Our view: North County cities close to providing cost-effective winter shelter

With the sun beating down upon these final days of summer, the frigid nights of winter can be difficult to imagine. But an admirable group of government and nonprofit leaders has been doing just that for months now, planning to provide emergency winter shelter to the homeless in North County. We need our local leaders to step forward -- now -- to make sure that this sensible, modest and vital proposal comes to fruition before the temperatures fall.

Last December, the Escondido City Council refused to allow the Salvation Army to open an emergency homeless shelter. At the time, the council majority argued that homelessness was a regional problem that needed a regional solution. Since then, Escondido has led North County cities and a coalition of nonprofits in developing a plan that would add 199 emergency beds for 100 days this winter.

But the momentum behind this inspiring cooperative effort is in danger of slipping away. A key meeting scheduled for Aug. 28 was canceled . Among other concerns, city representatives have expressed worries about the program's costs.

As proposed, cities would be asked to contribute on a sliding scale -- $15,000 for small cities, $30,000 for midsized cities and $40,000 for larger ones. That's a drop in the bucket for our local city budgets. It's also cost-effective: Preventing a cold-weather health emergency is always cheaper than treating one.

If our cities can't collectively, proactively address this problem now, it would be a failure on two counts. First, North County has a homeless problem that knows no boundaries. While many homeless people get help in year-round shelter programs, as many as 800 live on the streets. That's a humanitarian problem anytime, but during cold winter months like last year's, it can become a humanitarian crisis.

Second, this effort has the potential to be a model for addressing other North County issues not already overseen by the county or organizations like the San Diego Association of Governments. If we can't make this modest homeless plan work, what are the odds that future cooperative efforts on more challenging, more expensive issues will bear fruit?

Don't get us wrong. We're highly skeptical of grand government schemes to solve problems that have deeper social causes. But this plan seems to avoid the excesses that characterize similar efforts to "save the world."

The shelters will be managed by existing nonprofits, which will mean not hiring new public employees or expanding local government. More importantly, the solution is neatly tailored to a specific problem: increasing the number of beds available in North County to the homeless during the winter months. When winter ends, those extra beds go, too.

Best of all, it's the right thing to do.

Escondido's City Council has led the charge on this issue and we trust it won't turn back now. Oceanside's council was the first to publicly back the plan but has not yet made a financial commitment. San Marcos' council has indicated it already has the money to pay its share. The councils in Carlsbad and Poway say they like the plan but want to see more details. No city council has expressed major objections or a refusal to participate. A broad consensus to make this happen exists.

So what's the holdup? Attempts to make the emergency shelter plan more cost-effective are under way, and a meeting to discuss the updated proposal has already been scheduled for next month. Those are positive signs. Now we need North County's elected leaders to find a way to make this worthwhile and needed proposal work. Otherwise, we're courting another winter of discontent -- and much worse.