ENCINITAS — Amid mounting public discourse and growing tensions over homelessness in Encinitas, local leaders, business owners and experts say the issue is complex, multifaceted and often misunderstood.
As concerns proliferate on social media platforms and at public meetings, many in the community are raising alarms over public safety and the visible presence of unhoused individuals.
However, interviews with city officials, service providers, local business owners and academic experts present a more nuanced picture that challenges the dominant online narratives.
“It’s a massive problem that we’ve accumulated over the last 40 years,” said Niko Sougias, owner of Charlie’s Foreign Car and Charlie’s E-Bike in downtown Encinitas. “It needs to be fixed — but in a humanitarian way.”
Sougias, whose business is located near the Community Resource Center (CRC) that serves homeless and low-income individuals, has voiced frustration about the impact of homelessness on the immediate area but emphasized that the number of individuals experiencing homelessness has remained relatively stable.
“It honestly feels like it’s only gone up incrementally,” he said. “It does not feel like some huge surge.”
Residents voicing concerns on social media frequently cite open-air drug use, threatening behavior, and other illegal activities as signs of a worsening public safety crisis. Social media accounts amplifying these anxieties point to the CRC as a root cause of the issue of homelessness in Encinitas.
However, some residents and business owners, such as Bart Smith, owner and principal architect at DZN Partners, whose office is next to the CRC, said he doesn’t believe the nonprofit is to blame.
A member of the group’s facilities board who has volunteered at events in the past, Smith said the issue of homelessness in the city extends beyond the service center’s efforts to hand out food and provide treatment services.
“You can understand it, it’s a great place to live if you’re homeless,” Smith said, citing the beach, restrooms, the transit center, and the walkability of downtown Encinitas. “I honestly don’t think that the CRC is the issue.”
Community Resource Center
John Van Cleef, CEO of Community Resource Center, stressed that the organization’s food and nutrition program serves a broad range of residents, including seniors, families and low-income individuals. According to a CRC survey, 34% of the individuals supported by the center are unhoused, while 52% are housed, and 14% of participants did not answer.
“What we’ve allowed to have happen is false narratives,” Van Cleef said, pointing to online claims that CRC draws homeless individuals from other regions. “CRC does not advertise in Missouri. We do not advertise at trolley stops. That is just absolutely untrue, false, and it is harmful.”
Van Cleef also addressed accusations that CRC financially benefits from serving homeless individuals. He called the claims “conspiracy theories,” noting that the organization receives just $8,800 from the city’s general fund for its food program.
Still, Sougias believes the CRC’s food distribution services contribute to loitering.
“If I was homeless … I wouldn’t stray far from that place,” he said.
Sougias called for additional infrastructure, such as bathrooms or a courtyard space, to address ongoing sanitation concerns.
Smith acknowledged occasional issues near his business, including safety concerns for staff, but added, “I don’t think the homeless situation is all that bad.”
Donnette Poole, manager at Honey’s Bistro & Bakery in downtown Encinitas, said she’s seen a sharp rise in what she characterized as unsanitary, unsafe, and often aggressive behavior linked to the city’s homeless population, particularly in the past year. She said the area around Honey’s and East Village has become a frequent site for drug paraphernalia, loitering, and occasional violence.
“I personally have been pushed and spit on,” Poole said. “And I’m left to fend for myself to protect my customers and employees, and we’re just not trained or cut out for that.”
She said the issue has worsened with the influx of what she said is a population of “new homeless,” or individuals with little history or ties to the city.
“We’ve always had the homeless guys, like the local homeless around that we knew, and there were a handful of them that would say, ‘Hey, can I come help set up the patio in the morning in exchange for a cup of coffee and using the bathrooms,’” Poole said. “Those homeless people, the regulars, have now moved on because of how violent and dangerous the new younger crew is.”
By the numbers
Mayor Bruce Ehlers noted that Point-in-Time counts have fluctuated, with the last two years showing an uptick in the homeless population. Ehlers stated that since 2019, the city has allocated $5.6 million for homelessness efforts.
