San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria highlighted in his first annual government report that despite the surges of the Omicron variant that led to unprecedented infection rates, the city is better prepared this year because it has vaccines.
“We are still in the pandemic; the difference, however, is that we now have widely available vaccines, which rid us of the worst of the virus,” Gloria said.
At the convention center, the mayor urged compassion from San Diegans to address one of the four areas his administration will focus on in 2022, the homeless housing shortage, an issue which Governor Gavin Newsom had also referred to hours earlier during a visit to the city.
“We are still in the pandemic; the difference, however, is that we now have widely available vaccines, which rid us of the worst of the virus,” Gloria said.
Gloria said indigence and homelessness, infrastructure, crime will be priorities in the next 12 months.
"Let's be clear, under no circumstances is it compassionate to let a person live on the street," Gloria said.
He said that in the first year of his government, just over 130 homes were built for the homeless. Plans to build over 1,000 homes to help the homeless who also suffer from disorders are underway this year.
Gloria said there is an even more ambitious housing plan to reduce a growing housing shortage that leads to the separation of families, as children find it difficult to find homes growing up in San Diego.
“We are legally and morally obligated to plan for further growth, and add more than 100,000 new homes over the next eight years. Folks, we are succeeding,” Gloria said.
New homes will be built in Hillcrest, University City, and Mira Mesa, among other San Diego neighborhoods, in 2022, Gloria said.
The city's infrastructure is another of San Diego's priorities this year. Gloria said that "our road network needs more repairs that are more expensive, I mean resurfacing and rebuilding."
Gloria reported that criminal acts were down 13 percent in San Diego in 2021, with violent crime down nearly 11 percent.
