Hey Ma, the Meatloaf!

By Tracy Cambre, Ocean Beach

E-MAIL STORY

Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009 | When I moved here 26 years ago, one of the things I liked most about San Diego was that it was a large cosmopolitan city with perfect weather and great arts and culture yet still had a small-town feeling to me. The sentiment San Diego doesn't want to "be Los Angeles" repeats year after year. Fine then. What does San Diego want to be?

I liken San Diego to the grown man still living at home with his mother. I think it's time for him to move out and get a place of his own.

He lived at home while discussions of a new airport for San Diego took place. He lived at home while voters decided a two-thirds vote for tax increases. He lived at home while Proposition 13 froze the state's ability to generate revenues to keep pace with a growing population.

People cite San Diego's lack of leadership for its woes. I don't think it's solely been the leaders; I think it's been the constituents too. San Diegans have grown smug about their city. Having near perfect weather has drawn San Diego into a false sense of entitlement. We're thrilled to promote our "America's Finest City" lifestyle but we're not willing to make the commitment and do the hard work to sustain the city and help it thrive.

So in an effort to get the grown man out of his mom's house and into a place of his own, I suggest the following:

1. Stop complaining about being so overtaxed (which we are not, relative to other U.S. cities) and agree at least to a trash tax.

2. Stop blaming your elected officials for all of San Diego's woes.

3. Be skeptical about a newspaper that's only interested in selling bad news.

Any one of these would be a good start in establishing San Diego's independence and a brighter future for 2009. Think of how many more dates our man could land by confidently saying he doesn't live with his mother. This would be good for him and for us.

Editor´s Choice
The reader comments you won't want to miss. (Editor's Choice selection do not represent the views of the editors. They are comments that seem to add to the discussion as opposed to less productive insults or arguments.)

Tracy, first of all, Happy New Year. Unfortunately, you're letter is nothing, if entertaining. Higher-tax proponents, such as yourself, that just "think" San Diegans don't pay their fair share would be well-served to check out a study done by New York City's Independent Budget Office comparing state and local taxes in large US cities (http://www.sandiegoinstitute.com/index.cfm/commentary_62.htm). To quote, "While Chicago receives 27% of all state and local taxes and Los Angeles 13.4%, San Diego receives only 4.8% of state and local taxes collected!" Our problems are not about taxation (we're right there with the most taxed, including Chicago and LA) but about redistribution of those taxes. Our politicians need to immediately urge and push and lobby Sacramento lawmakers to get our fair share of taxes back so San Diego can become the city it is destined to be. Next time, just do some research before writing a letter to the editor.

Posted by CLB | reply to this comment
January 2, 2009 7:39 am

San Diego and California are viewed as high tax places to live. Until the real estate bust we were among the least affordable places to own property. Now we have upside housing, runaway government spending, high unemployment, lower revenues. Prop 13 was designed to protect long term homeowners from losing their homes due to runaway tax increases. Other states voters are considering enacting similar propositions. Prop 13 did not keep California from raising spending 40% in the last few years, it kept homeowners from paying the bulk of taxes, it spead taxes around. California pays $10 billion a year for illegals, San Diego pays for goldplated pensions and "drop programs". I would sugesst the government does what families do. WHEN YOU OVERSPEND, YOU CUT SPENDING TO KEEP FROM GOING UNDER. I know that is an old-fashioned idea. New revenues needs to come from growth in the private sector

Posted by lee | reply to this comment
January 2, 2009 9:45 am

Until citizens are involved in government, we will be treated badly, and San Diego citizens seem quite disconnected. When the public trust is repeatedly broken, people become cynical. We have a government which is primarily run by special interests and which has promoted development, no matter what has to be compromised. True, we as citizens are responsible for that. I strongly disagree with the author's implication that we need to throw more money at it. And if so, who will benefit from that money? Unfortunately, without accountability, more money is likely to go into the pockets of the connected ones, the forceful ones, the unionized ones. Our increased taxes are likely to arrive in the pockets of those like Nancy, Carolyn, et al, not in the potholes.

Posted by Janet | reply to this comment
January 2, 2009 4:53 pm

16 Comments so far on this story...

I've lived here for most of the last 40 years. I agree with everything you say. My wife, who is a native San Diegan, calls SD the Stephen Baldwin of California cities. San Diegans don't respond to criticism well, either, usually defaulting to low-level, "love it or leave it" jingoism. Having lived elsewhere, my theory is that San Diegans never have to face any real difficulties and are mentally soft and possess a huge sense of entitlement as a result. We also have this tendency to allow entities from other cities to come in, take advantage of us, and leave - be they tourists, sports ownership, the military, or developers - and we never demand anything in return. I stay here because I have a good job. While I don't hate it here, nothing else is keeping me here.

Posted by Poppa | reply to this comment
January 1, 2009 8:59 pm

CLB, obviously you did not read the report either. You can’t go through life relying on an abstract from the Daily Transcript for your facts. You failed to mention that San Diego receives 27.4% of our taxes back in services provided by the county. If you actually read the report you will find that San Diego is one of the lowest taxed cities in the country. Thank you Tracy for your well developed letter.

