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State of North County highlights mental health and homeless services

San Diego Union-Tribune - 4/20/2022

In a speech that was part policy report, part travelogue, San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond listed the merits of North County along with the county government's improvements to the region.

Desmond delivered his State of North County address at El Corazon Senior Center in Oceanside Tuesday to an audience that included other local elected leaders, county officials, education administrators and fire and law enforcement officers. He opened the presentation with a video displaying the range of North County's landscapes and amenities, from beaches and deserts to breweries and theme parks.

"We've got so much potential, we've got so many resources and so much promise," he said, adding that residents plead with him: "Don't mess it up with too much government."

Desmond, a former airline pilot and mayor of San Marcos, represents the fifth supervisorial district, which includes much of North County, including the cities of Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and Escondido. The boundaries were redrawn during the county redistricting process last year to include Escondido instead of Carlsbad, which is now in the coastal third district. The fifth district also includes vast portions of unincorporated land including the communities of Fallbrook, Bonsall, Rainbow, Valley Center and Borrego Springs.

Desmond's State of North County Speech follows Chair Nathan Fletcher's State of the County speech last month, and covered some of the same themes of homelessness, mental health services and safety.

One of two Republicans on the Board of Supervisors, Desmond described his attempts to provide government services without what he characterized as over-regulation.

Constituents, he said, ask his office to "Let us live in harmony with our environment. Provide a hand up to those underserved. Keep us safe. Let us raise our families. Let us be productive. Give us parks and trails. And then get out of our way."

Desmond ranked homelessness as one of the biggest issues facing North County, a priority that the board has been largely united in addressing as a regional problem.

"I think we as a society should be ashamed of how we treat the homeless," Desmond said, adding that he believes legal restrictions against forcing people into shelter or mental health treatment have undermined efforts to get them off the streets.

"We allow people to go hungry and be angry and eventually they commit a crime," he said.

Desmond, like Fletcher, highlighted the county's efforts to deal with mental health and substance abuse issues as a key factor in homelessness. He described the county's new crisis stabilization centers, including new ones in Vista and Oceanside, which provide emergency services to people with mental health crises. Tri-City Medical Center is adding 26 psychiatric beds. City staffers in Oceanside are pairing with county social workers to do mental health outreach, he said.

"These things didn't come easy," he said. "In the cockpit there was a button for everything. There's no homeless button in my office."

The meeting, Desmond said, was the first such gathering since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than two years ago, and he gave a nod to pandemic fatigue when he asked, "Anybody want to talk about COVID? Me neither."

However, he described the county's pandemic response and recognized local leaders including San Marcos Councilmember Maria Nunez and her sister Arcela Nunez, co-founder of Universidad Popular, who have spent months organizing vaccination clinics and canvassing neighborhoods to promote them.

Maria Nunez said she was pleased by the shout-out, but said she also hoped to hear Desmond discuss the recent inclusion of Escondido in his district.

"Just having that unified North County is big for the Latino community," she said.

Oceanside Mayor Esther Sanchez said she feels Desmond has been a strong advocate for the region and raised its profile at the Board of Supervisors.

"This is really the first time we've gotten this influx of resources," Sanchez said. "It's a great feeling to have a connection to the county and know you have a friend."

Desmond also discussed public safety measures, noting that North County faces year-round risk of wildfire. His office has worked on identifying evacuation routes for high-risk communities, and the county has invested in communication systems, training and fire-fighting technology after major wildfires.

He was greeted with applause when he stated that he would never vote to "defund the police," a rallying cry of protests for police reform following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. Last year, San Diego increased its public safety budget by 7.2 percent, to $2.2 billion.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.

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