Looser Rules Sought on Opening Shelters
San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor on Monday called for the city to liberalize its policy on opening emergency shelters for the homeless during cold weather, claiming that the existing guidelines are too severe for disabled and ill homeless people.
Under current policy, the city opens the Municipal Gymnasium in Balboa Park to the homeless when temperatures are expected to drop to 35 degrees, or 40 degrees if at least a half inch of rain is forecast.
The mayor wants the policy changed to 40 degrees in dry weather, 50 degrees if half an inch of rain is expected.
“This is the only humane action that the city can take,” O’Connor said in a news release. “The current limits are too low. Disabled and ill homeless people face life-threatening conditions on many winter nights, even in our relatively mild climate.”
The city’s cost to open the gym is low, largely because it is staffed by volunteers, said Paul Downey, the mayor’s spokesman. Liberalizing the guidelines would cost about $10,000 each winter, he said.
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