SANTEESANTEE — East County’s main representative on the county Board of Supervisors said he would not building small homes for the homeless in Santee unless the local city council requests it, likely making the proposal dead in the water as elected leaders are vocally opposed.
Joel Anderson told a large crowd at a public forum Wednesday that an internal poll by his office had also found a majority of residents were not ive.
“My job is to represent you, not force things on you,” he said at Santee’s Carlton Oaks Country Club. “When the city council asks me, I’d be happy to help.”
More than 100 people had gathered at the club before the event began, and Anderson’s office said more than 340 had ed. Many attendees spoke in opposition to having the shelter beds in the city, making the scene similar to a meeting last year in Lakeside.
Anderson played down how far along the proposal was.
On Dec. 20, the head of the county’s Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities emailed Santee’s city manager a map of a potential site for around 60 tiny homes for the homeless near the historic Edgemoor Barn.
Barbara Jimenez detailed more than a dozen components of the proposal — including 24/7 security and a curfew — and said the site could be ready as soon as September.
But Anderson on Wednesday disputed that those records constituted a formal “plan.”
Instead, he said that site was only one of several locations being considered and that no decision had ever been made.
The town hall came shortly before the city plans to more aggressively enforce new rules that largely make it illegal to camp or start fires by the river in an effort to reduce the number of people sleeping near the water. Officials have reported frequent fires by encampments.
Some people displaced from the corridor could end up in other parts of the city, and Anderson told attendees opposed to a shelter not to complain about seeing more tents on streets if they weren’t willing to more housing.
While a fifth of the region’s homeless are estimated to be in East County, leaders’ response has been hampered by the fact that the area essentially has just one shelter, in El Cajon, and a federal court has ruled cities generally cannot force people off public land if no beds are available.
Anderson previously succeeded in getting several cities in the area to sign onto an agreement pledging a more coordinated effort, but local leaders continue to say they’re not being fully looped in on county plans.
Anderson pushed back Wednesday, saying some city officials weren’t always coordinating well with the county.
The Board of Supervisors could overrule Anderson and force construction on the county-owned land, but Anderson said he would not be on board until the city was.
