SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to spend $250,000 out of a budget surplus to keep the emergency shelter for homeless veterans in San Diego open until July 7.
The shelter at the Veterans Village of San Diego on Sports Arena Boulevard near Old Town is one of two the city funds during the winter.
The proposal is a follow-up to action by the council and Mayor Bob Filner to keep the other shelter in Barrio Logan open longer. Both would normally close about now.
The veterans shelter, on Navy property, has 150 beds. According to city staffers, the shelter is expected to serve about 500 homeless ex-military members.
"This is a very good thing to do," Councilman Kevin Faulconer said.
Filner's budget proposal for fiscal 2013-14 proposes keeping the Barrio Logan shelter operating year-round, while the veterans shelter would be funded for four months, according to council President Todd Gloria. The City Council will begin deliberating the spending plan next month.
Councilwoman Marti Emerald said the city needed "a longer term, more permanent solution" for homelessness among veterans.
In February, the mayor's office announced that city revenue was running $5.5 million higher than expenses and that about $3.6 million should be available by the end of the fiscal year, June 30.
