Connections and Broken Sidewalks

By Gloria Penner / Senior Political Correspondent, KPBS Commentaries

Published August 30, 2007 at 12:30 AM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

It pays to be well-connected but what if you're not? Do you still get to have a say?

Today La Jolla Town Council members got a rush E-Blast from their Executive Director alerting them to some work the city of San Diego is doing. After years of complaints about broken sidewalks and dangerously dinged curbs, the City's Streets Division is responding.

The E-Blast says that the Streets Division is updating its list of sidewalks in need of repair. The purpose of this update is "to evaluate and prioritize repairs based on severity of damage." La Jolla movers and shakers were told that their City Councilman Scott Peters is compiling a list to make sure that the sidewalks in La Jolla get the attention they deserve, and that time is of the essence to get the list to his office representative. Monday, September 3rd is the deadline.

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Hold on. Isn't that Labor Day? Is there enough time between now and Monday to nominate your most broken sidewalks? Will someone be working in Scott Peters' office on Monday? And will that E-blast also reach the thousands of other San Diegans who want the city to know about their disintegrating and dangerous neighborhood sidewalks? Or is this opportunity to get your sidewalk fixed only for the well-connected?

Gloria Penner is KPBS' director of public affairs. She's been covering local, state and national politics in one form or other (radio, TV, and now the Web) for 37 years. Please read our guidelines before posting comments.

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KPBS remembers Gloria Penner, Senior Political Correspondent and host of "KPBS Midday Edition- Roundtable" on Fridays at noon. Gloria was the host "San Diego Week" from 2008-2011 and also hosted the first hour of KPBS Radio's "These Days" from 1995 to 1999. She served as the host of KPBS TV's "Full Focus" from 2003 to 2007. Gloria first joined KPBS Television in 1969 as director of community relations. Subsequently, she oversaw production of television programs for nine years. From 1993 to 1995, she was the host and writer for "KPBS Weekend Edition," a locally produced television program featuring highlights from the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour. National credits include reporting and producing assignments for "Nightly Business Report" and the "MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour." She played an active part in KPBS’ election coverage for 30 years. She has moderated scores of town hall meetings on candidates races and propositions for KPBS, "Envision San Diego," and the League of Women Voters. She conducted scores of interviews with congressional, state and local candidates; and reported for television documentaries on issues and candidates. Her awards include 7 Emmys, 5 Golden Mikes, 2 Gracies from the American Federation of Women in Radio and Television, The San Diego Press Club’s Harold Keen Award for excellence in journalism, the John Swett Award from the California Teachers Association, and many honors from the Society for Professional Journalists and the San Diego Bar Association. An annual Gloria Penner Award for Civic Service was established in 2003 by the League of Women Voters of San Diego County, and Gloria was the first recipient. Gloria earned her bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College. She did graduate work in English at New York University and earned her Master’s Degree in English from Syracuse University. She started her radio career in San Francisco in the 1950s as an associate producer on a program called Housewives Protective League. Her first job in television came after a move to Washington, D.C. where she was associate producer of the Washington segment of the "Today Show." After a stint in Hawaii and a return to Washington, D.C., she relocated to San Diego and took a few years off for family life. Gloria is survived by her husband Bill Snyder of La Jolla; two sons, Brad Penner of San Diego and Steve Penner of Tucson, Arizona.

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