Cities Affected by the Recession

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published February 4, 2009 at 2:21 PM PST

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

As cities around the San Diego region struggle to make mid - year budget cuts, a new report shows cities around the nation are searching for ways to maintain services. KPBS reporter Alison St John has

As cities around the San Diego region struggle to make mid - year budget cuts, a new report shows cities around the nation are searching for ways to maintain services. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Almost 70% of large cities around the country are resorting to hiring freezes and layoffs to deal with the current downturn.

Christy McFarland is with the National League of Cities which conducted the survey of more than 150 major cities. She says 80% of them report having more difficulty meeting local needs this year than last. She says they’re considering all their options.

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McFarland : "We’ve had a lot of calls from city officials wondering what are cities doing for their Forth of July events, are they cutting them or are they having them to the same extent as they have in the past?"

McFarland says about one in five cities are cutting special events, or closing libraries or parks to balance the budget.

Almost half of all cities report having trouble borrowing money because of the credit squeeze. That means capital improvements must be delayed.

Surveys show cities’ finances typically lag the overall economy by one or two years. More than 90% of finance officer expect to have trouble meeting community needs next year.

Alison St John, KPBS new

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.