Coucilwoman Frye wants employee benefits info. made public

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published November 13, 2005 at 9:00 PM PST

This story was published more than 19 years ago.

San Diego city councilwoman Donna Frye has proposed that before any employee benefits are increased in the future, the council has to be informed of the financial impacts. KPBS reporter Alison St Joh

San Diego city councilwoman Donna Frye has proposed that before any employee benefits are increased in the future, the council has to be informed of the financial impacts. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

It may appear to be common sense, but councilwoman Frye says common sense doesn't always apply at city hall. She wants an ordinance to mandate that before negotiating with the unions, the cost of proposed benefit changes, and how they'll affect the city's future liability, must be made public.

Frye: "It actually requires that the information will be made available not just to the council in closed session but to the public so that info is available and can be discussed so people understand what the impacts of a particular benefit enhancement are."

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Frye says the city's pension deficit is often cited at. $1.4 billion, but the former pension board actuary estimated it closer to $1.7 billion. The unions must comment on the ordinance before council can vote on it. 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.