An Olympic challenge
From The San Diego Union Tribune Editorial Board
"In what would prove to be his most important initiative if he could pull it off, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has joined in support of the idea of
bringing the Olympic Games to San Diego and Tijuana in an unprecedented binational Summer Games.
Filner last week told a group from both sides of the border that he was "very serious" about a joint San Diego/Tijuana bid to host the games as soon
as the summer of 2024. He noted that San Diego was among the 35 U.S. cities that received a letter from the U.S. Olympic Committee soliciting interest
in bidding for the 2024 games.
On this one, the mayor's instincts are spot on.
As civic leader Malin Burnham, a veteran of numerous efforts to bring mega-events to San Diego, wrote in a commentary on these pages last July, the
benefits to the city would be enormous. Beyond the civic pride of hosting the biggest mega-event of all, the United States, as the host nation, would
be expected to pour billions of dollars into infrastructure projects in the host city - infrastructure that would benefit the region for decades
beyond the Olympics themselves. And all of that would "greatly enhance our future ability to attract more jobs by enticing startup companies, branch
office expansions, as well as moving headquarters companies to the greater San Diego region," Burnham wrote.
In addition, as the U-T Editorial Board wrote in an accompanying editorial, such a binational event "would also bring the San Diego-Tijuana people
together as no other event could. It would truly be hands across the border."
But the difficulty is Olympic-size.
First is the hurdle of overcoming the historic opposition to a binational event. A group led by Burnham studied the idea of a San Diego/Tijuana
Olympics for more than two years - and found it feasible financially and otherwise - before getting eliminated from the competition among American
cities in the first round by the USOC in 2006. And the International Olympic Committee, which would make the final decision, has never shown
enthusiasm for the binational idea.
Second would be the hurdle of timing.
Filner said he wanted to bid for the 2024 games. But there is serious question whether San Diego or Tijuana could do what needs to be done in just 11
years.
Burnham said last summer that he believed the best chance to bring the summer games back to the U.S. would not be before 2028. He and others launched
a quiet new effort to bring the games to San Diego in 2032.
Still, difficult does not mean that it can't be done or shouldn't at least be tried, for whatever year.
If Filner truly is "very serious," he must follow through - and fast.
He must commit to a long-term leadership effort. He must join forces with the business leaders studying the possibilities for 2032. A public-private
partnership, including all the many stakeholders, must be launched to lead the effort.
San Diego has proved many times that it can do mega-events and do them with class. It could do the Olympics, too, whether going it alone or jointly
with Tijuana, and whether in 2024, 2028 or 2032.
But there is no time to lose."
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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