This post initially appeared in the June 15 Politics Report. Get the Politics Report delivered to your inbox.
We heard some new faces are joining the team pushing a ballot measure next year to raise hotel taxes for a Convention Center expansion, homelessness programs and road repairs. Namely, we’d heard consultants from the firm Axiom Strategies, including Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s former chief of staff Stephen Puetz, are joining the effort.
We reached out to the rest of the team and the results were … inconclusive.
They confirmed that something is changing, but wouldn’t confirm that Axiom is on board. Puetz did not respond to a request for comment.
“Now that the initiative has been placed on the ballot, we’re putting together a great bipartisan team to run a winning citywide campaign this March. We’re looking forward to formally kicking off our campaign soon and updating you then,” said Keith Maddox, executive secretary and treasurer at the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, in a written statement.
Chris Wahl, president of Southwest Strategies, which has been part of the effort for months, said the same.
“The coalition is working on bringing on a full campaign team for March as we had planned to do all along,” Wahl wrote in an email.