S.D. Council Postpones Vote on Mayor-Council Compromise

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published March 6, 2007 at 6:20 AM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

The San Diego City Council has postponed a vote on a proposed compromise in the battle over control of the city's purse strings. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The San Diego City Council has postponed a vote on a proposed compromise in the battle over control of the city's purse strings. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The council voted 7-to-1 to postpone a decision on just how much power the mayor will have to make changes to the budget without council approval. A dozen community members pushed for a vote limiting the mayor's authority cut to public services. But Councilwoman Donna Frye was the lone vote in favor of that. Frye said shifting city staff assignments is another problem.

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Frye: When I learned that the mayor had shut down the city's internal auditing unit, having them instead focus on the overdue audits -- I look at that as a prime example for why we need to pass this ordinance today.

Councilwoman Toni Atkins said a delay would benefit the final compromise.

Atkins: I think its one of the most important issues that we're going to deal with this year.

City Attorney Mike Aguirre advised the council not to break State Law by debating behind closed doors before they take the matter up again in two weeks. Alison St John , KPBS news.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.