National City Councilmember Jose Rodriguez renewed his push for a business license tax measure at last week’s City Council meeting, calling for a reconsideration of a proposal the council opted not to place on the November ballot last month and drawing a pointed rebuke from Councilmember Marcus Bush, his opponent in the November mayoral race.
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The exchange came a day after Rodriguez held a press conference and issued a press release, joined by representatives of the National City Firefighters Association Local 2744 and SEIU 221, calling on the council to reverse its Aug. 5 vote and place the tax measure on the ballot before city services face further cuts.
The council voted 3-2 on Aug. 5 not to place the proposed gross receipts tax on the November ballot, instead directing staff to work with the National City Chamber of Commerce on continued outreach toward a possible 2027 special election. Rodriguez and Councilmember Ditas Yamane cast the dissenting votes.
At last week’s meeting, Rodriguez cited the city’s business license fee study, saying National City’s top 100 businesses generate 57.5% of all gross receipts in the city but pay only 29.2% of the total business tax collected. He also said 26% of all business tax revenue collected in the city comes from residential rentals and apartments, which he called the single largest category of any business type.
Rodriguez has argued the city’s current fee structure allows large, out-of-town businesses to underpay relative to peer cities, while Bush has said he opposed the measure over its rushed timeline, calling for the city to collaborate with the business community and to demonstrate spending discipline before seeking new revenue from businesses.
Rodriguez directly criticized Bush for his vote against placing the measure on the November ballot a move Rodriguez equated with siding with large businesses.
“So what changed? The data didn’t change. The deficit didn’t change. Just his vote,” Rodriguez said. “That’s not leadership, that’s opportunism.”
He said he would place an item on a future council agenda to reconsider staff’s recommendation.
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Bush responded sharply, dismissing Rodriguez’s remarks as political posturing
“Jose, just stop with the political speeches, please. Just save it. Save the campaigning for outside,” Bush said.
He said the council had already stated its reasons for the Aug. 5 vote and did not need to revisit them, and called Rodriguez’s comments “really divisive” and “political.” Bush said he supports business license tax reform but wants a measure the city can pursue “collaboratively” with the business community.
“What we should focus on is the work here with our city manager,” Bush said. “We should focus on cutting our expenditures. You’ve acknowledged that as well. Let’s see what we can have efficiencies on. Let’s see where we can raise our own revenue. Let’s look at passing a ballot measure for the tax initiative that we can actually unite with our business community on.”
Vice Mayor Luz Molina echoed that message, saying she is “absolutely in favor of our business license tax reform” but that the priority should be working collaboratively rather than “sowing divisions.” She said she felt hopeful the council was largely “rowing in the same direction.”
Mayor Ron Morrison, who is not seeking reelection, did not directly address the tax measure but urged the city’s next generation of leaders to avoid division.
“It’s easy to gain power by dividing people up. It’s much harder to get power by bringing people together,” Morrison said.
Rodriguez and Bush are the leading candidates in the November mayoral race to succeed Morrison, who announced his retirement Aug. 8 after 34 years in city government, including 16 as mayor. Morrison has endorsed Bush in the mayoral race, alongside Molina for her council reelection bid.
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