August 23, 2007 – CHULA VISTA, CA – As part of its public awareness campaign on the revival of the Chula Vista Bayfront Project, the Build the Bayfront Coalition (BBFC) welcomed today the Chula Vista Taxpayers Association as its newest member Joining the Associated Builders and Contractors of San Diego (ABC), the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction (CFEC), the San Diego Lincoln Club, and the Adam Smith Institute—along with numerous other local trade associations, contractors, builders, free-enterprise advocates, and concerned citizens—the Chula Vista Taxpayers Association will play a leading, on-the-ground role in supporting this important issue.

As a prominent local free-enterprise, fair competition, and taxpayer protection advocacy group, the Chula Vista Taxpayers Association is now set to actively pursue the revival of the Chula Vista Bayfront Project in order to rescue $1 billion in private investment, 8500 local jobs, and $50 million per year in tax revenue; while advocating the adoption of a pro-competition ordinance (PCO) for the City of Chula Vista.

As part of one of the largest planning ventures in the United States, Nashville, Tennessee-based Gaylord Entertainment was set to invest almost $1 billion of its own money to construct a 2,000-room hotel—the largest in San Diego County—and convention center along the Chula Vista Bayfront, but pulled out due to a dispute with local unions over a union-only Project Labor Agreement (PLA). Despite having acquiesced to every union demand—including union-level wages—Gaylord could not in good conscience sign a PLA that would have kept 90% of the local workforce off the job. The unions abruptly withdrew from negotiations on August 2, 2007.

“We are proud to have the Chula Vista Taxpayers Association on board this dynamic, multi-faceted coalition in support of the Chula Vista Bayfront Project,” said BBFC spokesman Eric Christen. “They are certain to make a significant, on-the-ground, frontline contribution to our campaign for a clean, safe bayfront that will create thousands of local jobs and improve the quality of life for the people of Chula Vista.”