Last Day For City Office Candidates to File for Nomination

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published March 6, 2008 at 2:08 PM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Today is the last day for candidates running for San Diego city office to file nomination papers with the city clerk. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more on two of the leading candidates to replace

Today is the last day for candidates running for San Diego city office to file nomination papers with the city clerk. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more on two of the leading candidates to replace Jim Madaffer in District 7, which includes City Heights, Mission Trails and the College Area.

Both Marti Emerald and April Boling have name recognition in the city, Emerald for her years as a television reporter and Boling as a chartered accountant who once headed the Taxpayers Association. Boling was also on former Mayor Dick Murphy's Blue Ribbon Commission on Pension reform.

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Emerald says her opponent had a chance to prevent the pension fiasco, but didn’t.

Emerald : She may have knowledge, but when she was in a position to do something about it, she kept her mouth shut . She was the watch dog that didn't bark.

Boling says the Commission warned the Council of the dangers ahead but they were ignored.

Boling : That report rang every bell, none or very few of the recommendations were followed.

Boling says that's one reason she’s running.

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District 7 is one of four city council seats up for reelection this year.

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.