Aguirre willing to go to court to battle pension roll-back

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published July 10, 2006 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

San Diego city attorney Mike Aguirre says he's willing to go to trial to roll back pension benefits for 11,000 city workers. The news comes after a Superior Court judge turned down his request for an

San Diego city attorney Mike Aguirre says he's willing to go to trial to roll back pension benefits for 11,000 city workers. The news comes after a Superior Court judge turned down his request for an immediate ruling. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Judge Jeffrey Barton has dashed Aguirre's hopes for a quick and easy resolution to the city's pension problem. The Judge pointed to several areas where there is conflicting evidence.

Aguirre says he'll take the case to trial in the Fall, but he'll consider filing a writ with the 4th district court of appeals in the hope of speeding things up.

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Aguirre: "Time is of the essence, we needed a definitive judgment we didn't get that definitive judgment basically the judge punted that's just my honest reaction to what he's done."

Aguirre continues to argue the case is a clear cut case of conflict of interest, which is caught up in what he called legal mumbo jumbo Judge Barton wrote there is dispute on the facts of whether the pension board's vote allowing reduced pension payments was connected to the city's vote to increase benefits . But he did rule that the city has a viable legal claim 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.