As a fan of Comic-Con who has attended for several years — and who even made the trek to Anaheim for WonderCon last weekend — I stand firmly against the expansion of the San Diego Convention Center. With the exception of Comic-Con, the Convention Center/exhibit areas are more than adequate. It takes little research to identify the size of conventions and to learn that most are well under 30,000 — not the 130,000 that Comic-Con draws. Comic-Con’s founders, while committed to be here for the next couple of years, may well move when younger organizers, without the strong ties to San Diego roots, become the decision makers.
Consider: it was no accident that WonderCon went from San Francisco to Anaheim this year. A measure of Los Angeles participation? The costly and unnecessary expansion of San Diego’s Convention Center will not hold Comic-Con. It is the citizens of this city who are being conned — by a mayor who wants to leave a legacy and the developers who reap financial gain by further obliterating the harbor.
Bonnie Bekken lives in Normal Heights.
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