San Diego, CA

San Diego isn't properly reporting or evaluating hundreds of millions in homelessness spending, audit says

Published

2 years ago

April 10, 2024

San Diego isn't properly reporting or evaluating hundreds of millions in homelessness spending, audit says

San Diego city officials spent hundreds of millions of dollars over three years to fight a growing homelessness problem but failed to fully report its revenue and spending or evaluate the effectiveness of many programs, according to a state audit released April 9.

During the three fiscal years between July 2020 and June 2023, San Diego spent more than $218 million from federal, state and local sources on myriad programs.

But San Diego officials did not clearly define performance measures related to much of that spending or make sure that service providers properly monitored outcomes for the work they were paid to perform, according to a report by the California State Auditor.

“For example, in a $1.6 million agreement for interim housing and supportive services, the Housing Commission did not specify how many people the provider should serve or set a target for occupancy,” the report stated.

“Housing Commission staff explained that attaching goals to certain metrics can create unintended adverse behaviors from service providers to meet those goals,” the report added.

The auditor’s report examined homelessness spending in San Diego and San Jose and said it found similar deficiencies in spending and reporting practices in San Jose, which spent more than $300 million over the same three-year period.

“Both cities use interim housing as a way to provide shelter for people experiencing homelessness, but they both need to develop additional permanent housing,” state auditor Grant Parks wrote. “Data consistently show that placements into permanent housing results in significantly better outcomes than placements into interim housing.”

The audit says neither city “has a clear long-term plan for meeting its need for permanent supportive housing.”

Auditors also wrote that “to inform decision-makers and provide transparency, the cities should track and report in a single location all funding they receive and use to reduce homelessness.”

The report gives credit to both cities for adopting specific plans to address the rising homelessness in their jurisdictions. But it says each city could improve how it reports its objectives and outcomes.

“Neither San Jose nor San Diego has measured the effectiveness of all of its programs to address the risks of unsheltered homelessness,” according to the report.

In response, San Diego officials said they generally agree with the report’s recommendations and indicated they would take steps to implement them where feasible, though Chief Operating Officer Eric Dargan said the city already complies with much of what the audit recommends.

“The city already has existing spending plans in place, but will publicly report them in a single location,” Dargan said. “The city already requires performance measures, and an overall review and assessment of the effectiveness of service providers is in progress.”

Dargan recently told The San Diego Union-Tribune that he aims to eliminate the city’s homeless services department and rely more heavily on private philanthropy to address homelessness.

The San Diego Housing Commission, a separate agency that operates under the city housing authority made up of the nine City Council members, issued a response that was more critical of the audit’s conclusions.

Commission President Lisa Jones said the agency already has launched a series of programs with high impact and regularly exercises and upgrades its various monitoring tools.

“It is unfortunate that the audit report’s discussion of SDHC and its efforts was too narrowly focused, did not reflect understanding of the breadth of SDHC’s extensive efforts and lacked the context necessary for a comprehensive assessment of the homeless shelters and services system,” Jones said.

The auditor’s response said the office stands by the report.

The audit examining San Diego and San Jose was released in conjunction with another report evaluating efforts to fight homelessness across the state.

That report says more than 180,000 people in California experienced homelessness in 2023 — up 53 percent from a decade earlier. Nine state agencies invested billions of dollars over the past five years without consistently tracking or evaluating the spending, the report says.

The number of unhoused people has climbed in San Diego in recent years, auditors said, but not as steeply as statewide.

Between 2015 and 2023, the audit says, the number of people experiencing homelessness in San Diego rose from 5,538 to 6,500, based on the city’s Point in Time counts — an increase of about 17 percent. Over the same period, the number of unhoused people in San Jose jumped by 56 percent.

The findings may be especially significant because both San Diego and San Jose have huge chunks of homelessness funding they have yet to spend.

According to the state review, San Diego was sitting on more than $52 million in unspent state and federal funds. Most of that came from $21 million in state Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention grants and $22 million earmarked under a permanent housing program.

San Jose was holding more than $86 million in unallocated money designated for homelessness programs, the audit states.

Specifically, auditors reviewed 14 separate programs run by each of the two cities.

San Jose failed to set clearly defined goals in any of the 14, auditors said. San Diego enacted specific performance measures in eight of the 14 projects reviewed, but the others had undefined goals or no goals at all, according to the report.

“Although both cities asserted that they monitored or reviewed the performance of their service providers, their staff did not always document overall conclusions about the effectiveness of the service providers’ efforts,” auditors wrote. “One reason for this gap is that the cities’ procedures do not require staff to formally document such assessments.”

The audit was released five days after San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria introduced a new shelter plan for the Middletown neighborhood just north of Little Italy. That plan, which lacks details and has yet to be approved by the City Council, would add 1,000 or more shelter beds. ◆

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San Diego, CA

UNLV faces San Diego State after Hamilton’s 24-point performance

Published

8 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

UNLV faces San Diego State after Hamilton’s 24-point performance

UNLV Rebels (16-14, 11-8 MWC) at San Diego State Aztecs (19-10, 13-6 MWC)

San Diego; Friday, 10 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: UNLV faces San Diego State after Kimani Hamilton scored 24 points in UNLV’s 92-65 victory over the Utah State Aggies.

