$325,000 Goal for Homeless Center Reached; Lawsuit May Delay Project

The $325,000 needed to build the planned San Diego Day Center for homeless people has been raised, Mayor Maureen O’Connor announced Wednesday. But a lawsuit filed by a builder who is seeking to develop property across the street from the proposed 17th Street site could delay the project.

Corporate donors helped swell the contributions to a total of $375,000. The extra $50,000 will be used to help defray the initial operating costs of the center.

If all goes as planned for the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, construction will begin in about six months. Frank Landerville, project director, said the center should be able to accommodate up to 100 people at a time.

Its purpose will be to offer services necessary for a person to get through the day: showers, restrooms, lounge, mail and messages, a place to store personal belongings, a pay telephone, laundry and clothing room. It will not, however, provide meals or a place to sleep.

Programs for Homeless

The Regional Task Force on the Homeless plans to offer programs at the center to encourage homeless people to gain control of their lives, including mental health and substance-abuse counseling, legal assistance and job training.

The 25,000-square-foot center will be on 17th between J and K streets, near other homeless programs including the St. Vincent de Paul Joan Kroc Center. Across the street is the site for Robert Jadlow’s proposed $9-million development of 123 apartments, neighborhood stores and offices.

Landerville said Jadlow filed suit against the city on Aug. 5 challenging “the adverse economic and environmental impact” that a center for the homeless might cause to his property. Jadlow could not be reached for comment

Landerville said the lawsuit is still pending but that the court allowed fund-raising to continue, but no ground breaking until the lawsuit is settled.

Mayor Voices Certainty

O’Connor, who is chairwoman of the regional task force, said that it is simply a matter of time before the center is built.

“Now we have the chance to say we’re doing something” about the homeless community, O’Connor said. “Now we can show that not only are we supportive of this, but so is the business community.”

The amount raised came from three sources: $125,000 in city funds, $100,000 from the county, and $150,000 from private corporate donations.

The 12 corporate contributors were: Ted Odmark of Odmark Development Co.; Chris Mortenson of Lincoln Investment Corp.; Mike Murphy of California Structures; Neil Hooberman of Stonecrest; William S. Potter of the Harry M. Stevens Co.; Shearn Platt of Rudick, Platt & Victor; Neil Senturia of Senturia Investments Inc.; Sandor Shapery of Shapery Enterprises; Clark Siebrand of SDG&E; Lee Stein of Morris Taubman-Seaport Village; Charles Tyson, and Louis Wolfsheimer.

$150,000 to Operate

The center will require about $150,000 a year to operate, said Paul Downey, O’Connor’s press secretary. The task force will continue to seek operational funds from private and public sources, he said. A fund-raiser featuring pianist Gustavo Romero in concert is planned for Dec. 14 at $125 a ticket.

Although plans for the center are proceeding, at least one homeless person didn’t appear too taken with the idea.

D.C. Kline, a tall, lanky man who was standing on a corner outside Horton Plaza Wednesday afternoon with a sleeping bag slung over his shoulder, said that grouping people with mental, physical and drug problems under one roof will spur more fighting and aggression.

Cites Danger

“One day on J Street, a guy took a pipe to some guy’s eye, all because of a simple, stupid blanket,” Kline said. “Do you realize how dangerous it is out here? There are 5,000 guys out here. I could watch every dope deal going on right here.”

Asked whether he would use the day center, Kline said: “As long as they don’t make it look so regimental, like a concentration camp. As long as they don’t utilize me like an animal who needs punishment.”

He pointed to the square outside the plaza, where some people were sitting, staring blankly, and others were sleeping.

“People out there are desperate,” he said. “Sometimes they just want a cup of coffee to stay warm.”

Kline said he had been living on the streets of San Diego since Christmas.

“I hate the way people look at me on the street. I hate the way I’m treated. Do you realize how difficult it is to ask someone for a quarter, a cigarette? They all act like I’m foreign or alien.”

Downey, O’Connor’s press secretary, said that an estimated 6,000 people roam the streets of San Diego without a home.

“They’re trying to get the bums out of the square (Horton Plaza), that’s what the mayor’s doing,” Kline said.