The County paid outside consultants thousands of your tax dollars to run polls. And what were those polls testing? Whether they could raise your taxes.
Your own money was spent to find the best way to reach deeper into your pocket.
It wasn't done out in the open, with the full board's support. It was handled quietly, by a subcommittee. The public only found out through reporting and records requests. That's not right, and I think most of you will agree: it sounds exactly as shady as it is.
Subcommittees should not be spending your money on polls, or on anything else, without the full support of the board. If the County is going to spend your dollars, you have every right to watch it happen in the open, in front of every Supervisor and every resident.
Here's the part that should tell us everything. Even after paying for the poll, the answer from residents was still no. On a half-cent sales tax, roughly two-thirds were opposed. Support for the other tax ideas fell apart the moment people heard both sides.
That doesn't surprise me one bit. San Diegans are already stuck with the highest gas and electricity bills in the country. You did not need a taxpayer-funded consultant to figure out we don't want to pay more.
The answer to what you're feeling at the pump, on your utility bill, and at the grocery store is not another tax. We should be lowering the cost of living, not inventing new ways to raise it. And we should never spend your dollars to quietly test how far we can push you.
What this petition demands
By signing, you're calling on the County Board of Supervisors to:
- Require a clear, public review process before any subcommittee signs a polling or consulting contract
- Publicly post every poll, every question, and every result, in full
- Bring spending decisions like these before the full board, in front of every Supervisor and every resident