Clifford "Rip" Rippetoe, the longtime president and CEO of the San Diego Convention Center Corporation, says he will retire this year, stepping away after years of running the city’s waterfront meeting hub. Rippetoe, 65, has led the complex since April 2016 and says he plans to stay in the job until a successor is chosen. His departure comes just as the center is preparing to spend new hotel‑tax revenue that is expected to cover long‑needed repairs and help set up future expansion.
Board launches national search
The San Diego Convention Center Corp.'s board of directors will run a national search for Rippetoe’s replacement and plans to hire an executive search firm to help. Rippetoe told The San Diego Union-Tribune he expects the recruitment process to take four to six months and that he will stay on to help with the transition. Board members say they are looking for someone who can juggle the daily demands of a busy convention schedule while also steering a multi‑year modernization program.
Rippetoe's record and roots
Rippetoe brings close to five decades of venue and events experience to the role, and the convention center’s biography notes he has led the agency since April 2016, according to the San Diego Convention Center. Before coming to San Diego, he served as chief executive of the Kentucky State Fair Board, a move covered at the time by the Lane Report. Industry colleagues often point to his work with trade organizations and his leadership during the pandemic as key reasons many planners have continued to book events at the center.
Financial backdrop: Measure C and record revenues
Rippetoe’s retirement unfolds against the backdrop of a 2020 hotel‑tax ballot measure to fund a convention center expansion that has now cleared legal challenges, and the city has begun collecting the higher transient‑occupancy tax. KPBS detailed the court rulings and how they opened the door for those collections, while city and convention center officials have laid out plans to use the money for repairs and upgrades. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports officials expect roughly $119 million to be allocated over the next five years, and that convention attendees generated about $921 million in direct spending in fiscal 2025 while producing $38 million in tax revenues that same year.
Industry honors and community role
The center has picked up its share of industry praise, with the San Diego Convention Center noting a Top‑25 Centers of Excellence designation from EXHIBITOR Magazine. It remains a cornerstone for major events such as Comic‑Con, which help keep hotel rooms and nearby restaurants busy. The waterfront campus also stepped into a civic role during the pandemic and later served as a temporary shelter and intake site for unaccompanied migrant children, according to local TV coverage by 10News. That combination of big‑ticket events and emergency civic duty is part of why local hospitality and tourism leaders say steady leadership at the top is especially important right now.
The board says it intends to move quickly but carefully in choosing a successor. In the meantime, Rippetoe will continue to oversee day‑to‑day operations and the early stages of the center’s capital projects. Hoteliers, meeting planners and downtown businesses will be watching closely, since the convention center’s ability to attract large national shows remains central to the city’s midweek economy. The leadership change marks a new chapter for a campus that has long served as both a regional economic engine and a civic resource.
