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Last-Minute Aguirre Intervention Prevents La Jolla Parking Decision

By Alison St John / Reporter,  KPBS Public Broadcasting
Published March 20, 2008 at 2:56 PM PDT
This story was published more than 16 years ago.

La Jolla residents came out in force yesterday to protest a plan that would have charged people for on-street parking in their commercial district. A last minute intervention by city attorney, Mike Ag

Last-Minute Aguirre Intervention Prevents La Jolla Parking Decision

(Photo: Alison St John/KPBS .)

La Jolla residents came out in force yesterday to protest a plan that would have charged people for on-street parking in their commercial district. A last minute intervention by city attorney, Mike Aguirre, prevented the Parking Advisory Board from reaching a decision. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

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Quick look:

  • Aguirre’s decision to step in on behalf of the La Jolla residents could give him a useful boost in the city attorney’s race.
  • One of his top challengers is Council President Scott Peters, who represents La Jolla on the San Diego city council. Peters was instrumental in setting up the Parking Advisory Board that appears to be in favor of paid parking.
  • More than 5,000 La Jollans signed a petition against the plan. Would it be reasonable to assume a fair number of them could become Aguirre voters, just because of the parking issue?

Feelings ran high at a packed meeting in the La Jolla Recreation Center. Residents presented signatures from more than 5,000 people and 600 businesses opposing even a pilot project involving parking meters.

Pam Philly was one of many who said they don’t think there is a parking problem in La Jolla.

Philly : I think it’s immoral and unjust and unfair that they are ram-rodding this through when we don’t want it and it’s a few people here who have set this up to get these meters here and it is infuriating!

Several residents say they believe the plan is to raise money for the cash strapped city of San Diego and the La Jolla Business district.

But advisory board member Reza Ghasemi, who owns La Jolla Rugs, says the lack of parking discourages customers and puts a damper on business.

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Ghasemi : As a result of a lot of employees parking on the street all day, we don’t have any parking spaces available. That is detrimental to any business retail store.

City attorney Mike Aguirre attended the meeting and advised the advisory board not to make a recommendation to the San Diego city council until the whole board has disclosed their financial interests.

Aguirre : Particularly given the kind of financial issues involved, millions of dollars potentially, a major change in the community, so it’s important for those disclosures to take place.

Expanding paid on-street parking is an issue in several parts of the city of San Diego, particularly Pacific Beach. There, many residents are also opposing proposals to install meters and issue permits to residents to park on the street.

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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