<p>Living in California is expensive, <em>really </em>expensive.</p>
<p>The state&rsquo;s poverty rate is the highest in the nation, but the average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment is $2,000. ;</p>
<p>The widespread lack of affordable housing in California has contributed to a rise in homelessness throughout the state, even among people with decent-paying jobs.</p>
<p>Where you find homelessness, you find unsanitary conditions. And where you find unsanitary conditions, you find disease. ;</p>
<p>Rising rates of homelessness in San Diego have contributed ;to the biggest outbreak of Hepatitis A the United States has seen in over 20 years. There have been more than 500 cases and 19 deaths since March. ;</p>
<p>Hepatitis A is a rare disease that has been almost entirely preventable since 1995. It is a communicable disease contracted through the ingestion of food or water contaminated by feces. ;</p>
<p>Critical to fighting the spread of Hepatitis A is proper sanitation and access to bathrooms &ndash; two things the city has been repeatedly criticized for lacking.</p>
<p>In 2015, the county grand jury warned the city that it needed more public bathrooms downtown. San Diego agreed with the finding but did not act due to &ldquo;competing needs for limited funds.&rdquo; The city even rejected a proposal to put up signs pointing to the nearest bathrooms. ;</p>
<p>The CDC has launched a program to offer hepatitis vaccinations to the homeless and the city has started to wash its streets and sidewalks with bleach &#8211; but these efforts are treating the symptoms of the problem, but not the cause. The only solution here is to get people off the streets. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;The reason the outbreak has spread so rapidly is because homeless are living in more concentrated areas,&rdquo; says local doctor Jeffrey Norris. &ldquo;They often have to defecate in their tent, or next to their tent, and that exposes their neighbors on the street. Hygiene becomes incredibly difficult.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>There are an estimated 9,116 homeless people living in San Diego; 500,000 more are living just one missed paycheck away from homelessness.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re still talking about urination and defecation as if it&rsquo;s a problem caused by homeless people,&rdquo; argues Jim Lovell, director of a nonprofit that provides meals and medical checkups to the homeless. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t just have people outside, not provide facilities, and expect all to be well.&rdquo; ; ;</p>
<p>Years of bad decision-making have limited development in some of California&rsquo;s most desirable areas. This has been good for property values but has excluded those without an existing foothold in the market. ;</p>
<p>Six years ago, Governor Jerry Brown decided to steer money once allocated for low-income housing construction toward schools and debt servicing. San Diego lost $200 million in affordable housing funds. Virtually no low-income housing has been built since. ;</p>
<p>In his January State of the City address, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer declared homelessness the city&rsquo;s primary social service priority. He proposed a ballot measure that would have allocated $10 million per year for homeless services, but it was voted down by the city council. ; ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;At the heart of this homeless crisis is a housing crisis,&rdquo; explains Jim Vargas, a Roman Catholic deacon who runs a service for the homeless. &ldquo;Low vacancy rates and high rents is a very toxic combination for our population. Our clients don&rsquo;t stand a chance against that dynamic.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Many view the crisis as the result of San Diego&rsquo;s longstanding failure to address problems affecting the homeless and working poor. The local government&rsquo;s apathetic response to the Hepatitis outbreak is a prime example.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This whole crisis is man-made,&rdquo; complains homeless advocate Michael McConnell. &ldquo;The response is certainly much too late, based on when they knew they had a serious problem. Even today, all they&rsquo;ve done is the most easy stuff. They have taken zero bold action.&rdquo; ;McConnell points to the city&rsquo;s failure to open toilets and hand-washing stations despite widespread public support and urgent need.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I look at this situation here as the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots,&rdquo; says Gordon Walker, chief executive of the nonprofit Regional Task Force on the Homeless. &ldquo;This is where you need political will. It&rsquo;s political will that is needed to solve these social problems, and the decisions are not easy.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>LA recently approved a rare $1.2 billion bond measure to build housing for the homeless. This sort of initiative, which generally fails to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to pass, exceeded it by 10%.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It demonstrates the frustration people are feeling,&rdquo; says Jonathan Herrera, Faulconer&#8217;s newly-hired adviser on homelessness.</p>
<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s note:</strong> California is badly mismanaged. There is a reason why taxes there are the highest in the nation, with the greatest number in poverty.</p>