Downtown San Diego buildings were once again wrapped with colorful, but unlawful, building wraps for San Diego Comic-Con International.

The city gathered $22,500 in fines for the wraps last year and likely looks to do about the same this year.

The colorful ads tend to be popular with Comic-Con attendees but neighborhood groups have called them a blight. In 2022, the issue was revisited with no change to official policy. Every year, the public often asks why the city doesn’t just do away with the fines.

Question: Should San Diego get rid of fines for Comic-Con building wraps?

Economists

Alan Gin, University of San Diego

YES: The building wraps add to the festive atmosphere of Comic-Con, which is San Diego’s most important visitor event. The current situation is workable, as building owners find it profitable to do the building wraps even with the fines. But it is only a matter of time before it bleeds into non-Comic-Con periods. To prevent the downtown and the waterfront from descending into a year-round clown show, the fines should be increased and enforced, with a special carve-out for Comic-Con.

James Hamilton, UC San Diego

YES: Comic-Con is a festive, over-the-top event. The attention it brings to San Diego provides economic benefits to us throughout the year. During Comic-Con people dress up in outfits they don’t normally wear. If buildings do the same, it can contribute to the festive spirit. However, building wraps should be strictly limited to Comic-Con week in order to keep both Comic-Con and our city special.

Caroline Freund, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy

NO: Fines raise funds for the city and discourage persistent wrapping, which many neighbors dislike. Given businesses are clearly willing to pay to promote Comic-Con via wraps, the neighborhood deserves a cut. Whether the city’s cut comes from fines or fees for wrapping really doesn’t matter, as long as it is priced appropriately and some portion flows back to the neighborhood.

Kelly Cunningham, San Diego Institute for Economic Research

YES: The wraps are fun, innovative, temporary ways to showcase San Diego’s creative relationship with the Comic-Con phenomenon. Exceptions should be allowed for this unique stellar event that brings economic promotion and value to the region. Whether imposing penalties or regulations on businesses, the wraps are deemed worth the costs by both building owners and advertisers to promote their products. The city gains value in either case and should allow this easy source of revenue income.

Norm Miller, University of San Diego

YES: Those rogue building wraps are clearly the greatest threat to public order since unlicensed Girl Scout cookie stands. Forget potholes and housing affordability — Comic-Con murals are the real menace. Imagine the colorful art celebrating pop culture is visible for days or weeks? How dare anyone temporarily support local artists, or make downtown look remotely fun? Next step? Ban superheroes from jaywalking. Let’s restore order. (Sarcasm noted).

David Ely, San Diego State University

YES: Maintaining small fines during Comic-Con signals that the city is not serious about enforcing its prohibition on building wraps. Wraps add to the atmosphere during Comic-Con, are in place for a very short period of time, and provide additional revenue to building owners. However, the city should establish a clear policy on when wraps are permitted by imposing meaningful fines for violations that take place outside of Comic-Con and other limited approved events.

Ray Major, economist

YES: This may be one of the most ridiculous “revenue generators” the city has come up with. Comic-con brings in over $160 million in economic benefit to the region each year and generates $3.2 million in hotel and sales tax revenue. The city should be paying building owners to wrap their buildings to advertise and support the event. It’s like decorating Balboa Park for December nights. Instead, the city fines businesses $22,500 for supporting this event. I’m speechless.

Executives

Bob Rauch, R.A. Rauch & Associates

YES: Sometimes regulations clash with culture. San Diego currently fines up to $1,000 per day for unpermitted building wraps during Comic-Con. Yet these ads featuring shows like “Star Trek” are iconic parts of the event’s visual identity. Attendees say the wraps enhance the experience and drive excitement. Some locals argue the wraps are visual clutter and violate city aesthetics. Nonsense. Comic-Con is not only awesome, it is a huge financial boon to San Diego.

Austin Neudecker, Weave Growth

NO: Today’s $22,500 fines are clearly viewed as a cost in advertising budgets, not a deterrent. I would first raise penalties by an order of magnitude to stop the illegal wraps. If the city wants additional revenue to cover costs associated with hosting, create a permit that prices impact, enforcement, and sets clear size/duration rules. Enforce clear rules and legalize if desired on the city’s terms.

Phil Blair, Manpower

YES: For Comic-Con and other major conventions. The huge signs on buildings, and trolleys and buses, make San Diego look very festive. They do need to have a short shelf life to avoid becoming common clutter.

Gary London, London Moeder Advisors

YES: These fines are an overreach. Presumably the building owners charge a fee for the wrap, so there is a way that revenue can be captured by the city through taxes. The wraps are part of the fun and commerce of Comic-Con and I cannot see any harm. If neighbors object, I guess I have to ask, why are they living downtown?

Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health

YES: While I believe laws and regulations should be both enforced and followed, Comic-Con is a unique and important event in San Diego that brings enormous value to the region; the value of these fines pales in comparison. I encourage the city to be flexible and support Comic-Con in its efforts to bring visitors to San Diego, along with the tax receipts to the city, income to businesses and jobs those visitors make possible.

Jamie Moraga, Franklin Revere

YES: Building wraps enhance Comic-Con’s creative atmosphere that attracts more than 135,000 attendees and contributes an estimated $160 million annual economic impact to the city. The wraps are short-term and harmless, adding to the event’s uniqueness. San Diego should remove the building wrap fines and align its regulations with the Port of San Diego’s rules, ensuring clear, consistent policies. This approach promotes responsible and fair use of wraps by advertisers while maintaining the event’s creative spirit and distinctive character.

Have an idea for an Econometer question? Email me at phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com. Follow me on Threads: @phillip020