San Diego County Mayors Are Addressing Homelessness

Trade screen time for race time at Virginia International Raceway. August 21st through 23rd, IMSA's Michelin GT Challenge brings some of the coolest cars to VIR for an unforgettable family weekend. Explore, meet drivers, see race cars up close, and experience the thrill of racing from every corner of the track. It's more than a race. It's a memory waiting to be made. Kids 12 and under get in free. Get your tickets at VIRFam.com. That's VIRFAM.com. San Diego Rescue Mission hosted the fifth annual mayor symposium. It was called Bringing Together Leadership from all 18 cities in San Diego County. It was a closed door discussion on how to approach homelessness. On the Kogan News live line is Paul Armstrong. He is the chief of staff at San Diego Rescue Mission. Paul, thank you so much for joining us on San Diego's morning news. Thank you. This symposium. Was it designed to talk about homelessness or were there other issues involved and then this just popped up and kind of dominated the conversation? No, this is the primary reason for the symposium. So this is the fifth time we've been able to gather the mayors. And we just, we know that this is a regional issue. And so we look to bring all of the mayors together to just look at this from a regional perspective and give them a chance to talk about what's working, what they're seeing, and just be a safe space to talk. So what did you guys come up with? Well, we solved everything, I wish. Now, it was a good opportunity. There's a great opportunity to talk about the importance of data very specifically. We champion for what's known as a by name list, where you really know who the people are who are experiencing homelessness. We just talked about, you know, that the reality is we have to do what's known as the point in time count, but that number doesn't give us what's actually happening. Both the point in the by name list we use and Vista and Encinitas as well as our TFA's monthly report really gives us a more accurate picture that we need to be concerned that more people are falling into homelessness and leaving homelessness and that we really need to be coordinating our efforts and working together more effectively. Yeah, I was going to piggyback on that. Paul Armstrong is the chief of staff for San Diego Rescue Mission. Is San Diego County? doing enough to address the homeless issue as a regional issue. Because as you say, collaboration is going to be key. Yeah, I think that was one of the things that did come out is we definitely want to look at more engaging the county more. They control the health and human services budget, which is the behavioral health and substance use treatment. And so they are a critical player. And I think we need to be going, hey, how's the coordination between the cities and the county? And it seems like, at least from the mayor's perspective, there's room to grow there.

Then are you pretty encouraged by teamwork? I am. You know, one of the nice things about the mayor's symposium is that it is for the mayors, and we have a variety of political perspectives, but we also know that there's a common issue that we've got to address with this homelessness. And what we found is anytime people can rally around a common cause, you're able to find common ground. And when you find common ground, you can find a way forward. This is a fifth annual mayor's symposium. But was the county involved in any way? We continue the theme here. Well, so this really was a focus for mayors to be able to get together. We did have the county attend last year, and I think we are looking next year when we do our 16 annual one, but we will most likely be intentionally engaging with the county so they can join the conversation. All right. Well, you know, this isn't a topic that's going to continue. And we're glad that you guys are working together to try to come up with a solution. Yeah, thank you. We're going to keep plugging away, and we're going to get ahead of this thing. All right. Paul Armstrong, the chief of staff at San Diego Rescue Mission. Trade screen time for race time at Virginia International Raceway. August 21st through 23rd, IMSA's Michelin GT Challenge brings some of the coolest cars to VIR for an unforgettable family weekend. Explore, meet drivers, see race cars up close, and experience the thrill of racing from every corner of the track. It's more than a race. It's a memory waiting to be made. Kids 12 and under getting free. Get your tickets at VIRFam.com. That's VIRFAM.com. Vital doesn't always mean visible. Across America, advanced technology is working behind the scenes, strengthening our nation. It protects our warfighters, advances life-saving health care, combat cyber threats, and defends the critical infrastructure that keeps our country moving. At GDIT, we power the systems that help America operate, connect, and stay secure. Every hour, every mission, every day. GDIT, behind America's invisible advantage.