Oceanside is one of the latest cities in the county to take more steps an effort to solve one of the biggest ongoing issues in the San Diego area, homelessness.
The Oceanside City Council has unanimously approved an emergency motel voucher program and an anti-camping ordinance in response to the tent communities that have been growing along South Oceanside Boulevard and elsewhere in the city. Under the provisions of the measure approved by the Oceanside council, if the city offers a person who is homeless an available bed and support services, it can ticket them for “camping, sleeping, sitting, lying and storing personal property” in public places when they refuse to leave.
The homeless situation in Oceanside is similar to ones in cities all across the county and despite efforts by all the cities to find answers, the problem of homelessness has proven to be unsolvable.
Those who are homeless advocates and those who work for organizations that help people who are homeless will tell you it is a huge, difficult and complicated problem. And there is no one answer.
A 34-year-old man who was homeless for six years told the Oceanside council members, “A lot of us out here on the street have mental issues”. He says they choose to live with people like themselves despite the crime and drugs. A business representative in Oceanside says many of the homeless have reached the point where they are not able to improve their situation without support or intervention.
Everyone agrees that homelessness needs to be solved. But HOW remains the big unanswered question to a big problem.
(Photo Getty Images)
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