FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Jan.12, 2022

CONTACT:
MayorPress@sandiego.gov

Attachment: Comprehensive progress report from Mayor Glorias first year in office

SAN DIEGO In his second State of the City address asthe 37thMayor of San Diego,MayorTodd Gloria tonightspoke decisively andunflinchingly aboutsome of the most pressing problems facing the City of San Diego specifically, the Cityshomelessnessandhousing crises, thedecades-in-the-making infrastructurebacklog andpublic safety amid risingcrime.

He was frank about thedifficulty of addressingthechallenges facing San Diego.

Id love to rehash the past year's many wins on climate, transportation, fiscal discipline and more and to celebrate the people and organizations who made them happenbecauseIm proud of them,MayorToddGloriasaid. But the last two years have left all of us short on patience for happy talk.

But the Mayor ultimately struck an optimistic tone, pointing out that the cityis in atransitional periodand declaring it ready to turn the corner and takeits place among the greatest in the United States.

I ran for this office on the promise of reinvigorating San Diego with a jolt of big-city energy, fostering a culture of YES that will help us ascend to our rightful place as one of the greatest cities in the country, said Mayor Gloria. As I consider the progress weve made and the work the lies ahead I can say that the State of our City is ready.

HOMELESSNESS

Devoting the largest segment of his address tothehomelessness crisis,Mayor Gloriadetailedthe progress theCitymadein 2021 onbuildingout its comprehensive, coordinatedsystem of outreach,shelterand supportive housing.

Lets be clear, he said. Underno circumstance is it compassionate to let a person live on the street.

Recognizingthat housing is the ultimate solution to homelessness,theMayornotedthat 132 new apartmentsfor chronically homeless San Diegans were createdlast year,and that nearly 1,000 more are inthe pipelinein 2022.He alsopointed out that theCityhas addedmore than 200temporaryshelter beds since April 2021 a 21percent increaseand thatthe city is activelyvettingmultiplelocations for additional beds.

While the City augmentsservices for those who accept help, there is a sizable segment of the unshelteredpopulation that is not capable of making the decision to seek assistance, Mayor Gloria said.To help those San Diegans, the Mayorsaid he intendstopursue legislation to reform state conservatorship laws.

One of our societys most egregious failings is neglecting to care for people suffering from severe mental illness, theMayorsaid. So, this year, I am pushing for state action on conservatorships so that people who cannot help themselves arent left vulnerable to the dangers of life on the streets.

HOUSING

The housing-affordability emergencywas a major focus for Mayor Gloria in 2021, when he launched his HomesForAll of Us initiative, which includestwo Housing Action Packages containing more than a dozenreformsandBlueprint SD, which will speed upupdates to community plans to allow formore housingfaster.

As part of the initiatives, theMayorannounced that theCitywill optintoSenate Bill 10,state legislationthatwillmake it far easier to buildsmall apartmentprojects close tomass transit.

He also announced a new City program Bridge to Home that assists affordable-housing developerswith the gap financing they need to get their projects over the finish line.

Seven projects havebeen selected toreceiveroughly $32 million in assistancefrom Bridge to Home. All told, Mayor Gloria said,these projects will create 662 new apartments forlow-incomeSan Diego families and individuals, including 193supportive units for formerly homeless residents35 of which will be set asideforthose who struggle with serious mental illness.

The shortage of homes everyday San Diegans can afford is splitting up families, making it harder for our businesses to attract and retain high-qualityworkers, andthreatening to deprive our region of the talented young people we work so hard to educate in our world-class universities, he said.

We are legally and morally obligated to plan for moregrowth and addmore than100,000 new homes during the next eight years, and,folks, we aregettingit done.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Commenting on theSan Diegos decades-long neglect ofits core public infrastructure systems, Mayor Gloriasaid theCityin 2021 invested nearly $1 billion in streets and roads,sidewalks and streetlights,stormwater collection,recycling systems, parks,librariesand more.

TheMayorfocused heavily onstreetrepair, noting that theCityin the pasthas racked up miles ofslurry-sealmaintenanceon side streetswhile delaying morecostly repaving and reconstruction projectson major roads.In 2021, he rolled out his SexyStreets initiativethatwill repair54 miles ofheavily traveled thoroughfares, especially those inhistorically underserved communities.

Rather than chalking up miles of easy fixes inculde sacs, Mayor Gloriasaid,Wellbe diligently restoring segments of the roads most traveled, like Euclid Avenue, Skyline Drive, Orange Avenue, Balboa Avenue and Clairemont Mesa Boulevard.

Also last year, Mayor Gloriakicked off construction of Phase 1 of the Pure Water program, the biggest infrastructure project in the Citys history, which willsupplySan Diego with nearly half its water by 2035 and reduce the amount of treated sewage discharged into the ocean by more than 50 percent.

In 2022, Mayor Gloria said,hell launch a major infrastructureinitiativethat will be modeled after his ParksForAll of Usprogram, replacingasiloedfundingmodelwith a new citywide system toprioritizeimprovements incommunities that need the most attention.

Ill be honest with you, he said. These improvements are costly, and they take time. But we are doing everything we can to streamline these projectsandget them done as quickly as possible.Our public infrastructure is the foundation for a high quality oflife,andimproving our core systems is a top priority of mine.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Noting that San Diego has seen the same rise in crime thatother cities are experiencing, Mayor Gloria said he is committed to providingthe Citys public safety departments with the resources they need to keep residents and visitors safe.

Crime rose in San Diego by 13 percent in the past year, with violent crime up nearly 11 percent.Hate crimes increased by 65 percent.

Lawlessness will not rule the day in our city, said Mayor Gloria. We will continue to provide our police department and City Attorney the resources they need to keep you and your family safe, and respond to crime, and hold criminals accountable.

At the same time, he said he sharesthe publics concernaboutincidents of police misconductand that San Diego iscommitted to eliminating excessive use of force, racial profiling, and any abuse bylaw-enforcement officers.

TheMayorsaid he looks forward tosigninganordinance that implements the voter-approved Independent Commission on Police Practicesanda Privacy Ordinance that will allowtheCitytodeploymoretools to keep communities safe without infringing on privacy rights.

A great city can fully fund and support its law enforcement officers while also ensuring they honor their oath, he said.We can and will strike the balance between protecting our residents and respecting their civil rights and their privacy.

Members of the public can watch the State of the City speech,read a linked transcript andfind a comprehensiveprogress report on theMayorsfirst year in officeonline[sandiego.gov/mayor/sotc-2022].

View the 2022 State of the City Comprehensive Progress Report

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