December 4, 1998
On December 8 the San Diego City Council will vote on whether or not to create a Business Improvement District (BID) in San Ysidro. A BID is a geographical defined area where businesses, predominately small businesses, choose to be assessed a fee by the city in order to pay for business-related activities and improvements which on an individual basis they could not afford.
For the business owners along San Ysidro Boulevard and Camino de la Plaza the BID designation would be a step in the right direction in providing them the opportunity to change the perception and business opportunities in their community.
San Ysidro is the stepson to the City of San Diego, has struggled in the shadow of the City of Chula Vista, and has served as the thoroughfare for tourist and shoppers on their way to and from Tijuana. San Ysidro has been ignored when it has come to business development and improvements by the City of San Diego.
The key to the BID designation is that the affected businesses owners overwhelmingly voted in favor of the annual assessment, which would be based on a sliding scale.
The funds would be collected by the City of San Diego and the Small Business Administration would administer the funds. A governing board would be created from amongst the business owners who will then determine how best to use the monies. Examples of BID funds in action can be seen the Adams Avenue Street Fair, Hillcrest's City Fest, Old Town's Latin American Festival, to name a few. BID funds have also been used to coordinate marketing efforts, business development, and business retention.
BID funds will help San Ysidro to compete with the surrounding cities.
A YES Vote for the BID designation for San Ysidro would appear to fall the heading of a `no-brainier'. With the surrounding areas of San Ysidro growing by leaps and bounds it would be prudent to give San Ysidro a tool with which to develop its business community and keep up with the surrounding improvements.
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