Convention Wisdom Questioned
A new report from the San Diego Tourism Authority includes a list of 57 convention groups which inquired about meeting in San Diego, but chose another city.
For years, elected officials and tourism executives have said the reason San Diego loses convention business is because the convention center is too small.
But the report says that of the 57 meetings on that list, only seven were listed as having space issues and most of those were linked to a lack of hotel space. Planners of 16 conventions expressed concerns over costs. Another 12 could have been concerned about either space or costs.
Both the Tourism Authority and Convention Center management told KPBS this week that there has been a “misunderstanding” about the report and that space is really the primary reason groups book elsewhere no matter what the report says.
They believe San Diego’s hotel rooms and convention space are priced appropriately and competitively for a "premium destination."
The city has spent $10 million since 2009 studying ways to expand the Convention Center. Last month, the latest plan to fund the expansion was ruled illegal.
City Fined Big For Storm Water Deficiencies
In a settlement reached last month, the city of San Diego must pay as much as $2.5 million in fines and upgrade costs for failing to enforce rules requiring businesses and the city itself to filter runoff before it reaches the ocean.
The settlement with the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board came four years after routine inspections first found deficiencies in storm-water runoff treatment systems at local construction sites. The city had made some progress since 2010, but still has millions in outstanding storm-water runoff upgrades to complete.
In order to remain in compliance with the board's permitting process going forward, the city will need to spend some $4 billion on storm-water systems and enforcement by 2020.
It is the city’s responsibility to inspect building sites to make sure developers are meeting storm water runoff system permit requirements. The water quality board found inadequate staffing and poor training of city inspectors enforcing permit regulations.
More than 300 private properties were found not in compliance, including apartment buildings, churches, supermarkets, Rady Children’s Hospital and 13 city-owned capital improvement projects. Many have yet to be fixed.
The city has until Aug. 15, 2016 to bring all projects into compliance or face fines of $10,000 a day.
A Taxi Free-For-All?
San Diego currently caps the number of city taxis at 993, which has led to a black-market in the transfer of taxi permits along with onerous leases for drivers.
At a public meeting last week, a proposal by City Councilwoman Marti Emerald and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith to lift the cap entirely has generated glee among those who lease cabs and dismay among those who own taxi permits.
Some owners have reportedly paid as much as $140,000 for the transfer of permits. They then lease out taxis at rates that don't allow some drivers to make even minimum wage. Last week, the council’s Public Safety Committee voted to draft an amendment to the taxi ordinance to open the taxi permit market. To be enacted, the ordinance must be approved by full council and signed by the mayor.
The amendment is backed by United Taxi Workers of San Diego and opposed by taxi owners.
