Sanders signs city budget ahead of schedule

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published June 6, 2006 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders signed the city's 2007 budget Wednesday, ahead of schedule. He made the most of the small amount earmarked for deferred maintenance by spreading a little asphalt on a Poi

San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders signed the city's 2007 budget Wednesday, ahead of schedule. He made the most of the small amount earmarked for deferred maintenance by spreading a little asphalt on a Point Loma street. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The city's 2.6 billion dollar budget is finalized with remarkably little wrangling between the new strong mayor and the city council. The weak points in the budget are the small reserve fund and minimal money for deferred maintenance . But the Mayor put a positive spin on that too, announcing $10 million earmarked for street repairs. Sanders said the budget was a joint effort that stops the financial bleeding at city hall.

Sanders: "Let's get the budget signed, and then get on that asphalt spreader."

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Mayor Sanders says the city will resurface 100 miles of streets in the coming year, compared to only 25 miles this year.

He briefly mentioned the problems that lie ahead of the city. Next year's budget must cover millions in pay raises already promised, and some yet to be negotiated. It will also have increased pension and medical liabilities, and all this while revenue growth is predicted to decline. 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.