SAN DIEGO — As of Wednesday, the San Diego County Registrar’s Office said it has finished counting mail-in ballots that came in prior to Election Day on Aug. 15. The office said they also completed counting the ballots from voting centers that opened early through Election Day.

All four candidates vying for the vacant District Four supervisor seat said they have a vast interest in dealing with homelessness, housing, and public safety.  

“Housing is the key to solving homelessness and we just need a direct concerted effort to try and address that and make sure we get people off the street as quickly as humanly possible,” said Zach Schlagel, the Senior Director of Public Policy for PATH.  

Schlagel said PATH wants to see the next county district four supervisor support PATH’s work with homelessness from prevention to permanent housing.  

“The county supervisor has a lot of influence they direct the public health dollars,” Schlagel said.

A new supervisor hangs in the balance as of Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, San Diego City Council President Pro Tem Monica Montgomery Steppe leads with 41% of the votes.

Activist Amy Reichert has 29% while former Marine Captain Janessa Goldbeck has 25%. Former Gunnery Sargant Paul McQuigg has 5% of the votes.  

Each one has said homelessness, housing, plus public safety are their priorities. 

“It’s a great trend and hope that will pass along to all the residents in the district. I know sometimes there is some frustration about new projects that come into the community, think it’s important to be accepting, and we want to see people off the streets and into housing,” Schlagel said.  

Schlagel said PATH served more than 6,000 people in 2022. With a new supervisor on the horizon, Schlagel pleads for more coordination between the county and the community.   

“We need the supervisor to open up the floodgates of funding to ensure we have more housing, options, and when it comes to shelter, we need to have across the whole county and not just in the City of San Diego,” Schlagle said.

“We still have a long way to go, there are clearly still a lot of people on the streets right now,” Schlagel said.  

One candidate must get 50% plus one vote to win. If there is no majority winner, the top two go to a runoff election in November.