San Diego

Deputy Mayor Gloria McColl cast a tie-breaking vote as the City Council rejected a proposal to paint the logos of the city’s sports teams on the back of the San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium scoreboard.

The council had deadlocked, 4 to 4, with McColl absent, in a vote two weeks ago to paint “San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, Home of Chargers, Padres, Aztecs (and) Holiday Bowl” on the back of the stadium scoreboard, which faces Interstate 15.

The plan’s backers, led by council members Bruce Henderson and Judy McCarty, called the logos “public art.” On Tuesday, Henderson urged a vote “to put the fun back in San Diego.

“Let’s vote for fun,” he said. “Let’s vote to put our logos on the stadium. And so I urge you to approve this, instead of finding some bureaucratic method to reject it.” Councilmen Ed Struiksma and Bob Filner joined Henderson and McCarty on the losing side of the argument.

Opponents of the plan objected to the 2,250-square-foot size of the sign, which would have been 900% larger than allowed by the city’s sign ordinance. McColl, in casting the deciding vote, said it would be a “double standard” to ask small business owners in her district to abide by the sign ordinance if the city fails to obey it.

Mayor Maureen O’Connor and council members Abbe Wolfsheimer, Ron Roberts and Wes Pratt sided with McColl.

The council approved a suggestion by McCarty that the city’s arts commission consider whether a mural depicting sports figures could be painted on the scoreboard instead of the logos.