“If you look at the 10-year trend on the Point in Time Count, it’s been up, it’s been down,” Ehlers said. “It’s more up than ever before in the last year or so.”
Ehlers emphasized the need for better data to track outcomes.
“How many people are being helped, how many exit into permanent housing, and how successful are the city’s programs?” Ehlers said.
He also voiced support for statewide reforms like Proposition 36 and SB 43, which could enable more court-mandated treatment for individuals struggling with substance use and severe mental illness.
“Chronic, visible homelessness is often service-resistant,” Ehlers said.
While homelessness continues to spark debate in Encinitas, data from the last several years paints a more complex picture of public need and safety in the city.
From 2021 to 2025, the number of homeless individuals served annually in Encinitas fluctuated, according to data from the Regional Task Force on Homelessness. After serving 575 people in 2021-22, the figure dipped slightly to 541 in 2022-23 before spiking to 741 in 2023-24. So far this year, 414 individuals have been served — a figure that, if trends hold, could end lower than last year’s total.
Meanwhile, overall crime in Encinitas has declined. According to data from the San Diego Association of Governments, the total number of reported offenses dropped from 2,713 in 2022-23 to 2,298 in 2023-24 — a 15% decrease. As of April of this year, the number has fallen again to 1,628.
Encinitas continues to report lower crime rates compared to neighboring cities. Oceanside and Escondido each saw more than 7,000 offenses in the last year, while Carlsbad reported over 5,000. Del Mar, a much smaller city, has recorded just 128 offenses this year.
Causes and effects
San Diego State University political science professor Brian Adams underscored that mental illness and addiction, while common among visible homeless individuals, are not the root causes of homelessness.
“If housing were affordable, many of those individuals … would still be able to find housing,” Adams said. He pointed to Mississippi, where mental illness and poverty are prevalent, but homelessness is less widespread due to lower housing costs.
Adams also criticized the perception that homelessness is purely a result of personal failings.
“There are ways to address it irrespective of whether it’s personal failings or larger social forces,” he said.
Adams defended the Housing First model, which provides housing without preconditions, such as sobriety, citing research that shows it leads to better outcomes.
“Often housing is like a prerequisite for addressing many of these other challenges that homeless individuals may face,” Adams said. “They should be off the streets first, without question. That’s the most important thing, so focus on treatment.
Collaboration over criticism
Van Cleef addressed the challenges of serving both unhoused and housed individuals in the “toxic” climate surrounding the CRC’s work, calling for collaboration over criticism. Van Cleef said he has a good relationship with the Encinitas City Council, city staff and Ehlers.
“The dehumanization has crossed a line,” he said, referencing an online cartoon depicting CRC feeding rats. “We should be better than that.”
Despite differing perspectives, several voices agreed that Encinitas faces a challenging but not insurmountable situation.
“I don’t want to kick them out,” Sougias said. “I want them to remain here, but they just need to be cared for more than just giving them food.”
Smith urged residents to engage directly with unhoused individuals.
“If you really are concerned, you should talk to the homeless people,” he said. “Then maybe you’d have a little more compassion.”
Poole voiced frustration at what she views as an inadequate law enforcement response and a lack of follow-through from city officials. While she praised Ehlers and council members Luke Shaffer and Jim O’Hara for their campaign promises and increased foot patrols during election season, she said the law enforcement presence has since waned.
“We’ve considered hiring private security, but we can’t afford that,” Poole said. “Even if it was two deputies on the regular just walking and being visible as a deterrent … it would really, really be helpful.”
Ehlers said the city continues to invest in outreach and supportive housing, and that policy solutions must strike a balance between accountability and compassion.
“We have a dual responsibility: enforce the laws and offer services,” Ehlers said.
Adams cautioned against despair and “just ship them somewhere else” attitudes, noting that progress is possible — but will take time and consistent investment..
“There is a way to bring down housing prices, to treat the homeless individuals in crisis and solve this issue,” Adams said. “It took decades to get into this mess, and it’ll take a long time to get out of it, but progress is possible.”
