Rain Dampens Rosarito Turnout

A steady rain in Rosarito Beach dampened local business leaders’ hopes and prevented many voters from reaching the polls Sunday to decide whether to turn the coastal enclave into Baja California’s fifth city.

Sunday’s referendum posed the first step in severing Rosarito’s ties to Tijuana, 25 miles away, and allowing the beachfront community to form its own municipality--a move that would free up tax dollars to pave the dirt roads that criss-cross much of the town and to build an adequate sewage system.

After a preliminary tally of votes Sunday evening, local businessmen were admitting defeat though not demise, saying only about 6,000--fewer than half of a potential 15,000--voters had gotten to the polls.

“We still have high hopes even if we don’t win tonight,” said Gustavo Torres, manager of the Rosarito Beach Hotel. “We are going to continue the campaign.”

In an early count, about 90% of those voting favored Rosarito claiming cityhood, said Hugo Torres Chavert, owner of the historic Rosarito Beach Hotel and Gustavo Torres’ father.

Torres and others maintain that Rosarito--with its 90,000 residents--is ignored by Tijuana, which must cope with 2 million residents and what seem to be ever-increasing woes that eat up tax dollars.

The referendum required endorsement from a majority of Rosarito’s 15,000 registered voters--whether they vote or not. The proposal would then go to the Baja legislature and Tijuana City Council for final approval.

“Today, it looks like a defeat. But we will have another vote next month,” said the younger Torres, who has worked for three years hoping to see Rosarito Beach gain its independence. “The rain destroyed everything.”

If Rosarito wins the battle for cityhood, it would gain 27 miles of coast that now belongs to Tijuana, leaving Tijuana with only a 6-mile section of beach just south of the border. But it’s likely to be a stiff fight as Tijuana business leaders point out that the reduced territory will mean less money to Tijuana during a time when the city can ill afford such a loss.