May 7, 2020

SAN DIEGO: San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore announced this week his department was going to resume evictions that were in effect prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This announcement received a lot of pushback from county supervisors and other public officials. 

As a result of public pressure, Gore reversed his plan and said in a statement on Thursday, “We have heard from several elected officials. We agree to stop serving these evictions which are perfectly legal.” 

Due to the immediate pushback from public officials, Gore said,  “The Sheriff’s Department has decided to suspend eviction service pending further discussion.”

The Times of San Diego reported that they personally had in their possession a copy of an eviction notice a family already received. Many of the 160 eviction notices have been mailed. 

County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher announced Gore has been asked to postpone evictions until the Superior Court resumes non-emergency service around May 26. 

 Gore said the reason he was resuming the pre-COVID-19 evictions was based on Governor Newsom’s executive order that was a moratorium to protect tenants dealing with financial difficulties directly related to the pandemic. 

President of People's Allliance For Justice, Shane Harris announced, "Today, together with California Governor Newsom, we stopped Sheriff Bill Gore from executing evictions. The sheriff has announced he has halted evictions. The most vulnerable have taken major hits during COVID-19 and we have stood ready since the beginning of the pandemic to protect them. This is a time to step up or sit down or move out of the way."

“We also have a responsibility to the landlords that depend on the income for their livelihoods,” said Gore.