Politics

Oceanside City Council Votes to Remove Mayor From SANDAG

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published January 2, 2013 at 12:39 PM PST

This story was published more than 11 years ago.

A pro development majority on the Oceanside city council has voted to oust Mayor Jim Wood from his position on the regional planning board, SANDAG.

Mayor Jim Wood campaigned on a platform of prioritizing neighborhoods over big development and easily defeated two challengers last November, keeping his seat with more than 54 percent of the vote.

Oceanside City Council Aims To Recall Mayor From SANDAG

Oceanside voters gave their mayor Jim Wood a third term in office, but now some members of his own City Council are challenging his right to represent the city.

But he is part of a voting minority on the five-member City Council. Now the three-man majority is voting to undermine his authority. Councilman Gary Felien wants to replace Wood on the regional planning board, SANDAG, which is normally made up of the mayors of all 18 cities in San Diego, or their appointees.

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Felien said Wood has not represented Oceanside's interests at SANDAG because he has not pushed for new road projects that would ease gridlock around the busy Highway 78.

Wood pointed out at the city council meeting that SANDAG is being challenged in court for its 2050 transportation plan, because its emphasis on road building doesn't comply with the state's law to limit greenhouse gases. He has said he will hire former San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre's office to defend his right to represent the city of Oceanside on the SANDAG board.

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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.