OCEANSIDE — In his State of the North County address on Tuesday morning, Supervisor Jim Desmond emphasized that homelessness remains one of North County’s most pressing issues.
Desmond, a former mayor of San Marcos, recounted the county’s progress in reducing homelessness and outlined plans to address the problem in the future during his June 11 address at the Sunshine Brooks Theater in Oceanside.
For Desmond and others, the issue is one of North County’s biggest challenges.
“We really have to set clear standards,” Desmond said. “Sleeping on the sidewalks, defecating in the streets, in our waterways is just unacceptable. It’s unacceptable as a society, as human beings, its fellow neighbors. We should not be allowing this to happen.”
Desmond called for a focus on treatment and recovery through sober living requirements, mandatory drug testing, and counseling to directly address the crisis, which has worsened due to the mental health crisis.
Desmond emphasized that community involvement is crucial in this effort.
“Everyone in this room is a powerful force for positive change,” he said.
One of the initiatives under consideration is purchasing a portion of the Green Oak Ranch property in Vista, which Desmond envisions as a “controlled campus for healing” with on-call staff and 24-hour security. This proposal has faced opposition from Shadowridge neighborhood residents due to concerns about safety and a lack of communication from the county.
Desmond also highlighted his implementation of crisis stabilization units throughout North County, which provide free mental health support and treatment facilities to homeless residents and others needing help. He recognized Donnie Dee, president and CEO of San Diego Rescue Mission, with the “Uplifting the Community” award for his organization’s work providing food, shelter, and job-skills training to the unhoused population.
Addressing immigration, Desmond noted the challenges posed by the influx of over 150,000 migrants from Mexico since September. He advocated for a more efficient and dignified immigration process.
“We need immigration with dignity,” Desmond asserted.
To keep families in North County, Desmond encouraged elected officials to make housing more affordable and available.
“We’ve got to be able to keep our next generation here,” Desmond said. “Otherwise, jobs are going to start leaving, and we don’t want that to start happening.”
Desmond announced an additional $4.5 million allocation for maintaining streets and roads, emphasizing the importance of government responsibility in infrastructure upkeep.
“If your government isn’t taking care of streets and roads, they’re failing to hit other things,” he said.
He also addressed the upcoming two-cent increase in the gasoline excise tax starting July 1, despite California already having some of the highest gas prices in the country. Desmond had previously called on the state to halt the increase at a May press conference in Escondido.
During his address, Desmond recognized Ebony Shelton, recently appointed as the county’s new chief administrative officer, succeeding Helen Robbins-Meyer, who retired in January.
Desmond highlighted the Blue Envelope initiative, launched last October to help law enforcement better communicate with the disabled community, and HeloPods, a new firefighting tool, launched in April.
Desmond ended his address positively about North County’s economy, noting an 11% rise in craft brewery businesses and a 15% increase in tourism and hospitality over the past year.
“We have so much potential because of people like us here in the room,” Desmond said. “We have so many possibilities in North County. Let’s take advantage of them and make it the best for everybody. Let’s make it the best so that we rise everybody up. We want to be the place where people want to live.”
