Morning Report: A Slow Start for Prop. 36 Drug Treatment Referrals

Nearly five months ago, law enforcement authorities across San Diego County started enforcing Proposition 36, which aimed to crack down on repeat drug and theft offenders – and to offer drug offenders treatment if they choose that option to avoid jail or prison time.

Our Lisa Halverstadt wanted to know: How many Proposition 36 offenders have been linked with treatment since it took effect in mid-December?

Halverstadt found that just a fraction of the hundreds of people arrested and charged with treatment-mandated felonies under the new law have been referred to treatment.

It turns out the county and Superior Court officials only recently established a formal process to defer felony charges and connect Proposition 36 offenders with treatment.

Read the full story here. 

Speaking of drug treatment: San Marcos residents are coming out against a proposed residential recovery and wellness campus but as KPBS reports, the proposal won’t move forward unless it receives competitive state grant funding.

Inside the Debate Over Paid Parking at Balboa Park 

San Diegans love Balboa Park. They do not love the idea of paying to park there.

But how do you define San Diegan? Our Bella Ross reports that San Diego city councilmembers and outspoken residents seem to be coalescing around a model that would have only tourists – and residents of other cities in the county – pay up.

There are some complications with that idea. For one, only charging non-residents would generate millions less to help the city address its budget crisis.

Ross dove into city projections and other paid parking options on the table in the city’s crown jewel.

Read more here. 

Nonprofits, Councilmembers Highlight Cost-of-Living Burden

As the local governments stare down budget deficits and the prospect of federal cuts, nonprofits gathered outside City Hall on Thursday to sound the alarm about San Diego families’ existing struggles to make ends meet.

Here’s a rundown of what the groups, who were joined by Councilmembers Sean Elo-Rivera and Kent Lee, shared:

-The San Diego Housing Federation and the California Housing Partnership, which both advocate for subsidized affordable housing, unveiled a report showing average monthly rent is up nearly $100 year-over-year and more than 135,200 low-income renters are spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

-Children First Collective, a group working to make child care more accessible in San Diego, revealed that its county-commissioned research showed 190,000 children in the county lack access to licensed care and that a family of four would need to make more than $107,000 annually to afford it.

-Nonprofit Jewish Family Service of San Diego reported that the number of clients accessing its pantry programs has spiked 20 percent over the past year.

Times of San Diego provided more details. 

Related: After the press conference, the Union-Tribune reports that councilmembers got a grim briefing about uncertain federal housing assistance funding and the city housing agency’s increasing strain to keep families housed.

In Other News

• SLAM! San Diego Police overtime hours are on the chopping block and some people are not happy about it. Police Chief Scott Wahl told City Councilmembers this week during budget discussions that he proposed overtime cuts because there’s nowhere else to cut, the Union-Tribune reports. 
• Speaking of budget cuts … Fox 5 reports that residents are worried about cuts to the department that does road repairs in the city. 
• Following a KPBS investigation that an Oceanside-based credit union was collecting millions in overdraft fees from Marine recruits, Congressmembers requested an investigation and now one senator is requesting that the U.S. Department of Defense hold off on renewing a contract between the Marine Corps and Frontwave Credit Union. 

The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. 

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