Renner is a communications professional and LGBTQ+ advocate. He lives in University Heights.
We’re all multihyphenates. Our identities are not singular, and many of us are part of multiple communities. I’m part of the LGBTQ+ community, the son of an immigrant from Mexico, a millennial, a renter, an advocate for housing and homeless services. I relocated to San Diego eight years ago; I’ve worked in nonprofit organizations and for the city. I’ve spent much of my time here working in the community, and I’ve had many opportunities to be in spaces where civic matters are discussed — City Council, community planning groups and Democratic party meetings. I have been in many rooms where decisions are made, but I haven’t exactly had a seat at the table.
Where I have most felt that my voice and voices like mine are not as represented are in discussions of housing. Upzoning, affordable housing, accessory dwelling units, all of these “hot button” policy topics, give plenty of airtime to homeowners, native San Diegans and people who live in single-family neighborhoods. You rarely hear from renters who make up 52 percent of the city’s residents. You rarely hear from young people who can’t see a future for themselves here that includes homeownership, or people who are being squeezed down the housing rung to the brink of homelessness. We hear from champions of preserving “community character” without hearing from people who think million-dollar homes and people living on our streets aren’t character traits worth preserving.
I write about many of these topics as the communications director for PATH, a statewide homeless services provider and affordable housing developer. We have a large platform to share insight into why more housing is a good thing and why it is the key solution to ending homelessness. Our message needs to be repeated over and over, in local media, in community spaces, and in everyday conversations.
Thankfully, we have resources like the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Community Voices Project. This space invites community with diverse perspectives to share their insights and views on all sorts of topics. Several contributors, including Jim Vargas, Greg Anglea and Fernando Zweifach López Jr., have written about homelessness, and I value their constant advocacy.
This year, I became a contributor to this project and have written about Hot Cheetos, drag queens, my favorite plant shop, and my dad and I going to see Lady Gaga. These columns have been a welcomed space for me to share more about myself and my points of view, in hopes that other people will smile, laugh and think about the things that are important to me and the communities I am a part of. I have yet to write about housing and homelessness, though I have many ideas and plans to do so.
Local media matters, and I’ve relied on outlets like The San Diego Union-Tribune to provide a range of coverage, from in-depth reporting to editorial board endorsements, to essays in the opinion section. Having strong local news networks keeps our community informed, engenders empathy for marginalized communities, and gives us the knowledge needed to advocate for a better San Diego.
Sharing a platform with so many dedicated, civically engaged San Diegans is a personal honor and an invaluable resource for anyone who cares about what happens here. The more voices we hear, the better. The more platforms we have for diverse voices, the better. The more local news outlets we preserve, the better.
