Judge denies Aguirre's pension roll-back request

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published July 9, 2006 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

A Superior Court Judge has denied San Diego city attorney Mike Aguirre's request to roll back hundreds of millions of dollars in pension benefit increases, without a trial. KPBS reporter Alison St Jo

A Superior Court Judge has denied San Diego city attorney Mike Aguirre's request to roll back hundreds of millions of dollars in pension benefit increases, without a trial. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Judge Jeffrey Barton has ruled that indeed the city does have a viable legal claim in this case. However he denied Aguirre's request for what is called a summary judgment., which would settle the matter immediately in the city's favor. The ruling means Aguirre's bid for a quick and easy solution to the city's pension crisis is defeated.
The judge wrote there is conflicting evidence on several issues, which automatically prevents him from granting a summary judgment. One of the most significant issues is establishing a connection between the pension board's vote allowing the city to pay less into the plan, and the city's vote to approve higher pension benefits.
Judge Barton writes that the final pension board vote was actually taken after the city approved the benefits, not before.
The Judge will decide next whether to grant the city labor unions' request for a summary judgment in their favor. 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.