Give Now
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
  • Full Schedule
Watch Live

Public Safety

Roundtable: Covering The 2007 Fires, SDPD's Salary Deal

By Pat Finn / Producer ,  Mark Sauer / Host, The Roundtable
Published October 20, 2017 at 8:16 AM PDT
This story was published more than 7 years ago.
Roundtable: Covering The 2007 Fires, SDPD's Salary Deal
Roundtable: Covering The 2007 Fires, SDPD's Salary Deal
2007 Wildfires, SDPD Salary DealPANEL:Laura Wingard, managing editor, iNewsource Alison St John, North County Bureau Chief, KPBS News Leng Caloh, technology & innovation manager, KPBS Andrew Bowen, metro reporter, KPBS News

COVERING THE 2007 WILDFIRES

The Story

Just before 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 21, 2007, San Diego County began to burn.

Advertisement
Become a KPBS sponsor

The conditions in 2007 — violent, dry winds and intense heat — that sparked the Witch Creek, Harris, Rice Canyon and Poomacha fires were the same as those that stoked the current and far more destructive fires burning in Northern California.

Ten years ago the six large and two smaller fires eventually consumed one-third of San Diego County's land mass. There were 10 deaths; more than 100 injuries, including 89 firefighters; and 1,600 homes lost.

And they occurred just four years after the large and destructive Cedar Fire.

The Discussion

—What was it like to cover the fires? How did journalists and local media manage to do their jobs under such difficult conditions?

Advertisement
Become a KPBS sponsor

—What about evacuation-- then and now? How do people get out? Where do they go?

—How has current technology changed the way we approach fire season?

—What lessons have we learned from 2007?

Related: 10 Years Ago: Firestorms Ravaged San Diego County

Related: 2007 Wildfires: Losing Their Homes Changed Their Lives

Related: In 2007, Qualcomm Stadium Became A Refuge For 15,000 Wildfire Evacuees

Related: San Diego Firefighters Amass New Technology To Prep For Wildfires

Related: 2008 San Diego County Grand Jury Report: The Fire Next Time -- Will We Be Ready?

SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPARTMENT SALARY DEAL

The Story

It's not quite a deal yet, but it looks like it will be.

On Wednesday, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced a deal between the city and the San Diego Police Officers Association to increase officers’ pay.

The increase is substantial: 25 to 30 percent over the next three years, depending on experience.

The city hopes the plan, estimated to cost about $66 million, will slow down the flood of departing officers, amounting to 12 or 13 each month. SDPD currently has 1,801 officers, but is budgeted at 2,040.

The deal must be ratified by the SDPOA membership and approved by the City Council. The salary increases will also increase the city’s pension obligation by an estimated $9.5 million in 2021.

It is still unclear where the money will come from.

The Discussion

—Where does SDPD pay rank statewide under the new deal?

—Are these increases enough to strengthen the force? What about recruitment?

—How likely is the deal to be ratified?

Related: San Diego Police Union, City Reach Deal On Pay Raises

Tags

Public Safety Wildfires
Pat Finn
Pat Finn previously served as a producer for KPBS Midday Edition and KPBS Evening Edition. Finn began her career in broadcasting at KTLA and KCET in Los Angeles. In 1979 she became KPBS’ Public Information Director, then Director of Advertising and Promotion, Program Director, and Director of Broadcasting. She oversaw the station’s local and national productions, including the one-hour documentary Los Romeros: The Royal Family of the Guitar, and Child Protective Services, a one-hour look inside the San Diego County agency responsible for the welfare of at risk children. Both programs also aired on public television stations nationwide. Finn has earned honors from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Pacific Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
See stories by Pat Finn
Mark Sauer
A newspaperman for more than 30 years, Mark Sauer joined KPBS in October 2010 and previously served as the host of the KPBS Roundtable. He spent 27 years as a reporter and editor at The San Diego Union-Tribune after stints at The Houston Post and at two papers in his native Michigan. A features/human-interest writer in the UT's Currents section for many years, Mark also spent about a third of his UT career as an editor and reporter on the Metro Desk. He has covered a wide range of events: Wild fires in Southern California and Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast; Super Bowls and the World Series; foster care and child-abuse issues; the Roman Catholic Diocese's sexual-abuse scandal and bankruptcy; royal visits of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Princess Diana; Republican and Democratic national conventions; high-profile criminal trials; and many other stories, from the silly to the sublime. Along the way, he interviewed everyone from presidents to pan-handlers. His work exposing the false accusations and prosecutions of several San Diegans for murder, rape and child abuse garnered Pulitzer Prize nominations and many regional and local journalism awards, including Best in the West, the Sol Price Award for Responsible Journalism and several San Diego and California bar-association awards. Mark has a degree in journalism from Michigan State University.
See stories by Mark Sauer
KPBS News: Public Safety Policy
KPBS has created a public safety coverage policy to guide decisions on what stories we prioritize, as well as whose narratives we need to include to tell complete stories that best serve our audiences. This policy was shaped through months of training with the Poynter Institute and feedback from the community. You can read the full policy here.
Read →
More News