Voters to Face Multiple Choice on Mission Bay and Balboa Park Bonds

Voters will face a multiple-choice question at the Nov. 3 election on whether they want to pay the tab for improvements to Balboa and Mission Bay parks.

Long-debated bond issues for $74 million and $94 million will appear on the November ballot separately--offering voters the choice of financing the repairs on Balboa Park buildings and the sewer line repairs to clean up Mission Bay or go for the frills of improving Fiesta Island and building a new municipal gymnasium to replace the one which is being converted into an automobile museum.

Both general obligation bond issues would require two-thirds majority approval from voters. If both proposals passed, only the larger bond issue would be used.

Mayor Maureen O’Connor championed the bond issue, despite past election history showing that voters had approved only one city general obligation bond issue in the past 20 years.

During more than six hours of debate over the bond issues in committee and council meetings, council members have split over whether to seek to raise the park funds directly--through general obligation bonds requiring a two-thirds approval--or whether to form a citywide special assessment district for park improvements which could be approved by a simple 50% majority vote.

Councilman Mike Gotch has argued that the assessment district method would be more equitable because every homeowner in the city would be assessed an equal amount. Under the general obligation bond issue, he said, owners who purchased their property before Proposition 13 went into effect in 1978 would pay a smaller share because their property values were frozen at a much lower level than present market values.

Complicated Assessment

Gotch’s proposal failed to gain a majority from the council members after it was learned that a complicated assessment schedule for the city’s 400,000 property holdings would have to be compiled at a cost of several million dollars.

The City Council voted Tuesday to place both bond issues on the ballot, reserving the assessment district approach as a future alternative if the bond issues fail.

The $74-million issue would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an extra $18 a year in property taxes for the 30-year life of the bonds. The larger $94-million issue would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $24 a year in additional city property taxes.

Curtis Fitzpatrick, assistant city attorney, said that the dual proposals on the November ballot may confuse some voters who feel they must vote for only one of the two bond amounts.

“We are seeking to phrase the wording on the ballot in such a way that it will be clear that voters may vote for both bond issues with assurance that only one will be used. In other words, the voters must be aware that if they are voting for both issues, they will not be faced with more than $160 million in bonds to pay off,” he explained.

The City Council will discuss further specific park project priorities to be funded by the bond issues but have endorsed in general the recommendations of a citizen task force which has been working since early this year on the Balboa Park and Mission Bay Park improvement financing plans.

In Mission Bay, improvements include:

- $25 million in sewer, storm drain and shoreline enhancement projects designed to restore the aquatic park to its former beauty and purity.

- $8.6 million for development of the park’s southern shores, now only partially developed.

- $1.7 million for new and improved restrooms.

- $2.5 million in bicycle path and pedestrian walk improvements.

Balboa Park improvements slated to be financed by the bond issue include:

- $31.5 million in renovation and safety improvements to existing buildings and arcades, including $11.5 million for the House of Hospitality, $5 million for the House of Charm and arcades, $3.1 million for the Balboa Park Club, $2.3 million for the Museum of Man, $1.6 million each for a municipal gym and the Museum of Man, $1.4 million for Casa de Balboa, $1.1 million each for the Old Globe Theatre complex and the Federal Building and $550,000 for the Palisade Building.

- $2.5 million for vehicle circulation and pedestrian access improvements.

- $2 million for restoration of the Japanese Gardens in Gold Gulch.

The larger $94-million bond issue would encompass all the previous projects and add:

In Balboa Park:

- $6 million for a new municipal gymnasium.

- $2.5 million for additional pedestrian and vehicle circulation and access improvements.

- $1.8 million each for Space Theatre and Starlight Bowl improvements.

In Mission Bay Park:

- $7 million for Fiesta Island improvements.

- $1 million in additional parking and circulation improvements.

- $1 million improvements to East Crown Point Park, Hospitality Point and Model Yacht pond parking.

One controversial issue yet to be decided is the construction of a parking garage within Balboa Park. The council’s Public Facilities and Recreation Committee voted Wednesday in favor of paid parking lots outside the park and an increase in the city hotel-motel tax to finance other improvements.