Written by Amanda Angulo
The San Diego Event Coalition was formed for the purpose of advocating for local event professionals. On March 1st, they launched 22 billboards throughout the county in order to highlight the negative impacts of the pandemic on the event industry.
The billboards state, “SD Events Industry: Going out of business – give us a pathway back … doors are closing.” Many have been put up near high traffic areas such as Balboa Avenue along the SR-163, Home Avenue at Fairmount Avenue, and Imperial Avenue along the I-5.
Since Gov. Newsom implemented his lockdown orders last March, thousands of events have been canceled, which is a huge problem for the event industry. Some of these events would include Comic-Con International, Gaslamp Mardi Gras, Mission Federal Artwalk, and San Diego Pride. Not only did these events allow for socialization and public enjoyment in San Diego, but they also had an annual economic impact of $26.6 million.
Additionally, a lot of people were put out of work by the cancelations. Kevin Hellman, treasurer of the San Diego Event Coalition stated, “We are asking the governor, the county supervisors, the mayor of San Diego to help us find a pathway to work. It doesn’t mean today, but sooner rather than later. We need to be able to get back to work.”
Hellman also went on to describe all the professions and businesses involved in the local events, including plumbers, electricians, musicians, stagehands, event producers, venue managers, etc. Thousands of people were left unemployed due to cancellations and have not been allowed back to work since the lockdown began. This leaves several people vulnerable in so many aspects of their lives and Newsom is to blame.
The blame, in addition to falling on Newsom, also falls on San Diego’s Democratic Board of Supervisors. Their decisions to keep businesses and schools closed have had extremely negative effects on the lives of thousands, and there is little to no science that supports their actions.
Other states such as Texas are on a pathway back to normal by reopening and are leaving California in the dust. On Thursday, Newsom announced, in response to Texas’ reopening, that California will not follow in the footsteps of Texas.
