Charter Change on the Agenda Tonight for S.D. Council

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 14, 2008 at 5:46 AM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

The San Diego City Council holds a special public meeting tonight to try to hammer out a compromise on an issue that has divided interest groups at City Hall for years. KPBS reporter Alison St John ha

The San Diego City Council holds a special public meeting tonight to try to hammer out a compromise on an issue that has divided interest groups at City Hall for years. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

It might not be a topic San Diegans discuss much at the water cooler but it's been bubbling under the surface of city politics for a very long time: how to change the city charter to redefine the checks and balances at City Hall. A mayoral Charter Change committee met for months last year. Tonight Councilmember Kevin Faulconer hopes the eight-member city council will be able to agree on at least some of the recommendations that committee came up with.

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Faulconer: We will have not only the eyes of the city but the eyes of the Bond Market, the eyes of Wall Street and the Securities and Exchange Commission looking for us to make the changes that are necessary.

At issue is whether to increase the number of city council members from eight to nine, or even 11. And how many of them would be needed to override a mayoral veto? Plus Wall Street wants to know how the internal auditor is appointed. If the city council can agree on a compromise, the whole enchilada would be sent to voters to approve, possibly as early as June.

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.