The facts are immutable – since the passage of Prop. 13, we haven’t had the funds to maintain our infrastructure, to extend more of the neighborhood services that San Diegans want, to finance an affordable housing trust fund, build a new central library, etc. We’ve been in a slow and steady decline. Prop. 13 created a fiscal structure that requires new development to pay for the infrastructure for those new homes.
I guess some that rely on populist anti-tax rhetoric instead of serious policy discussions must think that someone else should pay; or they should be free? If we want roads, parks, libraries, police and fire services and everything else that makes a city a great place to live, (and I think we do) then we need to be honest that these cost money (just like I teach my kids) and then let’s go find the resources to do so.