The Chargers still don’t have their first-round pick under contract, but their effort to build a new stadium with taxpayer money has a name.
“Ballot Measure C” is the official label, with an affirmative vote approving the increase of hotel and motel taxes for the construction of a new venue. The Chargers unveiled the name with the mantra that they’ll adopt for the next two-plus months: “Vote Yes on C.”
“On November 8, citizens of San Diego will have the opportunity to ‘Vote Yes on C’ which is aimed at providing a world-class events center that would revitalize East Village downtown with expanded convention facilities and a modern, multi-use stadium,” the team said in a press release. “A yes vote on C will allow for the creation of a new facility that could host world-class events and conventions such as Super Bowls, NCAA Final Fours, NCAA title games, professional soccer, concerts, the X Games and a host of other high-profile events. And no general funds will be used to build this new venue as it will be paid for by the Chargers and the NFL as well as tourists and business travelers staying in San Diego hotels.”
That last part will be the crux of the sales pitch to San Diegans: It won’t cost you anything. This approach presumes that people who live in a given town never have any reason to pay for hotel rooms in that town; however, from family visits to busted pipes in a home to a visit from Vamanos Pest to couples going through discord to the kind of intimate encounters with others that can create discord between couples, plenty of hotel and motel rooms are surely bought and paid for by San Diego residents.
Likewise, the public money raised by an “it won’t cost you anything” tax can be used for other public projects that some would regard as more valuable than a football stadium.
For now, the Chargers need at least two thirds of the voters to “Vote Yes on C.” Even if the “it won’t cost you anything” argument works, it’s still an uphill climb.
