Tuesday, October 20, 2020 - NEWS RELEASE

SAN DIEGO – Three years into an aggressive citywide effort to keep San Diego clean, safe and beautiful, Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer on Tuesday brought together partners of the City’s Clean SD program to highlight the progress that has been made so far in removing over 7,000 tons of trash, debris and waste from public spaces and improving quality of life in neighborhoods across the city.

“Clean SD is all about restoring a sense of pride in our communities and making sure our neighborhoods are clean and safe for everyone. Our cleanup crews have accomplished that and so much more,” Mayor Faulconer said. “This has truly been a citywide push to beautify our neighborhoods and we encourage San Diegans to keep using the ‘Get It Done’ app to report issues that we need to address in their community.”

At the site of a frequent illegal dumping spot in the Paradise Hills neighborhood, Mayor Faulconer thanked Clean SD crews for clearing more than 7,000 tons of trash and debris since the program’s implementation in 2017.

The tonnage represents the accomplishments of an evolving program. Clean SD started with crews responding to complaints received through the City’s Get It Done application and now includes proactive cleanups with roving crews as well as a list of hot spots that City Councilmembers have identified in their neighborhoods. Crews have responded to over 6,500 reports from the public and conducted over 32,000 proactive cleanups.

The Clean SD program came in response to the need to eliminate the unsanitary conditions in public spaces, including homeless encampments, and address quality of life issues in neighborhoods. Crews have power washed more than 18,000 City blocks and the City now pairs Clean SD crews directly with SDPD’s Homeless Outreach Teams to offer services to individuals experiencing homelessness at encampments and quickly address the remaining trash in the area following the encounter.

The Clean SD program is a collaborative effort between multiple City of San Diego departments, including Environmental Services, Transportation and Stormwater, and SDPD’s Neighborhood Policing Division. External partners include Center for Employment Opportunities, Urban Corps of San Diego County, Clean Harbors and Alpha Project of San Diego.

In partnership with the San Diego River Park Foundation, the City has also targeted cleanup efforts along the San Diego River – reducing the number of homeless encampments by 90 percent during the past three years. The City only owns about one-third of the property along the river with the other two-thirds being privately held by several businesses and other government agencies.

The program’s history and progress can be found in the Clean SD October 2020 Overview.