Address Tonight Could Be Watershed Moment For Mayor Sanders

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 10, 2008 at 10:08 AM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders will deliver his third State of the City address tonight. It is a critical speech for the Mayor, who faces a challenge in the coming elections from candidate Steve Franci

San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders will deliver his third State of the City address tonight. It is a critical speech for the Mayor, who faces a challenge in the coming elections from candidate Steve Francis. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Last year the mayor promised to continue “the meat and potatoes” work of reforming a city government that -- just a couple of years ago -- was debating bankruptcy. Now he has to produce some appetizing accomplishments and goals in order to fend off the challenge from Steve Francis, a business-backed candidate who questions if Sanders has done enough to trim costs.

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The city is still barred from borrowing in the public bond market, and pension changes are still up in the air, part of ongoing labor negotiations.

Perhaps the biggest political opportunity for Sanders is to take the focus off the city's finances and redirect it to how he'll respond to the wildfires. Many residents want to know if he's got plans to protect them if -- or when -- the flames strike again.

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.