I’m posting these bench pics as examples of NON- #hostiledesign.
Most benches in #sandiego have raised areas to prevent people from using them to sleep- or are removed altogether from public spaces.
Displacing people is so common it’s become normalized
I joined a person eating a sandwich on one of the non-hostile benches, before he returned to work at a nearby gas station
He told me the current #MegaMillions lotto is close to a billion$ (attracting as many visitors to his workplace as the need for fossil fuels apparently) 2/
Our brief chat reminded me why we need MORE benches- not fewer
And yet: under #MayorToddGloria- ALL benches in City Hall Plaza were removed in 2022
Why? For the #TopGunMovie premiere at Civic Theatre, despite Golden Hall shelter residents needing places to sit outside 3/
So consider a pattern of the #MayorToddGloria administration:
Instead of providing trash cans, they removed benches used by shelter residents for the most human of activities:
Sitting, resting, eating, talking, and socializing with other human beings.
It's inhumane & hostile 4/
Throughout history cities have created, managed & maintained parks & restrooms for ALL people
In contrast: #SanDiego actively resists providing these necessities:
- Public restrooms
- Seating in parks & open spaces
- Adequate staffing to maintain these spaces & facilities 5/
When asked directly about these challenges at #Politifest#MayorToddGloria blamed people's behavior for the city's inability to funding basic services
Translation: People behaving badly -not development staff's bias- is keeping the rest of us from having nice things 6/
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1/ In light of recent concerns expressed by @CityofSanDiego Councilmembers, about the historic and ongoing lack of equity and diversity in many contracting awards:
- A 🧵 about the value and importance of audits by public agencies, regarding the costs of inconsistent employment practices:
In 2006, a former @SDSU professor- a Black woman in the LGBTQ community- came to my Assembly office to share concerns over her tenure process experience at the university.
- She had received consistently positive reviews- but ultimately was not offered a permanent teaching position.
She filed complaint with the federal Equal Opportunity Commission, alleging discrimination. Her complaint was upheld- but that did not result in a teaching position.
I had broader concerns about the costs of bias and discrimination in the California State University hiring process- especially during a time of educational budget shortfalls.
I requested an audit be conducted by the California Auditor's office, to address these questions:
- How many employees in the California State University (@calstate) system report experiencing bias or discrimination during their academic career?
- How many filed lawsuits as a result?
- What was the dollar cost to taxpayers, from legal complaints and settlements, and what is the social cost of not hiring more diverse faculty members and administrators?
The Auditor's findings were announced in Report 2007-102.2...
1/x
2/ FROM THE REPORT: Over $7 million had been spent on lawsuits in recent years- but this did not include a $19.1 million dollar judgement for a woman basketball coach, who had been fired by Fresno State during their work on the audit.
(The award was later reduced to $6.2 million- see: )
And "Our review of California State University's [@CSU] (university) hiring processes and employment discrimination lawsuits revealed the following:
1️⃣"Campuses are inconsistent in their consideration of gender and ethnicity when hiring assistant, associate, and full professors.
2️⃣"Campuses use differing levels of detail when estimating the percentage of qualified women and minorities available for employment, decreasing the university's ability to effectively compare data among campuses.
3️⃣"As of June 30, 2007, the university spent $2.3 million on settlements resulting from employment discrimination lawsuits filed during the five-year period we reviewed, and $5.3 million for outside counsel in defending itself against such lawsuits."
Related, in the @UofCalifornia
4️⃣ " ...a UC study group reported in September 2007 that women and minorities continue to be substantially underrepresented on its faculty, regardless of their growing numbers among doctorate recipients."
3/ These are the audit's RECOMMENDATIONS from the full report:
1️⃣"To ensure the university employs hiring practices that are consistent with laws and regulations and among campuses, it should issue systemwide guidance on the hiring process for professors. This guidance should include the use of affirmative action plans to familiarize search committees with estimated availability for women and minorities, the development of alternatives for including women and minorities on search committees, and a requirement to compare the proportion of women and minorities in the total applicant pool to the proportion in the labor pool to help assess the success of their outreach efforts.
