It’s a case of case of déjà vu at San Diego City Hall today.
As KOGO News has reported, Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer goes before the Democratic majority Council to make yet another pitch to get the hotel room tax measure on the ballot, specifically on the primary election ballot in March of next year instead of waiting till the general election in November of next year.
The measure would raise revenue from the hotel tax in order to expand the convention center, pay for homeless programs and more.
Unsuccessful attempts to find the money to expand the San Diego Convention Center go back many years and of course the homeless problem has remained a problem for years.
With the city’s largest annual convention just 3 months away, Comic Con watchers will be watching what happens at today’s city council meeting.Without a larger convention center, Comic Con organizers have said before they may have to leave for a city with a larger place for their popularly massive event, an event that means hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy.
Of course, even if the city council agrees to give the Mayor what he wants and puts the hotel tax measure on the earlier election ballot next year, it doesn’t mean voters will approve it.
Many voters in San Diego have been against any kind of tax increase, even a tourist tax. And there are plenty of special interests and attorneys out there always ready to go to court to block publicly funded projects.We just have to look back to the years of delays to build Petco Park.
So while what is happening at today’s City Council meeting has happened before, will deja vu turn into something new this time?
(Photo KOGO News)