Districts 2 and 8 elect new council members

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 10, 2006 at 9:00 PM PST

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

While one candidate won himself a San Diego city council seat with a wide margin in yesterday's District 8 election, the District 2 election, which includes downtown, was much tighter. KPBS reporter

While one candidate won himself a San Diego city council seat with a wide margin in yesterday's District 8 election, the District 2 election, which includes downtown, was much tighter. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

It was an exciting night with the vote count in district 2 growing closer and closer till the final score was 51 percent to Kevin Faulkner to Lorena Gonzalez' 49 percent. Faulkner, who raised about 4 times as much money as Gonzales', was 13 points ahead with absentee ballots counted, but Gonzalez' get out the vote campaign almost cost him the race. Faulkner, a republican, says he'll support Mayor Sandsers Reform Plan.

The new District 2 councilman Ben Hueso, a democrat, said he'll work to reach consensus on a plan.

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Hueso: "I think it's coming up with a plan we can all agree on, a plan that stays away from partisan wedge issues, but I'm not coming in with a rubber stamp ready to say anything the mayor says or anything other council members say, I'm going to ask a lot of questions."

The two city councilmen will be sworn in January 23 to fill out the terms of Michael Zucchet and Ralf Inzunza who resigned under corruption charges. 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.