On January 3, 2017, advocates for San Diego, California's, homeless gathered downtown for a rally, according to an article in the San Diego Reader. They presented the city's mayor, Kevin Faulconer, with a petition signed by more than 1,100 people, asking him to stop the police from ticketing and arresting homeless people until such time as the city solves its problem of unaffordable housing.
The petition was devised and circulated by Women Occupy San Diego, whose spokeswoman, Martha Sullivan, said San Diego needed to stop treating homelessness as a crime, and see it for what it is—a man-made crisis. John Brady, a member of the singing group Voices of Our City Choir, agreed, saying that six years ago, San Diego had 10,000 more affordable housing options than it does today.
Homeless shelters are not the answer, according to Steph Johnson, who is the co-founder of the choir, since they are not a permanent solution, and ticketing homeless people for being homeless is not a solution either. Johnson noted that the mayor has the authority to stop the ticketing, and various advocacy groups urge him to do so until there is safe, affordable housing available for all San Diegans. Estimates are that more than 8600 people are homeless in San Diego County.
Efforts like these could benefit if organizers work with flyer printing companies to create handouts describing the extent of the problem.
