If you live in downtown San Diego or in several other cities in the County, you see every day the biggest problem local leaders face every day, homelessness.
Everyone knows it’s a giant problem. And a giant of an NBA basketball star, San Diegan Bill Walton, has for months slammed San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria as hard as he used to slam a ball into a basket.
And now Walton has gone on offense again. The Voice of San Diego reports he sent a new message to the Mayor this week with the tone of a referee calling a flagrant foul.
The first line of Walton’s long email filled with questions for Mayor Gloria asks this:
“Why do you believe it’s fine to allow the homeless population of San Diego to live and die on our streets, sidewalks, bike paths…beaches, parks, canyons, waterways and riverbeds.”
Bill Walton is just one voice. But it is one of the loudest. Other voices include those of residents who live in the apartments and condos downtown along with business and shop owners all of whom see the level of homelessness every day.
The leader of a local organization that helps the homeless, the San Diego Rescue Mission, has recently said that we cannot let homelessness define San Diego.
The desire to fix the problem is not lacking, but as Bill Walton’s messages suggest, it may be time to draw up a new game plan to solve it.
READ BILL WALTON'S EMAIL BELOW.
(Photo reporting partner ABC10 News)