With just a few days before the Tuesday election, backers of Measure C have poured roughly $3.5 million into their campaign in support of a hotel tax hike to expand the San Diego convention center and help the homeless.

The costly campaign, which has relied heavily on contributions from major San Diego hotels, has spent about $1.5 million on television ads airing regularly on radio, TV networks and cable, said Yes on C! spokeswoman Rachel Laing. An additional $1 million has gone toward fliers that almost daily have been filling residents’ mailboxes.

Measure C calls for an increase in the citywide hotel tax, ranging from 1.25 to 3.25 percentage points, based on how close hotels are to the downtown San Diego convention center. Over a period of more than 40 years, the tax hike would generate up to $6.8 billion, with $4 billion of that going toward an expansion of the center, plus future modernization investments. An estimated $2.1 billion would be spent on homeless services and housing, with the remainder — $650 million — to be set aside for road repairs.

Filings with the city showed donations totaling more than $3.3 million as of Friday, which includes funds raised for all of 2019 in anticipation of a future election campaign. The total money raised to date, though, is closer to $3.5 million, including more recent contributions that have not yet been posted online, Laing said.


Backers of the Measure C effort are facing a high bar for approval on Tuesday. Because the initiative calls for a tax increase, a two-thirds majority vote of the electorate is needed for passage. In order to reach voters across the city, heavy spending was needed, Laing said. In addition, ad rates are much higher than normal given the keen competition for air time for candidates competing in the California presidential primary. In just the last six weeks, advertising prices have doubled, Laing said.

“Citywide races are obviously very costly because you want to reach the largest number of people in the medium they’re paying attention to,” Laing said. “Also, normally in California, the presidential primary is in June, when by then the presidential candidates are a foregone conclusion, so this early primary has stepped up the competition for people’s attention and pushed up the cost of advertising.”

Among the heaviest contributors to the campaign are the Manchester Grand Hyatt and San Diego Bayfront Hilton, which contributed about $500,000 each, according to filings with the city. Both are located within walking distance of the convention center. Marriott, which has multiple branded hotels in San Diego, including the Marriott Marquis on the bayfront, also contributed about a half-million dollars.

Some of San Diego’s more prominent corporations, including Sempra, Illumina and Cubic, were also contributors, as were the Padres and local labor unions.


Measure C supporters also faced a relatively well-financed opposition campaign by a single individual — homeless advocate Michael McConnell, who has spent about $400,000 of his own money, much of it on fliers and digital advertising. McConnell insists he has nothing to gain financially from opposing the measure.

“I’m spending my own money in order to point out the flaws in Measure C,” said McConnell, who contends the initiative has too many loopholes and does not raise enough money to have a meaningful effect in addressing homelessness. I see questioning my motives but I’m doing it just because I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Should Measure C prevail at the polls, the new hotel tax hike is expected to go into effect by May of this year.

