NBC 7’s Omari Fleming has the latest in the battle the city of El Cajon is waging against the county and state over hotel vouchers for homeless people.
The El Cajon City council voted unanimously Tuesday to form a two-person subcommittee to regulate how hotel vouchers given to homeless people by the county are used in city limits.
Regulation is needed because, according to Mayor Bill wells and other city leaders, a disproportionate amount of voucher recipients are being sent to El Cajon.
"This is the greatest crisis I've ever seen," Mayor Wells said. "This has the most ability to damage our city than anything I've ever seen while I've been in city government."
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
Earlier this month, the city warned hotels they could face $1,000 per day fines for accepting too many vouchers. Wells said the hotels were becoming defacto homeless shelters. The city rescinded the warnings Friday, just one day before State Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter telling them to stop, saying the policy bordered on housing discrimination.
Wells fired back, accusing AG Bonta of basing his actions off of local media coverage.
“There’s been no due process. They didn’t do an investigation. They didn’t talk to us. They cited a newspaper article to get their facts from, which I think is preposterous,” said Wells.
Last Friday, the city met with motel operators, calling the meetings "productive." In what the city called “a show of good faith,” the notices were rescinded pending further discussions with motel operators.
In a press release, Assistant City Manager David Richards said the meetings provided an opportunity for the motel owners to understand the city’s municipal code and concerns the city has with the county of San Diego’s concentration of homeless population within a 3-square-mile area.
City officials have also expressed concern over the growing number of recent police and emergency service calls to the motels.
“Over the period of September 20-23, the El Cajon Police Department arrested 20 individuals using a county motel voucher in El Cajon or who were connected to someone using a voucher. The El Cajon Department will provide additional information about arrests in the near future,” said Richards.
City leaders claim El Cajon only has about 100,000 residents, or 5% of the county population, but the city hotels take in 45% of voucher recipients.
The county has denied Wells' claims that it's sending more homeless people to the East County city. Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher has accused Wells of trying to “blow up the voucher program,” Bonta.
“I’m thankful for attorney Rob Bonta for telling El Cajon, 'Not a chance. Not a chance are you going to violate state and federal housing laws,'" said Fletcher.
El Cajon city councilmembers say voucher recipients need to be vetted better to help protect residents.
"When a contractor sends someone into the city who has an outstanding warrant, that's a problem," Councilmember Steve Goble said. "As a substitute teacher, I did a background check. I had to be fingerprinted, I had to go through the DOJ system. If we're using public funds, why are we not vetting for outstanding warrants? That just seems like a no-brainer."
The subcommittee formed Tuesday will come up with draft regulations for council review.
