Ruling OKs Convention Center vote, but opponents plan to appeal
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The San Diego Convention Center. Photo: Kevin Carter/Getty Images
San Diego's years-long attempt to expand its Convention Center won a major victory last week with a judge ruling in the city's favor, but the group opposing the effort told Axios Wednesday they plan to appeal.
Why it matters: 65% of city voters in 2020 supported a hotel tax increase to expand the Convention Center and pay for homeless services and road repairs, but no new hotel taxes have been collected in the four years since as courts continue to sort out the dispute.
Driving the news: San Diego Superior Court Judge Wendy Behan ruled last week there wasn't enough evidence to conclude that city officials were overly involved in the citizens' initiative that went before voters March 2020, as the Union-Tribune reported Tuesday night.
Catch up quick: Beginning in 2017, a series of state rulings determined tax increases can pass through citizens' initiatives with a simple majority, while tax measures placed on the ballot by governments still need two-thirds support.
- But the California Taxpayers Action Network, one of the groups challenging the measure's passage, argued that Jayme Bradford, chief operating officer for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, sullied the initiative because she was on the board of the San Diego Convention Center while she organized it.
- An appellate court ruled last year the measure passed with a simple majority, and did not require two-thirds approval. However, it sidestepped a decision on whether the Convention Center measure was truly a citizen's initiative, leaving that question to Behan.
The intrigue: Behan was unswayed by the argument that Bradford's involvement made it a government-led ballot measure.
What's next: Cory Briggs, attorney for the California Taxpayers Action Network, told Axios his clients will appeal Behan's ruling to the 4th District Court of Appeal.
The bottom line: There still will not be a final resolution on the measure until that appeal is completed, which could take another year or more, keeping the Convention Center and local hotel taxes as they are in the meantime.