Michael Smolens: Tensions grow on homelessness, again

A meeting of San Diego County mayors to discuss homelessness this week featured two clear yet contradictory themes.

One was emphasizing the years-old notion that a unified, regional approach is needed to address what everyone agrees is a crisis.

The other was familiar criticism by mayors that other municipalities either hadn’t been doing enough or, worse, were pushing part of the problem into their cities.

The Monday summit hosted by the San Diego Rescue Mission came as San Diego City Council members are being asked to take urgent action to find additional shelter space — with the clock ticking toward the elimination of hundreds of temporary shelter beds.

Meanwhile, an events project manager working at the recent Comic-Con gathering wrote a scathing, widely-circulated commentary about how awful conditions were in the Gaslamp Quarter, largely as a result of homelessness.

“I was shocked, astonished and horrified by what I witnessed during my recent visit,” wrote Damon Zwicker, who lives in the San Fernando Valley, in a column posted by The San Diego Union-Tribune on the same day as the mayors’ conference. “. . . To any and all visitors, I strongly advise staying away from the San Diego Gaslamp District for your own safety.”

The mayors, who met at the Loma Santa Fe Country Club, talked about t...