By Dorian Hargrove, CBS8, June 22, 2022
“Attorneys for the cities argued that SANDAG’s board of directors approved the [allocation] relying solely on the weighted vote for each city. That means smaller cities such as Coronado, Lemon Grove, Imperial Beach, and Solana Beach had little say compared to San Diego and other larger cities.
“SANDAG ultimately won the legal dispute by arguing that the courts could not overturn the Regional Housing Needs Assessment and that only state lawmakers could change the law.
“A San Diego Superior Court judge agreed.
“And on June 20 an appellate court also agreed, delivering the final blow to the lawsuit from the four municipalities.
“ ‘People become homeless here; they don’t come from other places. The only way to solve that is to provide enough housing so the people who live, work here, and serve these communities are actually able to afford to live here,’ said Stephen Russell, president and CEO of the San Diego Housing Federation.”