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Council Continues Struggle to Define Budget Authority of Mayor

By Alison St John / Reporter,  KPBS Public Broadcasting
Published April 10, 2007 at 12:00 PM PDT
This story was published more than 17 years ago.

The San Diego City Council struggled once again today with the question of how much the mayor can change the budget after the council approves it. Two competing proposals were discussed, but the power

Council Continues Struggle to Define Budget Authority of Mayor

The San Diego City Council struggled once again today with the question of how much the mayor can change the budget after the council approves it. Two competing proposals were discussed, but the power struggle at city hall appears to have dissolved into a decision to continue with the status quo. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

One proposal by Councilwoman Donna Frye would require the mayor to get council approval before cutting programs. The other proposal by Council President Scott Peters would allow the mayor to cut $4 million -- or 10% of any program -- without council approval.

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City Attorney Mike Aguirre issued a legal opinion that neither proposal is legal, prompting the council to refer the whole matter back to committee for discussion.

However, dozens of people testified for and against the measures.

Frye brought in constitutional legal professor Bryan Wildenthal to explain that Peter’s proposal would go further than the federal constitution in sharing power.

Wildenthal : The other ordinance would grant the mayor considerably more authority -- authority the president doesn’t have at the federal level to unilaterally cut finding even eliminate programs, policies and services funded by the council.

Wildenthal added that the San Diego city charter specifically prohibits the council from giving up it authority to the executive branch. But many business leaders, like Mike Watts of Gen Probe says Frye’s proposal would be micromanaging the mayor who was elected to make change.

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Wildenthal : The original budgetary authority ordinance asks the mayor to ask the city council for permission to save money, such as policy would never fly in business and it's no way to deal with city business.

City Attorney Mike Aguirre’s legal opinion is that “there is no bright line to draw that determines exactly where the Mayor’s and the Council’s authority begins and ends.”  He is recommending a new committee, including his office, to help resolve budget disputes throughout the year.

Alison St John, KPBS News.

Alison St John
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.
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