Congressional Candidate Carl Demaio outlines Clean Streets Initiative

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – 50th District Congressional Candidate Carl Demaio is taking issue with California politicians, including San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.

He says there’s been “failure after failure” in trying to solve the state’s homeless crisis. And he says the solution is to simply enforce existing laws.

Demaio presented what he calls his Clean Streets Initiative in Escondido Thursday. The initiative has four major reforms– but there’s an emphasis on withholding funds for homeless programs until cities direct their law enforcement agencies to enforce existing laws, to get the homeless off the streets and into substance abuse programs, instead of putting a premium, he says, on expensive taxpayer-funded housing.

In his State of the City address Wednesday, Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a fellow Republican, emphasized a new partnership with county mental health involving the homeless. But DeMaio is urging voters to reject Measure C in the March Primary which would fund homeless programs as well as help pay for the Convention Center expansion.

In a question and answer period, after the presentation, DeMaio told KUSI’s Ed Lenderman he would still champion the high court taking up the issue in it’s next session. But then added that it’s not an excuse for cities not to hold the homeless accountable for their drug and substance abuse.