Mayor Todd Gloria announced plans Wednesday for 1,000 more homeless shelter beds across San Diego, a policy expediting construction of high-rise housing and a long-awaited labor pact for large construction projects.
During his annual State of the City speech at Balboa Theatre, Gloria also said he will soon launch a national search for a new fire chief and that he is establishing a philanthropic foundation focused entirely on fighting homelessness.
The mayor also announced notable progress on the city’s efforts to build more housing to combat its crisis: San Diego issued permits in 2023 for about 8,000 new housing units, up more than 50 percent over the 5,300 permits issued in 2022.
Gloria, a Democrat running for re-election this year, also used his speech to announce plans to name a street near Petco Park for recently deceased Padres owner Peter Seidler.
Other big announcements included the mayor endorsing an effort to ask voters to undo a controversial decade-old state ballot measure that some say encourages shoplifting. He also said the city is ready to build a new firefighter training facility in Kearny Mesa.
The plan for 1,000 new shelter beds, which would be a 54 percent increase over the city’s existing 1,856 shelter beds, would be at new sites like H Barracks near San Diego International Airport and the old downtown library on E Street.
The library site, which now serves as a temporary shelter for women, will be transformed into upgraded shelter spaces and low-income housing units for formerly homeless people, Gloria said.
H Barracks, a large empty lot on Harbor Drive, was announced last year as a potential site for homeless services. But it was unclear until Wednesday whether it would house shelter beds or a designated area for parking and camping.
Gloria called the proposals for the new shelter beds and the transformation of the old library “the largest homeless services proposals this city has ever pursued.”
On top of those, the mayor said he is also launching a nonprofit called San Diegans Together Tackling Homelessness and said it already has commitments for $250,000 from undisclosed donors.
“I hope San Diegans who have the means to step up and help will provide some of the fuel for our efforts,” Gloria said.
On housing, the mayor said he intends to further the city’s progress on issuing more building permits last year, which is partly the result of a controversial incentive called Complete Communities Housing Solutions.
Gloria signed an executive order Wednesday that will boost even further that incentive, which lets developers build structures as much as four times the size a property’s zoning typically allows.
The executive order requires city planning officials to process all applications under the program within 30 days, a process the mayor said has typically taken up to a year.
Gloria also announced the city has reached a deal with the San Diego Building and Construction Trades Council on an elusive citywide project labor agreement.
Critics say such deals hurt taxpayers by increasing the costs of large projects. But Gloria praised the deal, which took more than a year to negotiate.
“It will provide the city with a reliable source of highly skilled workers for all city construction projects, encourage the employment of local residents for these good-paying jobs, and meet high standards for worker health and safety,” he said.
The City Council is scheduled to consider approving the deal next month, Gloria said.
Midway through his speech, protesters interrupted the mayor’s speech for more than one minute with shouts of “ceasefire now.” The chant is frequently used by people demanding Israel agree to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The mayor also announced a national search to replace Fire Chief Colin Stowell, who will retire at the end of 2024 after a 36-year city career. A similar search was launched recently to replace retiring Police Chief David Nisleit.
The mayor also had high praise for Seidler, saying the late Padres owner lived up to the values he professed and acted on his compassion for people experiencing homelessness every single day.
“He didn’t watch from the sidelines,” Gloria said. “He dove into action, encouraging others to do the same. Peter represented the very best of San Diego.”
The mayor said he recently initiated the process to rename one of the streets leading to the team’s stadium Peter Seidler Way to honor Seidler’s legacy and service to the community.
Gloria also said city officials have cleared any hurdles, including conflicts with neighbors, facing a long-planned firefighter training facility in Kearny Mesa. It will replace an existing training facility at Liberty Station.
The mayor also endorsed Proposition 1, a statewide measure on the March primary ballot that would generate money for 11,000 behavioral health treatment beds and nearly 27,000 outpatient opportunities. The City Council also endorsed Proposition 1 on Tuesday.
Gloria also expressed support for a legislative effort to have California voters reconsider 2014’s Proposition 47, which reclassified certain drug and theft crimes as misdemeanors.
“Let’s be clear: When crimes are committed, there must be consequences,” the mayor said.
He contended the law has encouraged organized networks of career thieves to ransack stores with little to no consequence.
“While San Diego hasn’t been hit as hard by these theft rings as other California cities, we’re still paying the price — both at the cash register and in time and convenience,” he said. “You shouldn’t have to flag down a Target employee to unlock a Plexiglass cabinet just so you can get toothpaste.”
Also on crime, the mayor pointed to data indicating that violent crime was down in the city during 2023, citing a 12 percent drop in murders, a 16 percent drop in rapes and a 7 percent drop in robbery.
Gloria also touted some new figures showing that city crews repaired 61,305 potholes in 2023 — almost twice as many as it fixed in 2022, and more than twice as many as 2021.
The mayor said San Diego, while it hasn’t fully achieved achieved the goals he set when taking office in late 2020, is on the rise.
“The state of our city is getting stronger every day,” he said. “We have more work to do, but we have proven that, together, we are up to the task.”
He acknowledged progress may not yet be apparent to everyone in every neighborhood.
“Progress can be a tricky beast,” he said. “It doesn’t look the same to everyone — it’s often non-linear and messy.”
But it’s underway and gaining momentum, he said.
“One thing I know for sure is that I have never had more faith in the ability of this city to reverse decades of neglect and take its rightful place as not just a ‘fine’ city, but one of our nation’s greatest,” he said. “We have leveled off the downward slide, climbed out of the deep valley our city was in — and our trajectory is now pointed skyward.”
In response to Gloria’s speech, one of his re-election opponents, civil rights attorney Geneviéve Jones-Wright, said his vision for San Diego and his agenda to accomplish that vision are not aligned with most city residents.
“His speech gave more lip service to more of the same stuff that hasn’t worked,” Jones-Wright said. “He did not offer any real solutions to our most pressing issues, especially homelessness and lack of housing.”
Another opponent, police officer Larry Turner, also criticized the mayor.
“We’ve never been less safe, never had more homeless people suffering on our streets, never had this many businesses shutting down or refusing to come to San Diego,” Turner said.
It’s unusual for mayoral opponents to issue statements after the State of the City speech.
