The San Diego City Council on Monday will consider Mayor Kevin Faulconer's proposal for a tax measure to expand the Convention Center, and whether to call a special election on the plan in November. The proposal would raise the city's hotel room tax by 1 to 3 percentage points. In addition to funding the convention center expansion, it would pay for road repairs and programs to reduce homelessness.
But a survey commissioned by homeless advocate Michael McConnell found the measure will not pass as-is.
McConnell spoke outside a 205-unit affordable housing complex called Atmosphere that opened downtown last month. It has 51 apartments set aside for people who are homeless.
“My sole focus is getting people out of homelessness and into buildings like this,” he said. But, he said, the tax proposal will not build enough of housing complexes.
The mayor's initiative is backed by the tourism industry, Father Joe’s Villages and the Alpha Project.
Estimates put funding for homelessness from the measure at $10 million a year, but the city could bond the proceeds and come out with $150 million the first year.
“Right behind us is an example of the cost: $79 million, 51 homeless people off the street,” McConnell said, again pointing to Atmosphere. “So if we’re going to be serious about this issue, we have to be serious and realistic about the amount of money that it’s going to take. And I wanted to really see, do the voters support that?”
McConnell said he paid $30,000 for a professional survey of 400 San Diegans. It says there is enough support to pass the hotel tax increase if it were solely for homeless services. The tax increase as proposed today would not pass, McConnell’s pollsters said.
But another survey of just under 400 people commissioned in February by representatives of the tourism industry showed there is an appetite to also fund the convention center.
“The money that the convention center generates in hotel stays, in sales tax at restaurants and bars, all that money trickles into our neighborhoods,” said Tony Manolatos, a spokesman for the coalition of tourism groups and homeless service providers backing the measure.
Manolatos said the discrepancy in poll results could be because the firms did not use the same questions. The poll released last month referred generally to helping the homeless. In contrast, “Theirs says, ‘Increasing affordable housing,’” said Manolatos. “That is code for low-income housing, which is going to tank it with a lot of Republicans.”
McConnell said his poll was in the works before the February poll was released in May, so it was not possible to use the same questions. McConnell said he drew from language Mayor Kevin Faulconer used while discussing the proposal. McConnell's hypothetical homeless-only measure that polled well included the words “affordable housing.”
In April the annual homeless count numbers were released. They showed homelessness increased 14 percent countywide. The number of tents on downtown streets increased 104 percent.
“We’re seeing a trend across California, that is bipartisan in nature, where people recognize that this is a moral issue and we absolutely need to be funding housing and homeless-related programs because it’s just getting worse,” said Councilman Chris Ward, who represents downtown.
Ward and seven other council members have already rejected funding for a special election.
“I think we need to go back to the drawing board and work with all stakeholders to design something that is passable and actually reflects the priorities of San Diegans,” Ward said.
A mayoral veto could restore funding for a special election. Faulconer’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
