A recent online poll by research firm YouGov shows that a quarter of San Diego adults "strongly or somewhat support the proposal for a new, taxpayer-funded" $1.8B Chargers stadium and convention center downtown, according to Brent Schrotenboer of USA TODAY. The poll "showed more than half -- 52% -- strongly or somewhat opposed the measure, with the other 23% not stating a preference." The poll was "conducted Aug. 19-24 with a sample size of 196 and a margin for error of 7 percentage points." To win the vote, which takes place in November, the Chargers need "two-thirds of voters to approve the project." If the vote fails, the Chargers "have until Jan. 15 to decide whether to move" to L.A., where they have an "optional deal to share a lucrative new stadium" with the Rams ( USA TODAY, 8/26 ).
HEAR IT FROM HIM : Chargers Chair Dean Spanos in an op-ed for the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE wrote the team's stadium initiative "does two things." It would create a "new visitor's tax of four cents on the dollar per hotel stay to pay for the new combined convention center and stadium, and two more cents to fund Tourism and Marketing District regional promotions." It also envisions a "new governing structure -- or Joint Powers Authority -- to oversee the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the facility, along with the creation of a dedicated funding mechanism to collect taxes from visitors to pay the bonds and other project costs." Under the Chargers' plan, "no general fund dollars will be used to fund any part of the development project or its operation." Spanos: "I urge you to please go to our website -- VoteYesonC.com -- to read the initiative, and let us know your feedback" ( SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/25 ).
