SAN DIEGO, CA - A nonprofit community organization Wednesday criticized the San Diego City Council's passage of an ordinance that will prohibit tent encampments in all public spaces throughout the city if shelter beds are available.

After hearing hours of public comment, the council voted 5-4 late Tuesday in favor of the Unsafe Camping Ordinance. Mayor Todd Gloria pushed hard for the ordinance, introduced by Councilman Stephen Whitburn, including asking the public to sign a petition.

The proposal would also ban tent encampments at all times in certain sensitive areas — parks, canyons and near schools, transit stations and homeless shelters — regardless of shelter capacity.

Gov. Gavin Newsom hailed a new police misconduct law as a tool to “root out racial injustice and fight systemic racism” less than two years ago.

Now, his administration is quietly proposing a change that weakens one of its key provisions.

Its proposal, which it has discussed with police-reform advocates, would strip a requirement that the state’s police certification commission release documents to the public about decertification of abusive or corrupt officers in California — an element of Senate Bill 2, a hard-won accountability measure.

SAN DIEGO, CA - After hearing hours of public comment, the San Diego City Council late Tuesday night voted 5-4 in favor of the Unsafe Camping Ordinance that would prohibit tent encampments in all public spaces throughout the city if shelter beds are available.

The proposal would also ban tent encampments at all times in certain sensitive areas — parks, canyons and near schools, transit stations and homeless shelters — regardless of shelter capacity.

Barbara Pinto, a member of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, compared the proposal “to pouring water on a drowning man.”

Los Angeles tenant groups announced Monday they have settled their lawsuit against the state of California over how housing department officials handled the state’s rent relief program.

About the deal
The deal gives tenants another chance to have their rent relief application reviewed or to appeal a denial. An estimated 331,000 L.A. area households remain behind on rent, and many of them are now facing possible eviction.

“Hopefully, people who were quickly denied in the past will actually be approved when the state is forced to look a little bit closer,” said Legal Aid Foundation of L.A. attorney Jonathan Jager.

More than 100,000 California tenants whose applications for COVID-era rental assistance were denied or delayed by the state’s housing department will get another shot at relief, thanks to a new legal settlement between the state and a coalition of anti-poverty and tenant rights groups.

More aid isn’t guaranteed. But under the terms of the settlement signed at the end of last month, California’s Housing and Community Development Department agreed to audit its past denials and improve multilingual access for tenants who don’t speak English as a first language.

Más de 100,000 inquilinos de California cuyas solicitudes de asistencia de alquiler de la era COVID fueron denegadas o retrasadas por el departamento de vivienda del estado tendrán otra oportunidad de alivio, gracias a un nuevo acuerdo legal entre el estado y una coalición de grupos contra la pobreza y derechos de los inquilinos.

Más ayuda no está garantizada. Pero según los términos del acuerdo firmado a fines del mes pasado, el Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Comunitario de California acordó auditar sus denegaciones anteriores y mejorar el acceso multilingüe para los inquilinos que no hablan inglés como primera lengua.

LOS ANGELES, CA - This is a summer evening in Los Angeles, a haven for all-you-can-eat street food. Night markets have long been sites for cultural exchange in ethnic enclaves. Events like 626 Night Market, considered the largest Asian food market in the country, have become a lucrative empire throughout California. But other long-standing markets, such as the Salvadoran street food market in Koreatown and Westlake’s Guatemalan street food market, began as a platform to maintain cultural and culinary traditions within their communities. Challenged by law enforcement in recent years, these vendors struggle to continue operating in the very area they reside.

Gladys Balcazar says she can barely afford food after paying rent to her new landlord, Blackstone Inc, one of the world’s largest private equity firms.

Balcazar, a 60-year-old janitor, lives with her 27-year-old son in a two-bedroom apartment in Imperial Beach. She supports her son, who has a disability, on a salary of $2,800 a month.

Blackstone bought her building and 65 others in San Diego County in 2021, becoming one of the region’s biggest landlords and alarming lawmakers, affordable housing advocates and Balcazar. In March Balcazar’s monthly rent rose $200 to $2,000.

“All of this has really depressed me because I don’t see a way out,” she said in Spanish. “I only earn enough to pay the rent, and after that there is nothing left.”