EL CAJON, Calif. — The City of El Cajon held its final town hall dedicated to tackling homelessness.

City leaders and residents met Thursday at the Bostonia Center to solve the problem.

This final town hall, in a series of four, was packed as residents and city leaders look for solutions to homelessness.

One thing is clear, they want other cities to step up.

The town hall was standing room only with a passionate group of El Cajon residents and city leaders coming together to tackle homelessness.

“The reality is even though El Cajon has 3% of the county’s population, we are currently shouldering about 16% of the region’s challenge,” El Cajon City Manager Graham Mitchell said.

But city leaders say their hands are often tied due to Props 47 & 57 which downgraded crimes and reduced prison populations that often end up on the streets. 

“80% increase from 2015. The homeless-related calls for service, year over year, have just as you can see—going out of control,” Lt. Joe Crawford said.

The city says the District Attorney’s Office is working on an app to help find open beds for the homeless.

“I think we have so much technology at our disposal and I think we are barely using it or tapping into it to solve some of these to help solve some of these problems,” San Diego resident Serafima McFeran said.

But El Cajon leaders say other cities in the county need to help provide affordable housing and solutions as well.

“Why is all our tax money going to helping the homeless out when La Mesa is not doing anything,” El Cajon resident Andy Murad said. “Santee has, I’ve heard they have some kind of mental health facility. But they got 2% of them. How is that helping us?”

City leaders say even though this is the final town hall, this is not the end. They plan to compile a report summarizing all the feedback and release it to the public.