Supervisor Fletcher named to new state homeless advisory group

SAN DIEGO - San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher is one of 13 elected officials and institutional representatives tapped to advise the state on solutions to tackle the state's homelessness crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom's office announced on Tuesday, July 16.

In addition to Fletcher, the advisory group includes Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas will co-chair the group, which will meet multiple times across the state to discuss regional homelessness solutions.

"I'm honored that Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked me to serve on the newly created task force surrounding homelessness and supportive housing,'' Fletcher said in a statement. "I'll be there not only to represent the interests of San Diego but to make sure as a society we have a real commitment to addressing these important issues.''

Since taking office in January, Newsom has made a point of using the state budget and partnerships with regional governments to take on the arduous tasks of increasing the state's housing supply, tempering housing costs and fighting homelessness.

In April, Newsom announced partnerships with the cities of San Diego, Chico, Fresno, Oakland, Sacramento, and San Francisco to identify state-owned parcels of land on which to build affordable housing. Newsom also allocated roughly $1.3 billion for housing development in his state budget for fiscal year 2020, which he signed June 27.

"This is a crisis that affects all of California -- from rural and urban communities to coastal and inland cities,'' Newsom said. "We need to work collectively to source local solutions from mayors, county supervisors and city councils and implement those solutions at scale statewide.''

The group currently has three meetings planned in the Central Valley, Southern California and Northern California in the next three months. According to the governor's office, official dates, times and locations for the meetings will be announced at a later date.