S.D. Council Voting on Ballpark Bonds

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 16, 2007 at 9:06 AM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

San Diego city council will vote today on whether to refinance a $170 million worth of ballpark bonds. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

San Diego city council will vote today on whether to refinance a $170 million worth of ballpark bonds. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The city of San Diego is still excommunicated from the public bond markets, thanks to a long delay in getting its 2003 audits approved. But Chief Financial Officer Jay Goldstone says the city could save money by privately refinancing the Petco Park lease revenue bonds.

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Goldstone: The financial markets still want to loan us money at a minimal premium to my surprise. I think we’re going to be able to save about $3.8 million a year.

Bank of America is willing to lend the money at interest rates between four and five percent. The original bonds were sold in 2002 and the city has been paying around seven or eight percent interest because of the legal uncertainly surrounding the city’s finances.

The city council’s independent budget analyst Andre Tevlin supports the idea, noting the city can still resell the bonds on the pubic market once its credit rating is restored.

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.