HOUSING CRISIS PROMPTS FIRST JOINT SAN DIEGO COUNTY-CITY MEETING IN DECADES

The region’s housing crisis is prompting San Diego city and county elected officials to hold an unusual joint meeting Monday to spur construction of 10,000 subsidized housing units on public land by 2030.

The move comes after years of friction and lack of cooperation between the county and the city on a variety of issues, most notably the Hepatitis A health crisis five years ago.

The joint panel will take the kind of leadership role typically expected of the San Diego Association of Governments, a regional agency that also includes officials from the county and all 18 local cities.

It will be the first time in more than 22 years that the San Diego City Council and the San Diego County Board of Supervisors have held a joint meeting, and only the second such meeting in nearly 32 years.

Leaders said Wednesday that such a meeting is necessary because of the severity of the housing crisis and its impact on the economy, homelessness, social equity and general quality of life.

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The two largest government agencies in the region must come together to set an example of cooperation and leadership on building more affordable housing, said council President Sean Elo-Rivera and board Chair Nathan Fletcher.

The San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG, has been mentioned in recent years as a potential leader on cooperative housing efforts. But Fletcher and Elo-Rivera said a county-city panel is a better bet.

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