“Homelessness is not a crime”, County Supervisor Jim Desmond advised the monthly Morning Meeting of MainStreet Oceanside Tuesday.
Desmond outlined some of the new services open to help the homeless and he said there are many people, like families living in cars, who are happy to take advantage of the services. But, he said, “it must be recognized that some homeless simply don’t want to be helped. There’s no way to force that help upon them, because there is no law against being homeless.”
His talk before more than two dozen people on the day after the Labor Day holiday also touched on the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on local businesses. Desmond, the former mayor of San Marcos, also maintains a residence in Oceanside. In fact, he lives in Oceanside ‘most of the time,’ and he complimented the city and its improvements, especially the new beachfront hotels. Before the pandemic, most people did not know much of what the county supervisors did.
In addition to being the governing body for unincorporated areas like Fallbrook, Valley Center and Alpine, Desmond said, the county board oversees the jail, the courthouse, the sheriffs department, the probation department, foster care for children, senior conservatorship and many libraries. It even puts on the sticker approving gas pumps. He said it’s a $6.1-billion operation with 52 departments and 18,000 employees. The county’s population and budget exceed those of eight states, Desmond said.
“Of course, with the pandemic, edicts from the county Health Department have made the news, and COVID cases are still rising but not up to last year’s peak of 2,000 people hospitalized. Health-care systems are having a hard time getting enough staff,” Desmond said. It is recommended – but not yet mandated – that businesses ask that employees be vaccinated or tested once a week for COVID.
About businesses, he did not think it was fair that during the pandemic Walmart could sell bicycles, but independent bicycle shops could not stay open. (Stores like Walmart and Target were exempted from some of the shutdown rules because they also sell essentials like
groceries.)
Turning to the subject of the homeless, the State Department of Fish and Game (now officially called the Department of Fish and Wildlife) and the sheriff, for instance, can help clean out encampments along the San Luis Rey River in Oceanside, but taking the homeless out of one place usually just means that they appear elsewhere. “A lot of people choose homelessness,” Desmond said.
More crises centers are opening, including one on Mission Avenue in Oceanside, which allows law-enforcement officers to take people someplace close-by rather than lose hours transporting them to San Diego. “The emergency room is not the place to go,” Desmond said.
Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside, with $17 million, is rebuilding the mental-health unit it had shut down and the Family Justice Center in San Marcos will offer all services under one roof to victims of domestic violence. “We are doing some good things in North County,” Desmond concluded.
He added some transportation items like affordable housing above the parking lots at North County Transit District’s Oceanside Transit Center. But Desmond, a retired airline pilot, said he got kicked off the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) board because he differs with the majority opinion on how its half-cent sales tax should be used, believing it’s too transit, and not highway, oriented, and is being spent too heavily on downtown San Diego. An electrical engineer by training, Desmond said, “However, that technology may mean we won’t even have to drive a car anymore before too long.”
He touched a bit on the subject of nuclear waste at the San Onofre plant north of Oceanside and said it is “stored where it’s not meant to be.” Its concrete canisters are good for 100 years, Desmond said, but it still needs to be moved, “but no, we don’t have a place.”
Desmond urged constituents to call him, saying, his office is “old-fashioned.” “We answer the phone.”
Desmond mentioned that there are still funds in the County’s Small Business Grant Fund. More information can be found at https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/stimulusgrant.html
This was the second in-person meeting for MainStreet since the pandemic, but the first for Rick Wright, CEO, who noted at the beginning that it had been 18 months since he’d been able to attend such a session.
Cathy Nykiel, MainStreet Director of Events, announced that it is “back up and running” with 90-100 vendors and the Thursday morning Farmers Market with 15 local farmers and 15-17 retailers participating is doing well also.
Nykiel also talked about plans for the 20th annual Dia de los Muertos, a family and community celebration established by MainStreet, moved to Mission San Luis Rey and now returning to a six-block downtown area. The free event is scheduled from 10 a.m.to 5 p.m. Oct. 24.
Nykiel told of a ceremony planned at 9 a.m. this Saturday by the Oceanside Fire and Police Departments to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2011. There’s to be a one-mile walk
from Fire Station No. 1 on Pier View Way to the Junior Seau Amphitheatre at the beach for the ceremony.
Gumaro Escarcega, MainStreet Director of Business Development, said the Super Girl Surf Pro event next week is looking for volunteers from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Escarcega said there will be an alcoholic beverage service training session for nonprofits on Wed, Sept. 15. The seventh annual Taste of Oceanside is set for Oct. 2 with a VIP event including music and food the night before. The cost is $45 for food only and $60 for Taste of Oceanside and $125 for both events.
Mary Ann Thiem, MainStreet board member said sponsors can still get their names on a plaque by “buying” one of the fish on a glass mural to be constructed across the street (on the southwest corner of Ditmar Street and Mission Avenue). Costs range from $200 to $3,000. The 12-foot-by-6-foot mural has been designed by Oceanside artist Don Myers.
Carly Starr Brullo Niles, executive director of KOCT, North County community television, invited people to its 40th anniversary party Oct. 8 with live entertainment and studio tours. The cost is $40 for 40 years.
Linda Piña, from Carla and Linda’s Walking Food Tours, said the tours are “up and running” but only in North Oceanside for now. She noted the difficulties the restaurant industry is having with staffing, but said she hoped to be back to three tours by next summer.
The next MainStreet Morning Meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 4th at 8:30 a.m.
We welcome all parties interested in the progress of Downtown Oceanside, including businesspeople, residents, and City staff.
This informative one hour meeting is held in an informal discussion format. The general public is always welcome! Come meet your city officials, MainStreet Oceanside staff and members and find out about upcoming events and changes to YOUR downtown and city.
The MainStreet Morning Meeting is held at the MainStreet Oceanside meeting room at 701 Mission Avenue. Call our office for directions at (760) 754-4512.
