Mile of Cars Towing-Lot Owners Fear National City Is After Land
Driving down National City Boulevard, passing row after endless row of every vehicle imaginable, it is not hard to see why the proudly christened Mile of Cars has turned out to be that town’s economic salvation.
Quaint cable cars are glorified in San Francisco, but shiny new automobiles are revered in National City. And why not? Last year the Mile of Cars generated about half-a-billion dollars in sales, which brought the city millions in sales-tax revenue. But, despite this glut of tax dollars, the San Diego Assn. of Governments said that National City is still the poorest city in the county, with the lowest per capita income.
A Pot of Gold
Enter Tom Moynahan’s towing company--situated on 70,000 square feet of prime commercial land--at the south end of the Mile of Cars, sitting like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow of automobile dealers.
Therein lies the problem, said Tim Moynahan, son of the towing company’s founder. City officials have their eye on his choice lot, says Moynahan, and would like to see another car dealer there, generating more sales-tax revenue, instead of a towing company that only pays property taxes.
To hear Moynahan, 48, tell it, city officials made their intentions known in February, when they decided to modify the city’s 17-year-old contract with his company, which is simply called Tom Moynahan’s. Before the City Council voted on a new course of action, the Moynahans had enjoyed an exclusive towing contract--renewed every three to five years--with the city since 1972.
But last month the council split the contract and awarded half of it to the San Diego-based A to Z Towing. Both companies essentially have a five-year contract. The two companies are not compensated by the city, but are the only companies authorized to work with the National City Police Department to tow abandoned or disabled cars, or vehicles involved in accidents. It is up to the companies to recover their costs.
Moynahan, who was recently voted off the city’s Planning Commission, said it was by accident that he learned of the city’s decision to split the contract. While walking into a commission hearing Feb. 6, Moynahan said, he stopped to peruse an upcoming council agenda when he noticed an item about the city’s towing policy.
Through the Back Door
He interpreted the council’s decision to split the towing contract as an attempt to force him to sell the family’s lot, which he estimates is worth $5 million, to the city’s redevelopment agency. According to Moynahan, agency officials had previously expressed an interest in buying the property and then leasing or selling it to a car dealer.
“They were working through the back door to get to me. They were trying to give me the shaft. . . . I told them, ‘If you guys are interested in my property, you ought to be up front with me,’ ” Moynahan said.
The Moynahan family’s roots are deep in National City, going back to 1927, when Tom moved an auto wrecking business here from San Diego. The elder Moynahan, who is 70, still works in the yard. His wife, Ruth, who is also 70, is a teacher’s aide with the National School District.
“We all work. None of us have any brains. Hell, Tom (his father) and I are here seven days a week sometimes,” Tim Moynahan said.
In 1966, when the city outlawed junkyards, the Moynahans began their towing business and, in 1968, were awarded half the city’s towing contract, which was shared with another company.
In 1972, they obtained exclusive towing rights for city business and remained the only contractor until April, when A to Z Towing entered the picture.
“I don’t mind competition. But they shaft you. They’re giving the contract to a company that is outside of National City and which won’t spend any money here,” Moynahan said.
Moynahan may see a conspiracy in the making by the City Council, but Mayor George Waters and Police Chief Stan Knee said other factors prompted a change in the towing policy.
First and foremost, a city ordinance requires that the towing contract be divided between two companies, Waters said.
Times Have Changed
“The Moynahans have enjoyed an exclusive contract for all these years,” he said. “They’ve gotten automatic extensions all these years without much regard for the ordinance. But times have changed. Twenty years ago our population was 30,000. Today it’s 55,000. . . . Business has quadrupled here. I think there’s plenty of towing business for both companies.
“We’ve got people coming to National City from all over the county. The Mile of Cars did $500 million in sales last year, while the Plaza Bonita Shopping Center did $170 million and Fedco $55 million.”
Knee, who became chief in December, said it has become apparent that Moynahan has more work than he can handle.
“Moynahan did an outstanding job. But there were times when he was not able to dispatch a tow truck as rapidly as possible. . . . On rainy days especially, a towing company has other responsibilities,” Knee said. “Having two companies working with us gives us an extra backup.”
As for Moynahan’s fear that the city is conspiring to take away his property, Waters denied that such a move is in the making.
“Let me go on record as saying that the Moynahans can stay on their property as long as they wish,” the mayor said. “They can stay until the cows come home. . . . After 20 years of doing business with them, they can’t say that the city has not treated them right. I think they’re misunderstanding progress. But, if they want more reassurance, let me say that nobody will get (Moynahan’s) property with my vote.”
For his part, Moynahan does not find reassurance in Waters’ pledge and promised to fight any attempts by the city to acquire his lot.
