Why this matters
As the number of San Diego County residents who enter homelessness continues to outpace the number of locals who exit it every month, a lack of shelter options in North County is brewing a debate between two cities 30 miles apart.
Elected officials in Encinitas and National City, two coastal San Diego County cities 30 miles from each other, are in a fight over how — and where — to shelter unhoused people.
That’s because Encinitas unanimously approved reserving 12 beds at the San Diego Rescue Mission’s South County Lighthouse shelter for its unhoused population, much to the dismay of National City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Jose Rodriguez.
He broke what he called an “unwritten rule” in speaking at another city’s council meeting Wednesday night when he criticized Encinitas for sending unhoused residents out of town instead of coming up with a solution closer to home.
“Please do your fair share before asking National City to do more of ours,” he said. “In National City, we really do our part. With adamant community opposition, we actually had the political courage to say yes to host a 162-bed Lighthouse within our community.”
His message was not well-received — and eventually, he was thrown out of the meeting. Encinitas councilmembers said he had the facts wrong, and the decision was only a temporary solution after the city of Vista said it would use all of the beds at the Buena Creek Navigation Center, which Encinitas formerly used. They accused Rodriguez of using their meeting as a place to campaign for mayor.
“You can smile back there but you know it’s true. You’re here campaigning,” Deputy Mayor Jim O’Hara said.
When Rodriguez tried to come back to the podium after those comments, Mayor Bruce Ehlers repeatedly told him he was out of order several times before asking a sheriff’s deputy to escort Rodriguez out.
“I know this is good theater for your videos,” Ehlers said.
Two opposite cities
Encinitas and National City are opposite when it comes to income levels as well as their approaches to housing and homelessness.
Rodriguez told inewsource after the meeting that Encinitas needs to “step up” by using the North County city’s own public land and monies to address homelessness in its neighborhood.
“It is a microcosm of what has happened: more affluent, wealthy cities in the north, not taking cities in the South Bay seriously, taking us for granted,” he said. “And not even bothering giving us a call as a municipality, as a city, I think is ridiculous.”
Encinitas had a median household income of $162,000 and a 7.4% poverty rate in 2024, the most recent census data available. That’s compared to National City’s nearly $67,000 median income and 14.6% poverty rate.
The average home goes for under $700,000 in National City, and nearly two-thirds of its residents are renters. In Encinitas, which has a reputation for falling behind in building affordable housing, the average home costs $2 million.
Though the cities have roughly the same number of residents, their unhoused population numbers also look different. Encinitas reported just 100 unhoused residents in its latest annual Point-in-Time Count. National City’s count exceeded 300.
National City Mayor Ron Morrison blasted Rodriguez’s visit to the Encinitas council meeting, saying Rodriguez was “desperate for a campaign issue,” blew the shelters out of proportion and “made a fool of himself up there.”
Morrison said he spoke with Ehlers Thursday and was assured that the 12-bed agreement is temporary.
Ehlers also said Wednesday that the Rescue Mission is pursuing shelter options in Escondido, but did not provide a timeline.
Morrison said he will speak with the Rescue Mission this week to get a more definitive timeline and to ask that National City officials be notified about shelter program changes. The city has previously requested that the nonprofit prioritize unhoused residents from National City.
National City Councilmember Marcus Bush, who is also running for mayor, said that while the dynamic of more affluent Encinitas paying to send unhoused people to National City is a “nuanced, fair conversation” to have between the two cities, Rodriguez shouldn’t have acted alone.
“We are not giving money to the Rescue Mission,” Bush said, adding that the shelter has a permit to operate but does not receive city funding. “So that is a fair issue, but that’s something that we can talk about instead of grandstanding and political stunts.
“Now we’re talking about Jose and his stunt instead of the actual issue.”
Bush noted he lives next to the Rescue Mission and has had to recuse himself from a past vote years ago due to his proximity to the shelter.
Rodriguez defended his stance. He said he’s fighting for National City constituents who want solutions to homelessness issues.
“I know they keep saying that this is a campaign issue,” he said about his critics, “but you know what? I would have showed up there six months ago, a year ago, two years ago. It doesn’t matter when it was.”
Encinitas takes stricter approach to homelessness
Encinitas will spend up to roughly $380,000 a year on the National City beds, depending on how many beds the city uses. Continuing to pay for beds at the Buena Creek Navigation Center would have cost $715,000 this year, according to a city staff report.
Encinitas already has a yearlong $344,000 contract with the San Diego Rescue Mission for outreach and housing help.
Because the council had initially approved the amendment in September, the item was on last week’s consent calendar until Councilmember Joy Lyndes pulled it for discussion, suggesting that Encinitas City Manager Jennifer Campbell “engage in dialogue” with her National City counterpart.
Ehlers pointed to the Rescue Mission’s treatment-first approach, which is favored by him and the rest of the more conservative City Council. That’s why the city voted in June against applying for a nearly $4 million grant for eradicating homeless encampments.
The state and many experts favor a housing-first approach.
Since the new City Council majority took office in January 2024, Encinitas has enacted stricter rules on homelessness while eliminating some services.
Last year the city added “enforcement” to its homelessness action plan and expanded its definition of camping, which aims to prevent homeless encampments and deter people from living in their vehicles.
The city’s safe parking program, which the nonprofit Jewish Family Service had been running since 2020, also came to an end last year after officials couldn’t reach a deal on city funding. The program had 25 spots for people experiencing homelessness to sleep in their cars in a secure parking lot at the city’s Community and Senior Center.
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
