress in how we are addressing unsafe conditions in public spaces, while also reinforcing the complexity of reducing unsheltered homelessness. 

Before the Unsafe Camping Ordinance took effect, entire stretches of sidewalk were blocked by tents and debris, forcing families, children, and people with disabilities into the street. This policy has given the City a clearer and more consistent way to restore safe, accessible public spaces for everyone.  

The audit found that our coordinated, services-first approach is working in key ways: Fewer people are living in public spaces, response times to encampment reports have improved significantly, and, most importantly, more individuals are being connected to shelter and services. City crews reduced response times from weeks to days, and outreach efforts are leading more people to accept help.  

The 2025 Point-in-Time Count reflected a 13.5 percent decrease in overall homelessness citywide. The 2026 Point-in-Time Count continued that trend, showing an additional 6.6 percent reduction. These results demonstrate that the City’s efforts are making a measurable difference. 

At the same time, the audit makes clear that homelessness remains a regional and statewide challenge. Limited shelter capacity and broader issues like mental health and substance use continue to impact progress. 

The audit findings confirm that the Unsafe Camping Ordinance is one important part of a larger strategy. It has helped restore access to sidewalks, parks, and public spaces while strengthening outreach and coordination across City departments. Lasting progress depends on continuing to expand shelter options, build more homes, and strengthen the broader system of care. 

The audit also identified opportunities to improve, including making it easier for people to retrieve belongings after cleanups and expanding language access for notices. My administration agrees with these recommendations and is moving forward with changes. 

This progress is exactly why reducing homelessness remains one of the core priorities in my draft budget. With a deficit this large, every department is seeing reductions—including homelessness programs. That is the difficult reality we are facing. It means we must continue to fund the strategies that are working and delivering results. Programs like Safe Sleeping are among the most cost-effective tools we have to move people off the streets and connect them to services. Even in a constrained budget, we must remain focused on protecting and prioritizing the work that is making a measurable difference for San Diegans every day. 

Over the past year, we unlocked new funding through parking meter revenue to focus on long-overdue repairs and safety improvements in neighborhoods that are home to parking meters. 

In just a few months, City crews delivered thousands of fixes where they were needed most. More than 3,200 potholes have been patched, nearly 1,750 streetlights are now shining brightly, and crews installed crosswalks, signage, and traffic safety improvements across our communities.  

We are also seeing the difference in reduced infrastructure backlogs. In Community Parking Districts where parking revenue is generated, crews are completing work faster and making meaningful progress on long-standing maintenance needs. That is what happens when we give our Transportation Department the resources they need to do the job. 

This is exactly why transportation is one of the core four priorities in the proposed budget. Despite the prioritization, the department is still way under resourced. We continue to face significant backlogs in streetlights, sidewalks, and traffic safety improvements.  

But this progress shows what’s possible. When we invest in the fundamentals, we can fix the damn roads, improve safety, and make our neighborhoods work better for everyone. 

Last week’s question: Which of these is another one of San Diego’s official Sister Cities?

Here’s how you voted: 
 
✅▪️ Yokohama, Japan — 78.29%
▪️ Sydney, Australia — 12.00%
▪️ Vancouver, Canada — 12.00% 

The correct answer: Yokohama, Japan. San Diego’s Sister City program isn’t just symbolic—it’s a long-running global network designed to create real partnerships between cities. The idea dates back to a 1956 initiative to build international cooperation through local relationships, focused on trade, education, culture, and people-to-people connections. San Diego has 17 official sister cities around the world, spanning every region—from Asia and Europe to Latin America and Africa.

This week’s question: Which venue will host Olympic soccer matches in San Diego in 2028? 

• Snapdragon Stadium 
• Petco Park 
• Torero Stadium 

Answer below or send your guess to AskTheMayor@sandiego.gov and check back next week to see if you got it right. 

Help Shape a New Community Shuttle in San Ysidro The City of San Diego is partnering with Casa Familiar to support the La Semilla Community Resilience Center, a vibrant new community hub in San Ysidro. La Semilla will feature a new zero-emission electric community shuttle, an effort made possible by State grant funding. This pilot program aims to improve mobility, reduce pollution and better connect people to destinations throughout San Ysidro. 

Community input will help us design how the shuttle operates, and Casa Familiar has launched a survey to gather feedback on potential routes, stops and features. San Ysidro community members are encouraged to participate by sharing their feedback to help design a shuttle that will best serve them. The survey will remain open until May 15.  

Learn more about the shuttle and take the survey. 

Starting this week, the City of San Diego will begin delivering new light blue recycling bins to households eligible for City-provided trash and recycling service. The updated bins are more durable, easier to identify, and equipped with scannable tags to improve service reliability and accountability. 

Deliveries will take place on regular collection days and continue citywide over several months, with some households receiving their bins later this year. Crews will also remove older dark blue bins, which will be recycled and repurposed. Residents can expect notifications ahead of their delivery and can look up their estimated timeline online. 

After customers receive their new light blue recycling bins, the City will collect only from those new bins. Until then, the City will continue servicing old containers to avoid disruption in customer service. Collection of recycling materials will remain bi-weekly.

Weekly recycling service will begin July 1, 2027. 

There is important relief available for San Diego homeowners impacted by the 2024 storms and flooding. 

The Governor’s Office has confirmed that the January 2024 San Diego flood qualifies under the expanded CalAssist Mortgage Fund program. That means eligible disaster-affected homeowners may now receive up to 12 months of mortgage payments, paid directly to their mortgage servicer, with assistance totaling up to $100,000 that does not need to be repaid. 

The expansion increases the relief period from three months to a full year and broadens income eligibility so more families can qualify. This support is designed to help homeowners stabilize while they rebuild, navigate insurance claims, and recover from disaster impacts. 

Homeowners can review the full list of qualified disasters and apply at www.calassistmortgagefund.org. 

Downtown’s Civic Center Plaza is getting a vibrant refresh with Plaza Central — a new series of pop-up events bringing food, music, and art to the heart of the city. The activations are free and open to the public every Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering a lively preview of the area’s long-term revitalization. 

 
Learn more about Plaza Central events.