Policy Research

How big is San Diego's visitor industry? How fast is it growing? Why do people come to San Diego to vacation? What challenges loom on the horizon? In the first of a series of reports on San Diego's key economic drivers, SDI's Senior Fellow and Economist Kelly Cunningham provides an overview of San Diego’s visitor industry and some of the key issues it faces in the future. Included are sections on the industry's workforce, the the importance of the San Diego Convention Center, the rise of Indian gaming, and Baja California’s value to the industry.

We hope this report sparks renewed interest and pushes civil leaders to be creative in their approach.This report shows how an aggressive effort to conduct managed competitions throughout the City of San Diego could save taxpayers at least $80 million. The authors identify eleven different functions that would be prime candidates for managed competition, provides 31 case studies about how other cities are using competition in these areas, and lays out key lessons learned about how to stage successful managed competitions. Not only do they highlight functions often discussed as prime candidates for managed competition in the City of San Diego, such as the print shop or fleet maintenance, but also discuss areas not often usually considered, such as the library department or wastewater treatment.

San Diego city officials should take caution with advancing efforts for a new telephone surcharge to pay for 9-1-1 emergency communications services, according to Vince Vasquez, Senior Policy Analyst with the San Diego Institute for Policy Research (SDI).

Speaking before the San Diego City Council's Budget Committee on Wednesday, Mr. Vasquez highlighted four key concerns with the 9-1-1 fee proposal brought forth by the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst in a recent report. They are: 1) legal issues may hamper its possible enactment; 2) San Diegans are in need of more phone tax relief, not more phone taxes; 3) 9-1-1 fee exemptions would be political, not policy-oriented; and 4) adopting a fee structure designed by the city of San Francisco, as favored by the Budget Analyst, would be erroneous. As a back-door tax, not subject to voter approval for implementation or rate hikes, Mr. Vasquez suggested that a 9-1-1 fee would end up costing San Diegans millions of dollars more than they expect.

The San Diego Institute for Policy Research (SDI), in partnership with CONNECT, developed a Technology Start-Up Index to measure the number of new technology-based companies in the San Diego region. The aim of the CONNECT Index of New Technology Business ("CONNECT-dex") is to provide a comprehensive measure for the number of new businesses created in the high- technology and life science sectors in San Diego County.

With San Diego’s economic vitality and growth increasingly dependent upon the high-value, high-wage jobs created by technology and life science firms, this unique index will provide a key measurement of the region’s potential for future economic output. As such, CONNECT-dex will help the community gain a better appreciation of the impact of its emerging businesses. The index provides quantitative validation that San Diego is one of the leading tech centers, not only in California and the nation, but in the world.

SDI is committed to ongoing research as to the economic conditions in the region. In its latest presentation, Senior Fellow and Economist Kelly Cunningham points out several key findings, including the slowing growth in San Diego County's population, the concerning uptick in seasonally unadjusted unemployment and the unveiling of a joint SDI-CONNECT endeavor - a new measure of entrepreneurial activity - the CONNECT-DEX.

Mr. Cunningham, as well as other SDI staff, is available to make presentations to interested San Diego audiences. For more information contact him at 858-320-7509.