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When thousands of voters across San Diego went to the polls last month, they weighed the same pitch from city and school district officials: Can you spare a few bucks next year?
The city proposed raising $100 million annually through a half-cent sales tax increase (Proposition D). The school district wanted to raise $50 million annually through a parcel tax (Proposition J). Both governments face budget deficits next year. Both argued that massive cuts to services would be part of the solution without more money.
Enough voters didn’t buy into either’s pitch, but here’s one big difference: Nearly every neighborhood shot down the city’s request while most central and southeastern neighborhoods agreed to pay more for public schools. This graphic show precinct results from each election:
Interstate 5 and Interstate 8 almost perfectly divided the core of Prop J’s support from the rest of the school district. Most of Prop. D’s support came from neighborhoods near Balboa Park and the University of California San Diego.
Prop. D received the most support in Hillcrest, where 53 percent said yes, and the most opposition in Rancho Bernardo, where 70 percent said no.
Prop. J, however, had its best showing in several southeastern neighborhoods like Encanto, where 63 percent said yes, and its worst showing in peninsula neighborhoods like La Playa in Point Loma, where 61 percent said no.
Why do you think this is the case?
Over the next few days, I’ll be digging a little deeper into the results from both elections and others around San Diego County. I’ll be posting maps and graphics periodically that help explain what happened and what the results says about different communities.
If you have any insight to share about the results or would like me to analyze a particular race, please drop me a line by sending an email to keegan.kyle@voiceofsandiego.org. You can also contact me at 619.550.5668 or follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/keegankyle.