EL CAJON, Calif. — The City of El Cajon is set to consider a ban on homeless encampments similar to the one the San Diego City Council will be considering on Tuesday.
Mayor Bill Wells says he believes the policy is the right approach to addressing the growing homelessness problem in the county.
“When we heard San Diego was doing the ordinance we thought that was a good idea," said Mayor Wells.
The mayor and Councilmember Phil Ortiz are doubling down on efforts to keep city streets clear of homeless encampments.
"We want to look at their ordinance to see if we might want to copy some of it," he added.
"So they're enacted a new ordinance, how is it going to be implemented? What's law enforcement? What are your nonprofit partners going to do? How many touches are they going towards homeless people? How many times are they communicating with them?," said District 4 Councilmember Phil Ortiz.
Wells and Ortiz are recommending the El Cajon City Council analyze San Diego’s ordinance and identify what’s different from it compared to El Cajon's existing ban on encampments.
“I know that people are worried about this kind of ordinance because they feel like its uncompassionate but honestly, I think exactly the opposite. I think letting people die on the sides of the street in their addiction living in filth, being raped and assaulted – that’s no way to live and its not good for the city,” said Wells.
Wells says unlike in San Diego, most of El Cajon residents are on board with the idea.
“We haven’t received much pushback. Really, the public comment we get mostly is that they want us to do more," he says.
Councilmember Ortiz, who was once homeless himself, believes this is the right approach to tackling the issue.
“It took hunger. It took being broke. It took sleeping out of my truck. The hit that was my rock bottom and some people it's a very true statement - people need to hit rock bottom until they make their own decision. And sometimes they don't, and sometimes they need to be helped to make that decision,” said Ortiz.
Both believe San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is moving in the right direction with the Unsafe Camping Ordinance. Wells believes cities need to move away from the housing first approach in order to address the root cause of the problem.
“You’re never going to get drug-addicted people off the street by giving them a free house. That will help maybe solve a problem. But it doesn't solve the core problem which is drug addiction and mental health issues," added Wells.
The El Cajon City Council will discuss the item during a city council meeting Tuesday and will discuss the proposal again sometime next month.
WATCH RELATED: Former San Diego leaders criticize proposed new plan to end homelessness (June 2023).