2️⃣"The university should devise and implement a uniform method for calculating availability data to better enable it to identify and compare availability and goals systemwide and among campuses. Further, it should direct campuses to compare and report the gender and ethnicity of their current workforce to the labor pool by individual department to ensure that goals are meaningful and useful to those involved in the hiring process.
3️⃣"Additionally, the university should issue systemwide guidance on the hiring process for management personnel, and in developing this guidance it should direct campuses to develop hiring policies for management personnel that address the key steps in the hiring process. To ensure that it is conducting inclusive and consistent advertising to obtain as diverse an applicant pool as possible, the university should require broad-based advertising, including publications primarily with women or minority audiences, for all presidential and system executive positions. The university should also establish more complete policies to guide the recruitment process for system executives to ensure that the process is fair, equitable, and consistent among searches."
Why would someone would submit a proposal to make the @CityofSanDiego Attorney an appointed position, to weaken their investigative and oversight work of the Mayor and other elected officials?
To answer these questions- consider:
Who proposed the change:
Jared Quient- lawyer,… https://t.co/Y86pGFyqrUtwitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Who is Jared Quient?
Jared is a lawyer, and #MayorToddGloria appointee to the #SDGE Franchise Oversight Committee. He works with #GilCabrera- the Principal Officer of @ToddGloria's "New San Diego PAC"
What do Jared & Gil Cabrera actually do?
Gil raises money to be used for… https://t.co/LV0ANBwUl4twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
BayWa is a German energy corporation, with a contract to build an industrial-scale solar facility in the small town of Jacumba, over opposition of the residents.
Jacumba residents worry the massive facility- the size of San Diego Airport- may cause flooding in their community.… https://t.co/Fx08SwhwPztwitter.com/i/web/status/1…
#SanDiego#Housing Commissioner/Vice Chair #RyanClumpner seems to be in a mood today
Let's cheer him up by reviewing accomplishments of his agency, shall we?
Of the 1566 people leaving shelters
- 78% did NOT report (920) or are back on the street (300)
Way to be accountable Ryan!
How much did #CityofSanDiego pay for #AlphaProjectSD shelters that #HousingCommission show have a 78% failure rate, and how long do people stay?
- $1.8 million over past year (at least)
- 1373 households
- Avg. stay: 57 days
- Avg. stay for actual permanent #housing: 109 days 2/
Last year I submitted a #PublicRecord request re:#AlphaProjectSD contracts w/#CityofSanDiego
The request is still open
-1000s of documents have been shared, many showing problems:
Millions in public $$ received
People exposed to dirty water & illnesses: #COVID & #tuberculosis 3/
September 2022: @MayorToddGloria explains "complex barriers to #housing" at announcement of new #housing location
January 2023: The converted hotel will provide NO ADA ACESS for unsheltered older adults w/#disabilities even though it is managed by a senior-serving organization
More from @MayorToddGloria last year re:the budget for this facility to serve people experiencing #homelessness compared to "hospital and emergency room stays" & it's place in #CityofSanDiego budget (sorry for poor sound quality)
This facility will cost "a bit over $700K per year"
FYI: The fastest growing unhoused group is older adults Many are frail and/or have age-related medical issues & related #disabilities
And yet: No #ADA🤦🏽♀️
But: Plenty of #security!
Update/background on this situation: @janis_wilds helped an older #disabled#unhoused woman discharged from a hospital emergency room to the streets of #SanDiego with no place to recuperate.
She had been living (?) on a bus stop bench since CHRISTMAS!
This is all too common 1/
Fortunately: Janis coordinated w/@Housing4Hmless to find a hotel room until Tuesday BUT- it was not an #ADA room.
The woman's wheelchair could not go into the bathroom, so a bedside commode was essential for her dignity & health. 2/
Many thanks to friends at #JewishFamilyOrg for providing exactly what this woman needs: A commode that allows her to transfer from a wheelchair.
I share this as a reminder: Providing shelter/hotel rooms for PEH w/disabilities is only one step in keeping them safe & healthy 3/