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Point Loma Branch 4980 North Harbor Drive, Suite 202 San Diego, CA 92106
THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2018
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
INSIDE
Annual count finds fewer homeless in San Diego
SUNSET & CHILL
BY JOSÉ A. ÁLVAREZ
Pointers baseball wins Eastern League title
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SEE PAGE 7
Guitar Workshop Plus to jam at PLNU
A little sunset therapy on the horizon taken from Sunset Elementary School on Hill Street in Point Loma last week.
THOMAS MELVILLE / PENINSULA BEACON
SEE PAGE 15
Business, tourism leaders support visitor tax increase Ballot initiative may fund homeless programs, pave roads, add jobs BY DAVE SCHWAB | THE BEACON
Spin & Go outdoors at Liberty Station SEE PAGE 6
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new citizen’s initiative seeks to ask voters in November to sanction an increase in the City’s transit occupancy tax to fund the convention center expansion, homelessness programs, create new jobs and con-
tinue road repaving and other infrastructure improvements. The “Yes! For a Better San Diego” campaign proposes a 42-year increase in the City's visitor tax that they claim would raise $6.4 billion over the life of the measure: $3.78 billion to expand and update the convention center, $2.02 billion for
homeless services and $604 million for street repairs. The campaign has been endorsed by the San Diego Tourism Authority and the San Diego County Hotel-Motel Association, joined by local tourism businesses including those in SEE YES, Page 17
he number of homeless people in San Diego County dropped by 6 percent from the previous year, according to the 2018 Point-in-Time Count. Conducted every year by the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, the count from this past January showed that 8,576 men, women and children are living on the street or in shelters, compared to the 9,116 counted in 2017. The results are used to apply for federal funds to help local homeless people and to find solutions on how to best serve those most vulnerable in the community. Of the 8,576 homeless people in the region, 4,990 were unsheltered this year compared to 5,621 last year, an 11 percent drop. Also, 3,596 were sheltered, compared to 3,495 last year, a nearly 3 percent decrease. After a steady decline the last few years, veteran homelessness rose 24 percent, with 1,312 counted as opposed to 1,054 a year earlier. The number of homeless veterans remains down 20 percent from 2011’s count.