By Melanee Cottrill, Civitas
The San Diego Tourism Marketing District (SDTMD) today claimed victory in a three-year battle over the District’s most recent renewal.
The case was San Diegans for Open Government (SDOG) v. City of San Diego (City). This case arose from the City’s 2012 renewal of the SDTMD. The TMD was created in 2008 for a five-year term; this renewal extended the SDTMD for another 39.5 years beginning in 2013. The renewal was completed at the request of and with approval via a written ballot from hotels within the City of San Diego. The Plaintiff in this case challenged the renewal, claiming that all taxpayers in the City, rather than just the hotels, had the right to vote on the renewal under the California Constitution.
The SDTMD was recently modified to exclude hotels with fewer than seventy rooms, consistent with the original district structure. The exclusion, intended to resolve issues around weighting assessment payments from home-sharing services, also caused the Plaintiff in this case to lose standing. Because the Plaintiff lost standing, its attorney concluded that the lawsuit is moot and did not argue against the TMD’s motion for a judgment dismissing the lawsuit.
The court’s action ends a long lawsuit, however, because the Court did not rule on the merits, it does not provide substantive protection to future district formations and renewals. CalTravel and Civitas will continue to pursue other options to protect this vital segment of our economy.
