Tax-funded San Mateo fitness club draws anger

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

A sparkling new fitness center opened this spring in San Mateo, with more than 20,000 square feet of high-end equipment, two heated pools and exercise rooms with views stretching across the bay.

The public has flocked to join the new San Mateo Athletic Club, as well they should: Their property tax dollars are paying for the gym through Measure A, a $468 million bond measure approved by county voters in 2005 to benefit San Mateo Community College District facilities.

The expenditure presents a potentially beneficial way for colleges to reap money for educational programs. But it also raises questions about how voter-approved bond money can be used, and whether the San Mateo Community College District was forthcoming to voters about its intention to spend tax money on a fitness center that would compete with other local gyms.

State law requires educators to tell voters before an election what building projects the money would pay for if the bond is approved. But the law is vague on how specific educators need to be.

In San Mateo, that has some voters and gym owners angry.

Some voters say they feel duped into supporting what they thought would be money for school facilities - not a spa for the public. And some local fitness centers complain that the club, which is snagging their clientele, has an unfair advantage because it benefits from taxpayer support not available to them.

Rent seeking gone wild.