Concerned working business leaders representing a broad spectrum of diverse economic sectors employing hundreds of thousands of San Diegans came forward today to voice their opposition to a half-cent sales tax initiative in the City of San Diego.
Businesses increasingly oppose Proposition D due to the harm it will cause to the local economy during the current recession. Leaders urged elected officials to take a businesslike approach to its issues and make every effort to find ways to enact the long term reforms so badly needed.
“Our industry is just beginning to recover from the devastating impacts of the economic downturn,” said Dave Miller, General Manager of John Hine Mazda, speaking for the New Car Dealers Association ® San Diego County. “Many of our dealers had to reduce staff and some were forced to close down their dealerships. Raising the sales tax automatically makes the largest retail purchase by San Diegans more expensive. Real people lose jobs and businesses close due to decreased sales. This negatively impacts the local economy. Equally important, lost sales generate no sales tax income at all for the city.”
“Proposition D imposes an additional tax on San Diego consumers at a time of continued economic distress and uncertainty,” said Bob Cummins, chairman of the Building Industry Association of San Diego Board of Directors. “The City should be more concerned about how it can keep our marketplace healthy and encourage commerce, not discourage it. Prop D will cost taxpayers a half billion dollars while dangling the promise of reforms without any guarantees. I consider this a form of blackmail.”
“When times get tough for business owners, we trim expenses, we cut back, we work within our budgets,” said Cecelia Moreno, owner of the Crest Café and speaking for the California Restaurant Association. “But we do not raise prices on our customers, not in tough times. We do not believe the city has done all it could to trim expenses, and leaders need to take a businesslike approach to running our city before we approve any additional taxes.”
“The businesses leaders here today represent thousands of individual businesses large and small,” said T.J. Zane, President and CEO of The Lincoln Club of San Diego County. “By the most conservative estimate, they employ a quarter of a million people. These people are the economic engine at the heart of our city, the people who generate good jobs for working families. It is these families who suffer most when jobs are lost due to businesses closing or making cutbacks.”
Among the organizations present at the event were:
- New Car Dealers Association San Diego County
- California Restaurant Association
- Asian Business Association
- San Diego Association of Realtors
- San Diego North County Chamber of Commerce
- Lincoln Club of San Diego County
- Building Industry Association
- San Diego County Apartment Owners Association
- Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction
- Associated General Contractors
- Associated Builders and Contractors
- Engineering and General Contractors Association
“Prop D ads a half-a-billion dollar tax increase to the challenges already faced by San Diego’s working families and small businesses. That’s why such an expansive business coalition has formed to oppose this misguided proposition that not only hurts our economy but sets back reform in city government,” said City Councilmember Carl DeMaio.
For more information, visit www.stopthesalestax.com, or “San Diegans Against the Sales Tax” on Facebook.
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“Proposition D, the city of San Diego’s sales tax and financial reform ballot measure, received its first major support from a business organization Thursday morning with an endorsement from the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“We never set out to have a sales tax,” said Tom Wornham, the chamber’s board chairman. “Our objective is to have permanent fiscal reforms that ends the city’s structural deficit.”
Wornham said the City Council’s attempt Monday to tighten the projected reforms swayed the chamber board.”
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/thehall/article_6d43747a-d243-11df-9619-001cc4c002e0.html
Hi Rachel Laing… I mean Gwendolyn. Please read the Chamber of Who Cares article below to educate yourself.
To repeat it here as well, although we do know that “Gwendolyn” is a pseudo-name, she and Ms. Laing are not one in the same. To be fair to Rachel, when she has posted here she has used her name. FYI and for the record.
It’s true, I have always used my name when posting anything to Rostra and other sites. Thanks, Admin, for your fairness in pointing that out.
I don’t need to hide my identity. If I share my thoughts and ideas, I will stand behind them. I wish everyone were so transparent when they espouse their views. To me, if you don’t want your name attached to your ideas, their worth is considerably diminished.