Posted by Charles | reply to this comment
January 2, 2009 11:45 am

Excuse me Charles, but it wasn't from the DT. I also didn't mention that SD is second to LA in highest state taxes in the country. In fact, it is NOT one of the lowest taxed cities in the country, it actually seems to be somewhere in the middle. Besides, higher local taxes aren't the golden goose in other cities (i.e. New York City - link link Even Democrats are calling for tax relief in NYC! What exactly do we need that we don't have? History has shown conclusively that raising taxes does not solve our problems; it's a slippery slope Charles. Let me ask you - at what point do you stop raising taxes? When we become a communist society? When government provides us with everything we need? Sorry, but America is not that kind of country. I'll take my freedom with a mug of Boston tea, please.

Posted by CLB | reply to this comment
January 3, 2009 11:24 am

Huh? That isn't what I read in the report. Plus you get into all sorts of convulted messes trying to figure out the expenditure side of the ledger (some cities, for example, run jails, others, such as NYC and Chicago run schools). The better measure is the percentage income used to pay all state and local taxes, a meassure which shows that San Diego is smack dab in the middle. The reason is pretty simple - the relatively high assessed values in San Diego and the relatively high income levels (and california's extremely progressive state income tax) takes a decent bite out of SD taxpayer wallets. The problem is that the city sees little (to none) of those taxes.

Posted by CMR | reply to this comment
January 3, 2009 9:56 pm

Hear Hear! We are a city that loves to scapegoat. We love to point fingers and blame other for why we can't have all the things we have grown accustomed to. Not everything that goes wrong is attributable to bad elected officials acting irresponsibly. Remember, we elected these elected officials. Are we a city of incompetents?

Posted by Point Loman | reply to this comment
January 2, 2009 8:55 am

San Diego is what it is. You can't brag about it, but you really can't complain about it, either. It never has been nor will ever be New York or San Francisco. San Diegans often run off to other cities, expecting utopia, only to come back with their tails between their legs. I call it the Portland Boomerang Syndrome.

Posted by Mr. Middleton | reply to this comment
January 2, 2009 12:38 pm

Thank you so much for making the point so many of us, I think, feel every day. A certain (very loud) minority believes we should be able to have a well-staffed, well-stocked paradise for nothing. Then when anyone tries to actually cut costs to meet the income -- live within our means -- this vocal minority writes to the paper and cries to the City Council. It is time to stop whining -- put up or shut up. If you want a well-staffed, well-stocked paradise, get used to the idea of paying for it. The sleight of hand past mayors and councils have resorted to (i.e. MP I and MP II) to give us our lavish civic perks can't be continued. Face that we were living large on a credit card and now have to adjust without or income or our spending, and live with our decisions like adults.

Posted by You said it! | reply to this comment
January 2, 2009 2:53 pm

I'm not sure what you mean by "civic perks'? I think I must have missed something...thanks

Posted by panchy | reply to this comment
January 2, 2009 7:39 pm

Please explain what you mean by civic perks? I don't recall getting any...

Posted by panchy | reply to this comment
January 3, 2009 9:48 pm

In industry groups/trips, regularly interviewing political candidates, I found 'all promise' to 'bring back tax benefits to SD,' but somehow 'lose focus' because we're so far away! Throughout-SD is 'taken advantage of', other cities and counties are much better funded in many areas, yet San Diego's cost of housing per its job base (level of SALARIES), is hugely in DEFICIT compared to other cities, esp. in comparison to our population and location along the border, with Huge Immigrant costs to education, hospitals & other public services-even charities! Get a clue. We need MORE Negotiators, more Stable JOBS! San Diego's tax basis jumped excessively, with more money (CA was flush with cash & age-inexperienced congresspeople/senat thinking it'd never end!) than ever. State mis-spending kept going to other areas along with mis-spending in Local Redevelopment Tax Diversions-what is KILLING San Diego & CA! Read Redevelopment Law & LEARN Truth!

Posted by Wide Awake | reply to this comment
January 3, 2009 11:22 am

"Proposition 13 froze the state's ability to generate revenues to keep pace with a growing population." Must be an educator. 10 minutes of googling showed state population went up 60% since prop 13 while state revenues went up 160% in the last 15 years. (Couldn't find any older data.) A crude estimate for sure but clearly prop 13 hasn't kept the state tax collectors from keeping up with population. Get some data next time, not just CTA propaganda.

Posted by rrrr | reply to this comment
January 3, 2009 5:36 pm

Tracy, you make the common assertion that "Proposition 13 froze the state's ability to generate revenues . . . ." Oh really? Could you be a bit more specific? Do a little research. Go to the San Diego County website, and get us these actual county figures: 1. Property tax revenue collected in 1977, the year before Prop 13 passed, when taxes were so high that it drove voters to pass this reform. 2. Property tax revenue this year. 3. Growth in county population since 1977. 4. Inflation since 1977 After gathering these figures, come back, present them online, and then explain how your findings jive with your above "froze" assertion. I look forward to your response.

Posted by Richard Rider | reply to this comment
January 4, 2009 9:36 am

The deafening silence to my challenge/question says it all. The dishonesty and/or ignorance speak volumes. FYI, property tax revenues today are higher than the inflated pre-Prop 13 revenues, even after adjusting for inflation and population increases. Check it out. BTW, San Diego city employees' benefits now cost in excess of 61% of salaries, far higher than the nationwide state and local governments' high 34%. THAT's why our city is in deep trouble -- not Prop 13.

Posted by Richard Rider | reply to this comment
January 9, 2009 11:05 am

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