SAN DIEGO — During a news conference Tuesday morning, half a dozen Southcrest residents confronted County Chair Nora Vargas, accusing San Diego County of not doing enough to help flood victims.
The news conference was held by the San Diego Association of Realtors (SDAR) to announce $1.16 million from the Realtors Relief Foundation in grant money for flood victims.
"It's insulting, this is another publicity stunt. We have yet to see Nora Vargas on our block," said Southcrest resident Clarissa Marin. "It's been two and a half months, and all of a sudden she shows up now that realtors want to donate funding. It's an insult."
"They have done nothing to protect this community," she added.
According to SDAR, qualifying households could receive up to $2,900, which it said equals a mortgage payment or one month of rent.
Marin said there are a lot of people who have been evicted by their landlords already and now can't find anywhere to live that's affordable.
"What is that [money] supposed to do when these are people who have lived here 10, 15, 20 years, and they will never find another place in San Diego with this rent," said Marin.
The county announced Monday that May 11 is the deadline for hundreds of families to transition out of living in hotels that were paid for with county funds. She, along with five other neighbors, confronted Chair Vargas after the last speaker took the podium.
"You're not fighting hard enough!" Marin told her.
"Look, the reality is, I've been here many times. I don't call the press to come to these meetings," said Chair Vargas during an interview with CBS 8. "Today the realtors asked me to be here with them to share the information with folks about what the grants are. I am not the politician to put pictures of what I'm doing with the community or not doing with the community, I'm just getting things done."
"It's okay, they should be upset," Chair Vargas added. "There has been underinvestment in this community for decades. The people who served on the board before me never did anything for these communities so here I am three years in, trying to do the best that I can. It's okay for them to be mad at government because government is not doing what they're supposed to be doing. It's not fast enough, right?"
Chair Vargas said each family in a hotel has a caseworker. She said people are not going to be kicked out on the streets.
For more information about how to apply for the grant money from the Realtors Relief Foundation, click here.
WATCH RELATED: County of San Diego to end hotel vouchers for flood victims on May 11 (April 1, 2024)