Judge to Rule on Blackwater Suit

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published May 30, 2008 at 3:42 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

A Federal Judge will rule next week on a suit between Blackwater Worldwide and the City of San Diego. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Blackwater says the city has already issued a permit for its training facility in an Otay Mesa Warehouse. The company wants to start its contract with the Navy on Monday.
But the city attorney’s office says Blackwater misled the city by applying for the permit under another name, and not being clear about the kind of military training it would do.

Mayor Sanders issued a stop work order and the city’s Development Director wrote a letter saying further review is necessary.

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However, Blackwater attorneys played an audio tape of Mayor Jerry Sanders on a San Diego radio station last week, saying he believes the permit was quote, “properly legally granted.”

Judge Marilyn Huff concludes the case revolves around reactions to Blackwater’s name .

But she declined to issue her ruling until next Tuesday, leaving no time for political reaction to the decision before the election.

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.