The Aztecs have gone 13-2 in home games. San Diego State is eighth in the MWC with 9.0 offensive rebounds per game led by Miles Heide averaging 2.0.

The Rebels have gone 11-8 against MWC opponents. UNLV ranks eighth in the MWC shooting 34.4% from 3-point range.

San Diego State averages 79.1 points per game, 0.6 more points than the 78.5 UNLV gives up. UNLV averages 7.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.9 fewer made shots on average than the 9.1 per game San Diego State allows.

The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. San Diego State won the last meeting 82-71 on Jan. 24. Miles Byrd scored 23 points points to help lead the Aztecs to the win.

TOP PERFORMERS: Reese Dixon-Waters is shooting 35.9% from beyond the arc with 1.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Aztecs, while averaging 13 points. Byrd is averaging 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds over the past 10 games.

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn is shooting 50.9% and averaging 20.6 points for the Rebels. Hamilton is averaging 1.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Aztecs: 5-5, averaging 74.9 points, 28.9 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 6.9 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.0 points per game.

Rebels: 6-4, averaging 84.1 points, 32.3 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 6.4 steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 50.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.8 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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San Diego, CA

Military bases in San Diego County increase security following Iran attacks

Published

20 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Military bases in San Diego County increase security following Iran attacks

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – Military bases in San Diego County and nationwide have increased security measures due to last weekend’s U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, prompting traffic delays near base entrances, enhanced ID checks and access restrictions.

The Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado ports three aircraft carriers, including the San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln, which led some of the first-wave attacks on Saturday.

Naval Base Coronado warned motorists of possible traffic delays at all base entry points due to the increased security measures.

Targets included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.

The U.S. operation, dubbed “Epic Fury,” and Israeli operation, “Raging Lion,” began striking targets at 1:15 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday.

As of Tuesday, at least six U.S. service members had been killed in action.

The strikes also killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who had been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, making him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East.

Iran’s offensive forces claimed to have struck USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles, but according to an X post from U.S central Command, “The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close. The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime.”

Those with concerns regarding the heightened security can contact San Diego County’s Office of Emergency Services at 858-565-3490 or oes@sdcounty.ca.gov.

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San Diego, CA

SD Unified moves forward with layoffs of classified employees

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

SD Unified moves forward with layoffs of classified employees

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Less than 3 weeks after the San Diego Unified School District finalized a new contract with teachers, the school board voted unanimously on Tuesday to move forward with layoff notices for other district employees.

The layoffs affect classified employees — workers who are employed by the district but are not teachers and are not certified. That includes bus drivers, custodians, special education and teacher aides, and cafeteria workers.

The district says it is eliminating 221 positions — 133 that are currently filled and 88 that are vacant — to save $19 million and help address a projected $47 million deficit for the next fiscal year.

Preliminary layoff notices will go out on March 15, with final notices by May 15.

The district estimates about 200 classified employees will receive preliminary notices, but of them, about 70 are expected to lose their jobs based on union-negotiated bumping rules.

Bumping allows employees with more seniority to move into another position in the same classification, thereby “bumping” a less senior employee out of that role.

Lupe Murray, an early childhood special education parafacilitator with the district, said the news came as a shock after the teacher strike was called off.

“When the strike was called off, I’m like, ‘Yes!’ So then when I got the email from the Superintendent, I’m like, ‘Wait, what?’ So, I think everyone was shocked,” Murray said.

The district says it sends out annual layoff notices, as all districts in the state do.

Before Tuesday’s board meeting, classified employees rallied outside, made up of CSEA (California School Employees Association) Chapters OTBS 788, Paraeducators 759, and OSS 724. They were joined by parents, students, and the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Miguel Arellano, a paraeducator independence facilitator with San Diego Unified and a representative of San Diego Paraeducators Cahpter 759.

“What do we want? No layoffs! When do we want it? Now!” the crowd chanted.

Arellano said he felt compelled to act when he learned about the potential layoffs.

“The first thing that went through my mind was that I need to speak up. I need to protect these people,” Arellano said.

Inside the meeting, the board heard emotional, at times tearful testimony from classified employees before voting unanimously to move forward with the layoff schedule.

Superintendent Fabi Bagula said the district has tried to protect classrooms from the cuts.

“We have tried our best to only, I mean, to not touch the school. Or the classroom. But now it’s at the point where it’s getting a little bit harder,” Bagula said. “What I’m still hoping, or what I’m still working toward, because we’re still in negotiations, is that we’re able to actually come to a win-win, where there’s positions and availability and maybe even promotions for folks that are impacted.”

Arellano warned the layoffs could have a direct impact on students.

“We are already spread thin, so, with more of a case load, it’s going to be impossible to be able to service all the students that we need to have,” Arellano said.

Follow ABC 10News Anchor Max Goldwasser on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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