Group wants term limits implemented for county supervisors

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published May 16, 2006 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

A small group of San Diegans will begin a television ad campaign soon lobbying for term limits for the County Board of Supervisors. Libertarian Richard Rider says the incumbents have all served sever

A small group of San Diegans will begin a television ad campaign soon lobbying for term limits for the County Board of Supervisors. Libertarian Richard Rider says the incumbents have all served several terms and have amassed enough political power and financial clout to make each of them virtually impossible to unseat.

Rider: "It's not just the fiscal conservatives like myself that are driving this issue, it's a much broader spectrum of people they recognize the lack of response and the arrogance.. if he cant be replaced, he doesn't have to be responsive."

Rider says the only reason the Supervisors are not in the same trouble as the city council is because the County sold hundred of millions of dollars in pension obligation bonds to finance generous pension increases.

Become a KPBS sponsor

Rider believes taxpayers should have voted on the bonds before they were issued. The Supervisors say the stability of the board has created a financially stable County, and that voters are free to replace the board at election time if they are dissatisfied.

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.