Convention Center Ballot Measure Moved To March

San Diego —  San Diego voters will decide next March whether to raise hotel taxes to expand the waterfront convention center and provide many millions for local homelessness programs and street repair.
The City Council voted 5-4 Monday to hold a citywide vote on raising hotel taxes eight months earlier than previously anticipated – the March 2020 primary instead of the November 2020 general election.

Supporters said holding the election earlier will increase the chances the measure is approved, because the November 2020 ballot is expected to include other tax increases that could compete for voter support.

They also said San Diego’s homelessness crisis has become so urgent that it makes sense to create a permanent funding stream for prevention programs as quickly as possible.

Opponents said the earlier vote means significantly lower turnout for a crucial decision that will affect city finances for the next four decades.

They stressed that primary elections typically draw 40 percent fewer voters, and that the voters who don’t participate in those elections are more likely to be young and members of minority groups.

The five-member council voting bloc in support of a March 2020 vote included the panel’s three Republican members and two of its six Democrats – Council President Georgette Gomez and Councilwoman Dr. Jennifer Campbell.

“We need to get to it as quickly as we can,” Campbell told her colleagues during a two-hour public hearing. “I believe that the matters addressed in this proposition have waited too long.”

The council’s other four Democrats said their main reason for voting against a move to March 2020 was Measure L, a successful 2016 ballot initiative where 66 percent of city voters expressed a preference for having citizens’ initiatives presented to voters in general elections.

“I have always respected the mandate the voters gave us under Measure L,” Councilman Chris Ward said.

“I can’t in good conscience vote for this today because I would be voting against 70 percent of the people in my district,” Councilwoman Monica Montgomery said. “As elected officials, we not only have the responsibility of addressing the homeless crisis and our infrastructure needs, but we also have to honor our responsibility to the people of San Diego.”

Gomez, however, noted that Measure L expressed a preference for general elections but not a requirement, granting council members the latitude to choose.

“I do think this is the right thing to do,” said Gomez, contending the hotel tax hike has the potential to make San Diego a more prosperous and equitable city with less poverty.

The ballot measure, a citizens’ initiative supported by both labor and business groups, would increase the city’s hotel tax from 12.5 percent to as high as 15.75 percent depending on location.

The lion’s share of the money generated by the increase, $3.5 billion, would pay for expanding the city’s waterfront convention center from 816,000 square feet to 1.2 million square feet, enhanced maintenance of the center and more marketing.

It would also generate $551 million for road repairs and $1.8 billion for homelessness programs, including $147 million in the first five years that would help get an estimated 1,900 people off the streets or into permanent housing.

Supporters say it makes sense to increase San Diego’s relatively low hotel tax rate for a popular tourist destination and spend the money that it generates on three prime city priorities. They stress that expanding the convention center will generate more visitors paying the increased hotel tax rate.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a longtime advocate for expanding the convention center, has been a vocal supporter for combining that goal with creating long-term funding streams for road repair and homelessness services.

In addition to labor unions and business groups like the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the measure is supported by many homelessness service providers and the local tourism and construction industries.

Jaymie Bradford, the chamber’s chief operating officer, said the measure deserves support because it would simultaneously address three of the city’s most glaring needs.

Keith Maddox, leader of the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, said San Diego must take this opportunity to present voters with a proposed convention center expansion, which has been in the planning and proposal stages for many years.

“The city is at an important crossroads,” Maddox said. “The time for excuses and to kick the can down the road is over.”

Advocates for Measure L harshly criticized the move, contending the council betrayed the voters who supported it.

“It’s about building trust with voters or violating it,” said Andrea Guerrero, executive director of Alliance San Diego Mobilization Fund. “Democracy functions best when the most people participate.”

Guerrero contends supporters of Measure L included a loophole allowing the council to choose primary elections for ballot measures only in the case of emergencies or highly urgent situations. She contends the need to expand the convention center doesn’t qualify.

Maddox, the labor leader, said supporters of Measure L can take solace in expectations that the March 2020 primary will have unusually high turnout. That’s because it will include a presidential primary, the race for San Diego mayor, five City Council elections and numerous other items.

The measure will need support from more than two-thirds of voters in March because it’s a tax increase for a specific purpose, but a recent state Supreme Court ruling could lower the approval threshold to a simple majority. An aide to Mayor Faulconer said city officials expect to need two-thirds approval.

The city must also secure the land where the convention center would be expanded to its north. A development group that controls the property is scheduled to present plans in May to the Port of San Diego for a $300 million hotel there.

The other tax hike measures expected to be on the November 2020 ballot are a $900 million general obligation bond to pay for construction of low-income housing and sales tax increase to pay for transit upgrades. Hotel tax is formally called transient-occupancy tax.

Monday’s vote was a resolution in favor of presenting the hotel tax to voters in March 2020. The council must vote again this fall to formally place the measure on that ballot.

Source: sandiegouniontribune.com