Another Santee resident used their three minutes of public speaking time at the city council meeting to encourage the council to come up with a comprehensive plan to address the homeless issue in Santee .
The speaker at the June 12 meeting followed a string of residents who have used the public comment period of the meeting to talk about homelessness in Santee. It seems like the issue has been raised at each of the council meetings this spring.
"This is definitely something on our radar," said Councilmember Rob McNelis. "I can tell you I've seen the numbers decreasing lately... We're not sitting back and letting this happen."
McNelis also said that a local neighborhood market association will be encouraging member shops to display signs outside their storefronts discouraging panhandling, and similar signs will be installed at busy Santee medians.
The speaker replied that the message of progress isn't getting out to the residents.
Mayor Randy Voepel talked about his recent trip along the river with Sheriff deputies and the "tweakers" they encountered.
"In the last 18 months I have noticed an increase of different kind of homeless," said Voepel. "We never experienced this before and it's dangerous."
"No doubt in my mind there are 30-35 in the river bottom, within 50 yards of our parks and kids," Voepel said in a previous article.
COMMENT: Have you seen an uptick in the number of homeless around town? What should the city do?
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