Three apartment buildings expected to open in Otay Mesa next July will provide some relief for area families in need of affordable housing and also answer a pressing need to help people with mental health issues live independently.
Read MoreTo make matters worse, the city council on Monday voted 5-2 to kill Councilmember David Alvarez’s hotel tax measure (an increase of 1 percent) where the money would have gone directly to homeless programs. The measure was seen as a longshot to make the ballot since the mayor’s convention center bill had already been approved for the ballot, but it stings nonetheless.
Read MoreSan Diego is cracking down on income discrimination by landlords with a new policy prohibiting the rejection of potential tenants based on their use of federal housing vouchers. “This is long overdue,” City Councilman David Alvarez of Logan Heights said on Tuesday before the council voted 6-1 to adopt the policy. “Allowing people to discriminate based on income is a way of continuing to segregate our community.”
Read MoreSan Diego approved this week a 50-unit apartment complex in San Ysidro for formerly homeless senior citizens that will include on-site counseling for mental health problems, drug addiction and other challenges. Councilman David Alvarez of Logan Heights, whose district includes San Ysidro, hailed the project as a model when the council unanimously approved it on Tuesday. “This is how we solve the homelessness problem,” he said. “These are going to be units for people who are in shelters and need support systems in order to be successful and get out of homelessness.”
Read MoreThe San Diego City Council's Rules Committee advanced a proposal from Councilman David Alvarez to increase the city's hotel tax by one cent in order to fund homelessness services. "To me there's a very clear nexus between promoting San Diego as a destination and making sure we have programs in place to ensure we don't have outbreaks, such as hepatitis A, or other dangerous pathogens," Alvarez said.
Read MoreThe San Diego City Council, also operating as the Housing Authority, Tuesday renewed operating and oversight agreements for the city’s three temporary tent shelters for the homeless over the objections of Councilman David Alvarez, who called the shelters a “complete failure.” “It’s been a tremendous, tremendous waste of money,” said Alvarez, who cast the lone dissenting vote against renewal. “At the path we’re going, we’re going to continue spending millions and millions of dollars to not get people housed.”
Read MoreSan Diego City Councilmember David Alvarez is holding a public meeting in San Diego Tuesday afternoon to oppose a proposal from Mayor Kevin Faulconer. Alvarez opposes the idea, saying the area is within close proximity to a school, about 15-20 feet away. He added a residential neighborhood in the area is already experiencing issues with public safety and quality-of-life.
Read MoreA new plan could help solve San Diego’s housing shortage and reduce a rash of vacant storefronts in buildings that were intended to have ground-floor commercial tenants operating below multiple stories of housing. “While the development overall is great, the opportunity lost in terms of space because the commercial uses aren’t being maximized has been a concern of mine for some time,” Alvarez said. “It’s sometimes a blight in a community when there are vacant spaces.”
Read MoreCouncilman Alvarez talks about making San Diego housing more affordable. “In order to get ourselves out of this we need more units. That’s the bottom line. I want to make it clear to everyone it’s not because there’s more people coming to San Diego at a disproportionate number, this is coming from growth within our own community. San Diego needs more housing due to our families growing, and for them to have a place to call home in San Diego we have to make more units available.”
Read MoreSan Diego voters could decide next year whether to direct increases in the city's hotel room tax revenue toward permanent supportive housing for homeless families and individuals under a plan outlined Tuesday by Councilman David Alvarez. "To date, every proposal brought forward, from industrial tents to campgrounds have been largely ineffective," Alvarez wrote in the memo. "It is abundantly clear that the most effective way to address homelessness is to have an ample supply of permanent supportive housing available for families and individuals that are close to or actually experiencing homelessness."
Read MoreSan Diego City Council members David Alvarez and Lorie Zapf called on the city Monday morning to convert the old Chargers headquarters on Murphy Canyon Road into temporary housing for homeless people, including a growing number who are camping along the nearby San Diego River.
Read MoreSan Diego City Councilmember David Alvarez called on Mayor Kevin Faulconer Thursday to declare a state of emergency over the city's homeless crisis. "I am extremely concerned that our homeless population has continued to grow and the city still isn't providing sufficient shelter beds," Alvarez's memo to Mayor Faulconer read.
Read MoreCity Councilmember David Alvarez responded to Falconers speech with a statement that reads, in part: "The City is experiencing an explosion in the homeless. The Mayor must create new shelter space downtown near existing service providers to allow for people to sleep indoors rather than camp on the street. If he does not do this, the homeless population will continue to grow in downtown and throughout the City."
Read MoreOn October 24, the city council voted 7-1 in favor of amending the Land Development Code to get developers in line with the intent of 1972's Proposition D. Councilmember David Alvarez was the dissenting vote. After questioning Development Services Department director Robert Vacchi and a senior planner, Alvarez said, “I still don’t have clarity. I’m not sure if you’re telling me when the 30 foot [limit] applies and when it doesn’t.”
Read MoreNBC 7 has learned the motive for placing rocks below an underpass near downtown San Diego may have been to clear the area of homeless people before Padres games at Petco Park this season. City Councilmember David Alvarez for District 8 said his office was never notified of this project and no lights were ever installed. “The unfortunate thing about this project is, while the rocks were installed, there were no lights. So what the community was actually asking for has not occurred,” Alvarez said.
Read MoreIn my district, and across the city, too many of our residents are living without running water or heat. Many have to raise their children in homes with bug or rat infestations, dangerous electrical wiring and crumbling lead paint. My staff and I proactively reach out to constituents to find and fix these problems. We build trust with residents, take down their concerns, and pass them on to the city’s Neighborhood Code Compliance Division.
Read MoreSan Diego City Councilman David Alvarez has asked Mayor Kevin Faulconer to boost code compliance funding this year so the department can proactively address substandard housing. He also asked the council's land use committee to explore a program that would put liens on properties until the owners clean them up.
Read MoreWith his back against the wall, and a community within his district upset with the continued siting of the winter shelter in their neighborhood and the negative impact it brings, Councilmember David Alvarez stepped up and brokered a compromise.
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