Where There’s Smoke, There’s Proposition C

Re “Penny-Wise, Fire-Foolish,” editorial, March 8: The Times did not look closely enough at San Diego’s Proposition C when it chose to berate us for not passing it. Proposition C was going to raise the hotel room tax to 13% from 10.5%. The entire increase of 2.5% was going to go to the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Convention Center. Of the original 10.5% tax, control of 4% was going to be taken away from the City Council and divided up among the Police and Fire departments, libraries and parks, leaving 6.5% to be used at the discretion of the city. All of these set-asides would be cast in stone whether the need continued or not.

It is hoped this increase will be brought back on the November ballot without all of the set-asides, or at least they will have some sort of a “sunset clause” so that those amounts would be reconsidered at a future date to see if the same distribution continued to be needed or if the money would be better spent elsewhere.

Shirley J. Larson

San Diego