Economy

Congresswoman Davis Offers Options On Navy Broadway Project Location

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published June 4, 2012 at 2:43 PM PDT

This story was published more than 11 years ago.

San Diego Congresswoman Susan Davis is working on legislation that offers the Navy an alternative to building its new head quarters on San Diego’s waterfront.

Congresswoman Davis Offers Options On Navy Broadway Project Location

San Diego Congresswoman Susan Davis is working on legislation that offers the Navy an alternative to building its new head quarters on San Diego’s waterfront.

The Navy has been trying to move ahead on a new Southwest Regional Headquarters for more than two decades.

Developer Doug Manchester won the contract to replace the old military buildings with commercial high rises and a new headquarters, but the Navy Broadway Project is bogged down in lawsuits.

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Davis said most military headquarters are built on bases.

“It’s a very large building we’re talking about, that has to be up-armored. A lot of money is being put in to secure it on that location,“ she said. ” Clearly, on a military base you could have a very forward-looking administration building that answers all the needs of Navy Region Southwest and preserves this land for another purpose.“

Davis said she hopes to help find a win-win situation for the Navy and critics of the proposed Navy Broadway Complex. She said having the option to shift the new headquarters to a base could remove some of the barriers to the project.

She would like to see the the Navy have a different kind of presence on the waterfront, one that fits better with the business and tourism center.

Davis’ legislation is part of the Defense Authorization Act, which has passed the House of Representatives but has not yet passed in the Senate.

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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.