Re “Gloria budget revisions reverse cut to December Nights, shrink cuts to libraries, rec centers” (May 13): Mayor Gloria proposes eliminating all $950,000 of city funding for the Neil Good Day Center for unhoused persons. The harmful consequences cannot be overstated.
The Day Center provides critical services for nearly 7,000 unhoused San Diegans. It’s where you shower before a job interview, wash your few clothes, receive mail related to public benefits, recharge your cell phone, seek housing through a case manager.
Meanwhile, the city spends more than seven times as much on publicity as on the Day Center. The city’s Communications Department spends over $7 million annually, with 13 public information officers on the payroll. For premium publicity, the city runs its own news website, and funds an additional press team for the mayor.
The City Council should reduce the mayor’s platoon of publicists — enough to restore full funding to the Day Center. Without the Day Center, many will lose a vital lifeline, and some may not survive.
— Florencio Ramos, Grantville