Vista staff report progress on homelessness plan as council debates aid eligibility, shelter data

City of Vista staff presented the City Council with an update on the city's strategic plan to address homelessness, detailing program spending, shelter outcomes and plans for a permanent navigation center. Staff outlined funding sources, contracted service activity and measures the city is using to track unhoused residents.

"Tonight's workshop provides the city council and members of the public an update on the implementation of the city's strategic plan to address homelessness," said Jonathan Lund, the city's homeless services program manager, as he opened the presentation.

The update said the strategic plan (adopted March 2020) has appropriated roughly $27 million through June 30, 2025, and spent nearly $12 million of those appropriations. Staff said approximately 63% of appropriations came from the State of California, 31% from locally generated revenues and about 5% from federal sources. Notable grants cited in the presentation included $9.6 million from encampment resolution funding rounds 1 and 3 and roughly $8 million from the city's year-end fund balances and cannabis revenue.

To measure homelessness, staff described two tools. The annual point-in-time count coordinated by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness (RTFH) counted 265 people within the city's point-in-time boundaries in 2025 (a 2.2% decrease from February 2024). Staff also highlighted a "by-name" list maintained by San Diego Rescue Mission (SDRM) as a more precise, client-level tool; staff reported 326 individuals engaged with Rescue Mission outreach workers in Vista by June 30, 2025. Council members and providers noted the two tools differ because the point-in-time count is a volunteer-driven snapshot while the by-name list is updated daily by providers.

Program updates and contract status

- VISTA Emergency Housing Assistance Program (VHAP C2): The council appropriated $200,000 from the year-end fund balance to create this rental assistance program. Staff said awards are limited to $5,000 per household and up to three months of assistance; eligibility follows HUD Category 2 definitions. On June 10, 2025, the council approved an agreement with Interfaith Community Services to administer VHAP C2; staff reported the program was finalizing implementation and no contract funds had been disbursed as of June 30, 2025. Interfaith will provide monthly reports to the standing committee with anonymized demographic and income data and follow-up assessments at six and 12 months.

- Outreach and Vista HOT (Homeless Outreach Team): The council approved agreements with San Diego Rescue Mission (SDRM) for citywide outreach and for ERF3-funded outreach. Staff reported payments of $192,670 to SDRM under the citywide outreach contract through June 30, 2025; the ERF3 agreement had contract ceilings of $1,133,362 (year 1) and $1,232,548 (year 2). Combined outreach services ("Vista HOT") served 407 unduplicated clients through June 30, 2025.

- Buena Creek Navigation Center (BCNC): The council approved two master leases and a contract with nonprofit Retread to operate the BCNC. Staff reported the BCNC served 265 unduplicated individuals through June 30, 2025; Retread had been paid $1,420,748.12 through that date. Staff also said the council appropriated $4.5 million from year-end fund balances and that state Senator Catherine Blakespear secured an additional $1 million to purchase a permanent navigation center site (total available $5.5 million). SDRM was approved to provide site consultation services; staff said SDRM would operate a city-acquired facility at its own operating cost after purchase.

- Safe parking and other interim housing: Jewish Family Service (JFS) operates the city's safe parking program in the Vista Civic Center lot. Staff reported 230 unduplicated clients served and $834,735.16 paid to JFS through June 30, 2025. Safe parking exits included 153 total exits, 84 categorized as positive (average 45 days) and 36 negative exits (average 27 days).

- VISTA Housing Innovation Pilot (VHIP): Staff described the home-share model administered by nonprofit Townspeople with a contract ceiling of $336,809. Through June 30, 2025 the city paid Townspeople $178,267. Staff reported the VHIP served 60 unduplicated clients in 45 households; the program made master leases and individual leases and paid a total of $40,979.83 in rental assistance and $22,903.93 in other flex funds through June 30, 2025.

- Alliance for Regional Solutions and shelter bed reimbursements: The council approved a contract to reimburse alliance shelters for Vista clients with an original ceiling of $200,000 (later increased) and a total city contribution of $330,000 between Sept. 26, 2023 and June 30, 2025. Staff said alliance shelters served 132 unduplicated Vista residents in that period; staff also reported the total shelter cost to the alliance for Vista clients was $1.3 million.

- Other items: The council approved a seven-member homelessness commission (appointments allotted to each council member and to the standing committee chair/vice chair); interviews were held on Sept. 9, and the first commission meeting is scheduled for February 2026. The planning division noted multiple housing projects in the pipeline that would include deed-restricted affordable units and summarized the city's ADU fee-waiver program and an inclusionary housing ordinance that requires preservation of affordable units in developments of 20 or more units.

Enforcement and outreach metrics

Staff described enforcement activity tied to Resolution 2024-140, adopted Aug. 13, 2024, which directed enforcement of Vista Municipal Code section 9.20.02(b) (camping prohibitions on public property) while maintaining offers of services when available. Since the resolution's adoption through June 30, 2025, staff reported 312 encampments cleared from public rights-of-way, 178 individuals referred to outreach, 13 arrests and 89 tons of trash removed. Staff said 39 encampments contained personal property moved to city storage with a 90-day reclaim period.

Council questions and next steps

Deputy Mayor Katie Melendez praised staff and providers and emphasized prevention and permanent supportive housing: "We're intervening sooner. We're intervening in the lives of our youth." Council members pressed staff on several operational and policy points:

- County coordination: Council members said they are concerned about county placement of clients in Vista and asked for better communication. Staff reported the county will provide weekly updates on enrollments and that outreach providers and county contractors will meet monthly to share client information.

- Shelter capacity and exits: Councilmembers and providers discussed average lengths of stay and their effect on capacity. Nanette, a representative of Retread (BCNC operator), said longer stays can reflect work toward housing goals: "Once we've identified that somebody is serious about getting housed, there's a lot of aspects that can make their stay take a little bit longer," she said, citing the need to save for deposits, secure documentation and find affordable units.

- Rental vs. mortgage assistance, and AMI thresholds: Council members debated whether VHAP should include mortgage assistance (staff said prior rounds had included mortgage aid but the current VHAP C2 is rental-only) and whether eligibility should be set at 80%, 65% or 50% of area median income (AMI). Mayor John Franklin said he preferred prioritizing lower incomes and suggested 50% AMI; Deputy Mayor Melendez and other council members urged staff to report demographic and income-level data and emphasized prioritization for the lowest-income applicants.

- Home-share expansion: Mayor Franklin and others urged scaling the home-share program, noting its comparatively low per-client subsidy and potential to house more people if enrollment grows.

- Data request and staff direction: Councilmembers asked staff to return with comparative data on shelter models and outcomes (cost per bed, staffing, exit outcomes and average length of stay), standardized KPIs for program types, and further details on AMI distribution of applicants. City staff said they would bring back VHAP amendments if the council directed substantive changes and would collect comparative shelter outcome data for future council consideration.

Why this matters

Council members and providers repeatedly emphasized that lack of affordable housing and the high cost of living are primary constraints on reducing homelessness. Several council members underscored that even when providers place clients into shelters and programs, a shortage of permanent affordable housing or deposits can lengthen stays and reduce available capacity. Staff said some funding agreements expire at the end of 2025 and that securing sustainable funding and a permanent navigation center site are near-term priorities.

What happens next

Staff will accept council direction to return with program amendments (including a potential mortgage-assistance option for VHAP), demographic/AMI data for applicants, and a comparative analysis of shelter models and outcomes. The homelessness commission's first meeting is scheduled for February 2026.