Newly Structured City Council OKs $10 Million More for Kroll

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 17, 2006 at 9:00 PM PST

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

San Diego city council met Tuesday for the first time this year, and the meeting revealed new political dynamics. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

San Diego city council met Tuesday for the first time this year, and the meeting revealed new political dynamics. The council reached a decision on the controversial question of whether to authorize $10 million more for consultants conducting an investigation into the pension deficit. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders no longer chairs council meetings. Under the new strong mayor structure, he sat below the dais and recommended to council that they authorize the $10 million. The consultants have already billed the city over $6 million.

Sanders: "I don't think any of us are happy with the way events have unfolded but at the end of the day, this is a business decision that I feel compelled to make under the circumstances."

Become a KPBS sponsor

The council agreed with Sanders the investigation must be completed if the long awaited audit is to be approved. Even City attorney Mike Aguirre agreed, evidence of a new pact with the mayor. Only Councilwoman Donna Frye opposed the motion. However the most intense debate centered on how to pay the bill. Some council members said they're tired of voting on things that later turn out to be illegal, so a decision on exactly where the money will come from was postponed till later. Alison St John, KPBS news.

Alison St John

twitter

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.