Homelessness continues to be one of the biggest problems in California, and we asked the candidates for governor how they'd handle it.

The big picture: Three candidates responded to our questions submitted by readers.

• We got responses from Democratic businessman Tom Steyer, fellow Dem and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and Republican political commentator Steve Hilton.
• Axios also reached out to Xavier Becerra, Chad Bianco, Katie Porter, Tony Thurmond and Antonio Villaraigosa but did not get a response.

Q: Do you think California's homelessness plans are working? If not, what would you do differently?

Tom Steyer thinks the state has focused too much on permanent supportive housing and too little on bridge housing, leading to many dollars spent and few units to show for it. He would:

• 🪣 Match housing type to the population being served.
• ❤️‍🩹 Pair the right housing with the right level of care.
• 🏠 Give chronically homeless individuals intensive support to get off the street, while staying committed to Housing First.

Matt Mahan believes California is failing by spending billions while still housing nearly half the nation's unsheltered homeless people. He would:

• 🏘️ Scale San José's model statewide, which cut unsheltered homelessness by nearly a third using tiny homes, converted motels, and wraparound services.
• ⚡ Prioritize faster, lower-cost interim housing that gives people a real path indoors.
• 📋 Set clear expectations that when shelter or treatment is available, people should come indoors.

Steve Hilton thinks California's homelessness crisis is a policy failure, with 10% of the U.S. population but nearly 50% of its homeless population. He would:

• 🚔 Use state law enforcement to clear illegal encampments.
• 💊 Require drug and alcohol recovery in exchange for permanent services.
• 🧠 Massively expand mental health bed capacity, including by adopting the IMD waiver that other states have already used to build larger, more efficient facilities.

This is part 2 of our series hearing from California's gubernatorial candidates on pressing issues in our state. Go here to read part 1.

There's bad news for families, runners and anyone who drinks a lot of coffee: Many San Diego public bathrooms still face closure in the mayor's revised budget proposal released this week.

The big picture: Mayor Gloria's updated budget restores some of the bathrooms threatened to be cut in his first budget, but would still close public facilities in downtown, Balboa Park and Mission Bay.

Zoom in: The budget would halve bathrooms in those popular public places, cutting them from 66 to 33, according to Voice of San Diego.

• The cuts would include 13 of 28 restrooms in Mission Bay Park and six of 17 comfort stations in Balboa Park, as well as some homeless service station facilities.
• The city says the move would save $3 million. But it would fly in the face of Gloria's 2021 pledge to add more restrooms.

The proposed bathroom cuts come as the city grapples with a yawning $146 million budget deficit.

Yes, but: The revised budget would restore services at five beach bathrooms and build a new bathroom at a Mt. Hope neighborhood park.

Context: The mayor suggested closing bathrooms to save money last year, but the City Council put them back in the final budget.

💭 Claire's thought bubble: It is basically impossible to find a public bathroom downtown. Once, after a press conference, I popped into a downtown restaurant and asked to use their restroom.

• The waitress told me I could pay $5 for the bathroom code. Desperate as I was, I agreed.
• She even had a button on the cash register to ring me up for "bathroom use."

Other budget updates

✈️ Three passengers who wanted a smoke break stopped all flights at the airport for two hours yesterday morning.

• They went outside and came back in without going through security, triggering an alarm and prompting a ground stop, which caused rippling delays. (Union-Tribune)

🏗️ SDSU broke ground on a 720-unit affordable housing project near Snapdragon Stadium meant for students, faculty and staff. (NBC San Diego)

🐦 Dead seabirds are lining parts of San Diego's coastline as unusually warm ocean temperatures disrupt feeding patterns. (Times of San Diego)

🌉 Coronado advanced plans for a 7-foot clear wall on the Coronado Bridge in an effort to prevent suicides. (FOX 5)

🥬 A man spent a month eating only plants foraged around Ocean Beach, including weeds, sea beans and backyard fruit. (Times of San Diego)

"Olivia" is the new queen and "Liam" remains king of California's top baby names, according to Social Security card applications submitted at birth.

The big picture: Those are the most popular names nationally, too, and have been for the past seven years.

California's top girl names didn't change much since 2024.

• Olivia moved into first place over Emma, and Sophia jumped from fifth to third. Eliana and Valentina replaced Luna and Gianna in the top 10.
• The boys stayed the same, except that Elias and Benjamin knocked Ezra and Lucas out of the top 10.

The intrigue: Two K names are considered fastest risers nationwide last year, according to the SSA.

• For boys: Kasai, which means "fire" in Japanese and Swahili.
• For girls: Klarity, an altered spelling of "clarity."

Other novel spellings climbing the national ranks: Neithan and Madisson.

Tell someone pregnant

More "Little Free Libraries" should be popping up after this weekend, thanks to a project from four East County rotary clubs.

• The clubs are building and painting the book trading hubs as part of the Epic Day of Service, a worldwide Rotary Club volunteer day.

Once they're done building the libraries, they'll drop them off at schools and county parks, who will set up and maintain them.

• The rotary clubs will also do a book drive to make sure the libraries start off well-stocked, La Mesa Sunrise Rotary Club member Deirdre Kleske told Axios.

How to join

We have a winner. In what was not in any way an upset, the San Diego Zoo came out on top.

• It wasn't even close.
• Round of applause to the runner up, OB People's Co-op, and stay tuned for more on merch next week.