San Diego City Council Passes Resolution Declaring Housing a Human Right

The San Diego City Council voted unanimously on a resolution on Monday that declares housing as a human right.

While the idea of such a resolution has been floated around many California cities since the affordable housing crisis began being more touted in the 2010s, a worsening homeless situation in San Diego, as well as a drastic drop in affordable housing permits in the city prompted Councilmembers to the resolution. The resolution itself states that “Housing is a human right and we must make this declaration to ensure we as elected leaders, and our whole community, own our responsibility to take the actions necessary to ensure every San Diegan has a real opportunity to have the decent and stable housing necessary for a dignified and healthy life.”

Before the vote on Monday, San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera said that elected leaders and the community  are responsible for helping ensure that every San Diego resident have housing, since it is a human right and need.

“Housing is a human right and we must make this declaration to ensure we as elected leaders and our whole community own our responsibility to take the actions necessary to ensure every San Diegan has a real opportunity to have the decent and stable housing necessary for a dignified and healthy life,” said Elo-Rivera on Monday. “This is the product of decisions that have been made over the years that have created the conditions we’re living in. Today’s action is an opportunity to boldly position ourselves and ask for accountability from our residents to ensure that everyone has access to this basic fundamental human right and human need.”

Elo-Rivera, as well as other Councilmembers, also hoped that the resolution would lead to policies that bring more affordable homes to the city and help mitigate the homeless problem by having them housed. In addition, they also hope that the resolution will lead to a ‘Tenant Protections Ordinance Workshop’, where tenants and others in the city can help build a future tenant protection ordinance that would make eviction and other means of removing tenants harder to do.

City Council passes resolution

Homeless and tenant advocate groups praised the resolution following it’s unanimous passage on Monday, which many said they hoped would build up to eventual larger-scale homeless housing and rent control in San Diego.

“We think that this is the first step in going to get stronger protections like the tenant protection ordinance, which is up for discussion today and eventually rent control,” said San Diego Tenants Union Director Rafael Bautista.

However, City Attorney Mara Elliott warned the Council before the vote on Monday that lawsuits could come as a result of the resolution, with many landlords and property renters noting that they aren’t receiving protections as a result.

“This is very worrying.” said San Diego attorney Marc Crawshay, who has represented landlords in the past, in a Globe interview on Monday. “They’re pushing for housing, tenants rights, cheaper housing which, on the surface, seems good. But you know who they are ignoring, and as a result, are not winning any favors from? Developers who can actually build cheaper housing. Landlords who can price units down. As we saw during the pandemic with landlords hung out to dry with evictions out the window for a long time, they don’t get protections. It’s great to say that housing is a human right and all, but the reality is that the Council itself has kind of set up the city where affordable housing is untenable.”

“People have been screaming for lower property taxes for a long time and other things that would incentivize developers to build cheaper housing or landlords to have cheaper rent. But the city refuses to do that or anything. This isn’t about greed, but rather doing the responsible thing, and the Council did not make that any easier with this resolution.”

Effects of the resolution are expected to be seen in the coming months.

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