Some claim that although the City of San Diego and its politicians are in the headlines oft of late, and even sometimes the butt of late-nite TV jokes, that most of the city’s businesses and citizens are not impacted by their government’s sorry state.
Far more say the opposite, that the woes of municipal gummint are indeed negatively impacting business, which in turn is resulting in less tax revenue for the city. Downward spiral.
In yesterday’s Voice of San Diego, retired CEO Gary Sutton weighs in, penning "Jobs Aren’t Leaving SD? Right…" Read it here.
Former mayoral candidate and government watchdog Richard Rider says this of the article:
(It is ) an excellent article on the City of San Diego’s declining health. Not just the city government’s deteriorating services and fiscal meltdown, but as a center of commerce. San Diego midsize businesses either die or leave town.
Perhaps most impressive is the author’s documentation of the costs of one-way U-Haul trailer rentals — the preferred tool for working people to move to a new location. It costs a pretty penny to rent a U-Haul one way to Phoenix or Portland — but it is dirt cheap to rent that same U-Haul from those cities back to San Diego. That best reflects the law of supply and demand — more productive people ARE leaving San Diego than heading here. 
The author also makes the point that the city is getting generous increases in revenue from sales taxes and property taxes. How right he is! I’ll have something more specific on that shortly.
It’s becoming a cliché but it’s true: REVENUE is not the city’s problem (nor the problem of any other government agency, for that matter). Runaway SPENDING and unfunded liabilities are the culprits.
Add to that truism the fact that our city and state are extremely anti-business and anti-housing, and it becomes readily apparent that Enron by the Sea has real problems.
Great fodder. Tell me what you think at barry@flashreport.org