It was a good day for San Diego’s mayor this week. Mayor Faulconer stood in front of the cameras and microphones with top leaders from the city’s hotel and tourist industries along with other civic leaders as they all stood with him on his proposed hotel tax increase.
It was a good day for the mayor because in San Diego when anyone mentions a tax increase of any kind, it immediately draws fire from those conservatives who are against any tax increase.
So despite his good day this week, the mayor knows there is going to be a battle over his ballot measure that would raise hotel room taxes by one to three percent.
The money from the tax increase would go to expand the downtown convention center, battle homelessness and fix roads in the city. Because the hotel room tax hike would not go to pay for a downtown football stadium, (been there done that), this plan is expected to have more support.
That’s because the mayor and all those tourism and civic leaders this week say an increase in the hotel room tax would have little direct impact on the people who live in the city.
But despite that, Mayor Faulconer knows there probably will be those who hold their own news conferences to oppose his plan.
Voters are going to be making an important decision, one that could directly affect three main concerns that all voters probably have, reducing the homeless problem, fixing roads and growing the local economy through more tourism.
As for the mayor, he’s hoping that later this year, the day after the vote is a very good day.