Public Safety

Roundtable: Supervisor Horn's Charity; San Diego Opera Future; Fire Lessons

By Alison St John / Reporter, Neiko Will / Producer

Published May 23, 2014 at 8:30 AM PDT

This story was published more than 10 years ago.

Roundtable: Supervisor Horn's Charity; San Diego Opera Future; Fire Lessons

GUESTS:Brad Racino, inewsource Investigative Reporter Angela Carone, KPBS Arts and Culture Reporter Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times

Bill Horn's Basic Faith

San Diego County supervisor Bill Horn ran a charity for more than 30 years, and apparently used it to hold money in escrow from multimillion-dollar real estate deals. And avoid paying taxes. He said the proceeds went to missionaries in Mexico and South America, and he did not profit. inewsource reporter Brad Racino talked to several tax experts who said this violates state and federal laws. Horn is currently seeking re-election.

Opera Update

The show will go on in 2015. The opera announced on Monday that the 50th season of the San Diego Opera will include fully staged versions of “La Boheme,” “Don Giovanni” and “Nixon in China." It was made possible by cutting costs and successful fundraising. But, the state attorney general is investigating the company, asking for records relating to the “transfer of charitable assets” and accounting and billing matters. What is the future of the San Diego Opera?

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San Diego Fires

The fires are out and recovery has begun. Officials said San Diego was better prepared to deal with last week's fires than it was in 2003 and 2007. Improvements have been made in inter-agency coordination, equipment, and emergency services. But is San Diego prepared to deal with a longer fire season? And what can agencies and residents do better next time?

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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.

Neiko Will

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Neiko Will is a producer for KPBS Evening Edition and KPBS Roundtable.

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