Encinitas is moving to reserve up to 12 shelter beds at a National City facility, a plan that has ignited a bitter regional fight over who should bear responsibility for homelessness in San Diego County. The dispute boiled over during a tense Encinitas City Council meeting this month when a San Diego County Sheriff's deputy escorted National City Councilmember Jose Rodriguez out of chambers after a heated public comment exchange.
The Encinitas City Council voted unanimously on September 16 to pursue the agreement with the San Diego Rescue Mission, which operates the South County Lighthouse shelter in National City, according to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. Under the deal, the contract calls for $87 per occupied bed per night with an annual cost cap of $381,060, according to The Coast News Group, meaning the city pays only for nights the beds are actually used.
That pay-per-use structure is central to Encinitas' pitch. The city would have spent an estimated $715,000 annually, or $163 per bed night, had it maintained its prior 12-bed arrangement at Vista's Buena Creek Navigation Center, per the same Coast News report. Encinitas Mayor Bruce Ehlers has said the National City arrangement is intended to be temporary while additional shelter capacity is developed in North County, and that the city would prefer residents experiencing homelessness to remain closer to family, friends and support systems, according to the station's report.
National City Leaders Push Back
Encinitas and Vista have shared the Buena Creek Navigation Center since 2024, but Vista has indicated it wants to use the facility's full capacity for its own residents, prompting Encinitas to look elsewhere. The city's original memorandum of understanding for the Vista beds expired September 30, though Encinitas authorized a temporary extension through the end of the year to bridge the transition, according to the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.
Rodriguez argued Encinitas should provide more shelter within its own community rather than exporting the problem south, per FOX 5. He said National City faces significant financial challenges while Encinitas is among the county's wealthier communities, and he raised concerns that the agreement could set a precedent for other San Diego County cities seeking shelter space outside their own boundaries. That economic gap is stark: Times of San Diego reports Encinitas has one of the highest median household incomes in San Diego County at roughly $151,000, while National City has the county's lowest at about $67,000.
National City Mayor Ron Morrison offered a different frame, noting the South County Lighthouse was designed to serve a broader population than National City residents alone and that his own residents seeking shelter should not be passed over for people referred from other communities, FOX 5 reported. The shelter has capacity for 162 beds total.
Rescue Mission Frames Deal as Regional Strategy
The San Diego Rescue Mission has described the agreement as part of a regional approach to making use of existing shelter capacity rather than building new facilities in every city. Cedric McLean, the organization's director of marketing, said the South County Lighthouse primarily serves people from surrounding communities but has already been assisting some Encinitas residents. “Over the past year, South County Lighthouse has also served approximately 30 individuals from Encinitas who were experiencing homelessness and seeking shelter and support,” McLean said, per FOX 5's reporting.
Since opening in June 2024, the shelter has welcomed 1,503 people off the streets through June 30, 2026, according to figures the San Diego Rescue Mission provided to the station. The organization reports it helped transition 642 people into long-term care or housing over that period, while providing shelter to 191 families, 278 children — including 184 school-aged kids — and 442 seniors. Hoodline covered the facility's opening with Padres support in 2024, when it debuted as South County's first permanent emergency navigation center on an eight-acre Euclid Avenue site funded primarily through private contributions.
A Permanent North County Fix Remains Unbuilt
The Rescue Mission says it plans to open a shelter in Escondido that could accommodate 50 to 100 people, and has identified a potential building for the project, but it has not announced an official opening date. Once that facility becomes operational, the organization plans to relocate Encinitas' reserved beds back to North County, according to FOX 5's reporting. The Rescue Mission has said the National City arrangement would allow Encinitas to maintain shelter access in the interim without having to establish a new facility of its own.
The fight over the National City contract follows a string of decisions in Encinitas that critics have cited as evidence the city is scaling back its own homelessness services. In June, the Encinitas City Council voted 4-1 to pass on applying for a $3.9 million state Encampment Resolution Fund grant, with the council majority objecting to state-mandated “Housing First” policies that prioritize immediate housing without requiring addiction treatment or mental health program participation, according to Voice of San Diego. The city's only designated overnight parking site for unhoused residents living in their vehicles also closed at the end of last year, after the nonprofit provider Jewish Family Service rejected a six-month extension offer in favor of a full $610,000 annual contract, per KPBS.
Encinitas leaders view the National City plan as a temporary, lower-cost way to maintain shelter services while a permanent North County option is developed, FOX 5 reported. The broader debate over sharing regional responsibility for homelessness in San Diego County shows little sign of resolving soon, even as Point-in-Time Count figures showed homelessness in Encinitas fell 12%, alongside a 7% countywide decline, according to The Coast News.
