SAN DIEGO — A news conference held by Mayor Todd Gloria Thursday morning turned into a shouting match, as protestors yelled about the mayor's plans to open a mega-shelter in Middletown and a new Safe Parking Lot at H Barracks.
The yelling was so loud, it was hard to hear any of the speakers at the podium during the thirty-minute event.
"What I know for sure is, as I've gone around this city, it is homelessness that San Diegans are most concerned about and what they want to the city address," said Mayor Gloria.
According to the mayor's office, when you combine the money he's setting aside in his proposed budget for the next fiscal year with the San Diego Housing Commission's budgets, it totals more than $200 million to address housing and homelessness.
Mayor Gloria told reporters the fire marshal has said Golden Hall will no longer be able to be used as a shelter, therefore the 246 shelter beds there will no longer be available.
"The fact is that many of our shelter locations are temporary underscores the need for long-term stability and a facility that can continue to serve people who are homeless or at-risk or in transition, for decades to come," he said.
The mayor's budget proposal includes money for the mega-shelter he wants to open in Middletown at Kettner and Vine. Council Member Stephen Whitburn has voiced support for the shelter. Thursday, Council Member Jennifer Campbell told CBS 8 she supports the mayor's budget as is.
Meanwhile, the group of protestors yelled about all kinds of things. They voiced opposition to both the mega-shelter and the mayor's plan to open a safe parking lot at H Barracks.
"The Point Loma community has spent time rehabbing this area. You can see our beautiful bay, the hotels that are redone, you have Liberty Station, you have the school, High Tech High," said one of the protestors who declined to reveal her name.
"If we have city-owned assets not being utilized, we need to put them to work. You have seen me do that with the old Central Library downtown, with the Pier One on Sports Arena Boulevard, with vacant lots like O Lot, and 20th and B, this is a continuation of that. I think at a time when we have so many people living unsheltered, we owe it to the community to get folks into care," said Mayor Gloria.
The mayor's budget will be discussed Friday at a budget committee meeting.
The full council is set to vote on it Tuesday.