S.D. Mayor: Water, Sewer Rate Increases Unavoidable

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published November 21, 2006 at 11:47 AM PST

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders says without major water and sewer rate increases, the city cannot continue to provide clean water. The mayor will hold workshops around town to convince residents that i

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders says without major water and sewer rate increases, the city cannot continue to provide clean water. The mayor will hold workshops around town to convince residents that increasing rates over the next four years is unavoidable. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The mayor promised not to increase taxes, but he couldn’t promise not to increase rates. Sanders says San Diego’s sewer and water systems are in such bad shape that the cost of deferred maintenance rivals the cost of the pension deficit.

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Sanders: We’ve neglected our water and wastewater systems for too long and they are quite literally falling apart.

City Attorney Mike Aguirre says without rate increase to do upgrades, the city faces potentially extraordinary fines for failing to meet state and federal standards.

The city has run cameras through its 3,000 miles of wastewater pipes to see where repairs are most needed, and aims to replace 45 miles of pipe a year

The city council, which has to approve rate increases, will consider the matter in February Higher bills could start arriving in city mailboxes next May. 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.