The City of San Diego had crews out clearing homeless encampments near Petco Park just days before San Diego Padres' Opening Day.
Many of those folks relocated to other parts of downtown with some returning to streets not far away from Petco Park.
William Keith is formerly homeless veteran who lived on these streets for decades after being discharged from the military.
"I've seen it before the Petco Park situation. I see it all the time. It's an everyday thing," Keith said.
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Homeless advocate Michael McConnell said there is a better way to dealing with the people living on San Diego's sidewalks.
“Well, there’s so many people in that area. I mean, there's almost 2,000 people who live downtown, 800 in that general area of the East Village, and so there's always people moving around and so it's hard to keep an area totally clear out because there's really not anywhere for folks to go. So, some people will move back here and there,” McConnell said.
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McConnell agrees that the sidewalks need to be cleaned occasionally but that there is a better way to do it.
“So obviously, we have to do some amount of cleanups. We just need to balance it out and do it as respectfully as possible to where we're just not moving people for no reason,” McConnell said.
McConnell said the sweeps cause more homelessness because it takes funding away from long-term solutions and hopes the city provides urgency to long-term solutions like it does for clean ups before big events.
The City of San Diego is working on solutions to its homelessness crisis, including reopening the Old Central Library as a homeless shelter.
Mayor Todd Gloria recently announced a new leadership team to address homelessness.
Sarah Jarman is now the Director of Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department, replacing Hafsa Kaka, who left for a regional role in the area of homelessness.
