Why Some Stakeholders Oppose the SoccerCity Initiative

Pierce: “While many of the terms of the proposal are problematic, the decision to pursue this through the initiative process is particularly troublesome.”

SAN DIEGO—Using the initiative process for land-use issues is never a good idea, and the initiative itself presents a host of problems for stakeholders throughout the county, Pierce Education Properties’ CEO Fred Pierce tells GlobeSt.com. Pierce, who is chairman of the Fowler College of Business Administration at San Diego State University, is speaking out on behalf of the SDSU Alumni Past President Council as the voice against the current SoccerCity Plan proposed by developer FS Investors, as well as against using an initiative as a method to decide this measure.

Pierce tells us that on June 13, City Council voted 5-4 against holding a special election for the initiative that would have cost taxpayers between $5 million and $7 million. This means that SoccerCity will appear on a ballot in 2018, as opposed to 2017, which will provide sufficient time for the RFP he suggests below. We spoke with Pierce about the plan, why he is opposed to it and what he recommends for the future use of Qualcomm Stadium instead.