Candidates for SD City Council District 3 differ on how to address homelessness

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – City Council Member Stephen Whitburn faces a challenge from attorney and educator Coleen Cusack on Election Day Tuesday in the race to represent District 3, the city’s downtown and government core.

Whitburn, who is also chairman of the Metropolitan Transit System’s board of directors, received 52.5% of the vote in the March primary, compared to Cusack’s 20.8% in a field of four.

Both candidates are Democrats running for the officially nonpartisan position, but they present two very different approaches to addressing homelessness in the city.

Whitburn was instrumental in passing a controversial camping ban bill, and has focused on getting unhoused people into shelters and off the streets, along with approving thousands of homes in his role as a member of the committee Land use and housing of the municipality.

“I also look forward to all San Diegans having safer and healthier neighborhoods where public spaces are used for their intended purposes,” he said when the unsafe camping ordinance was passed. “Together we can improve the quality of life in communities throughout San Diego.”

Cusack is a homeless advocate who wants to increase housing supply to get people off the streets. He said there is misinformation about the city and county’s homeless population that only serves to stigmatize them.

“We owe the residents of our city a moral and legal obligation to provide housing for everyone and all income levels,” her campaign website said. “If we fail to meet that obligation, we cannot hide from our failures by blaming individual homeless people.”

Whitburn has been endorsed by the San Diego County Democratic Party, San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, San Diego City Firefighters, San Diego Police Officers Association, Reps. Scott Peters and Sara Jacobs, Mayor Todd Gloria and four of his colleagues on the council. He was elected in 2020.

Cusack has been endorsed by the San Diego Union-Tribune, California Democratic Renters Council, San Diego Education Association, Run Women Run and former mayoral candidate Geneviéve Jones-Wright.