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Monday, May 20, 2013
"Strong Mayor" campaign brings signatures to City Hall
by Kathleen Haley, published on June 26, 2009 at 6:45 PM
Storyline: Sacramento City Hall / Politics
Friday, the group organizing the campaign to provide Sacramento’s mayor with more power delivered to City Hall signatures of residents who favor a “strong mayor” city government. The paperwork that contained the signatures filled 13 boxes, said acting city spokeswoman Wendy Klock-Johnson.
The idea of changing Sacramento’s current “council-manager” system to a “strong mayor” format continues to be controversial. The group, Sacramentans for Accountable Government, brought signatures to City Hall to meet requirements to put the “strong mayor” proposal on an upcoming ballot. Mayor Kevin Johnson supports the "strong mayor" campaign.
At the same time, the city’s Charter Review Committee is examining the “strong mayor” idea.
The total number of signatures must be 15 percent of the city’s registered voters. Staffers at the City Clerk’s office will now count the signatures. After that, the signatures will be verified by the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters. The City Council will then decide when the proposal will go before voters.
Thomas Hiltachk, an attorney with the group, was not immediately available to return phone calls Friday afternoon.
The campaign said it had gathered more than over 45,000 signatures, according to The Sacramento Bee.
City Attorney Eileen Teichert explored the issues raised by the "strong mayor" campaign in February reports to the City Council.
Teichert noted that the proposal would give Johnson numerous powers. “A true strong mayor system grants its mayor budgetary powers, appointment and removal powers, management of day-to-day city affairs, power to propose legislation and veto power,” Teichert wrote. “The Strong Mayor Initiative includes each of these powers and more.”
Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.
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Assuming that the numbers were about equal, they had roughly 37,000 signatures for the "strong mayor" petition. I assume from the 45,000 figure that they have scrapped the elected-auditor petition and were focused on the "strong mayor" part. So I assume that in the latest round, they only got about 8,000 more signatures. Most poll-takers like to have a 50% overage to ensure that incorrect, illegible or ineligible signatures don't leave the total coming up short: that would be at least 49,500 signatures, assuming they need 33,000. So that's still cutting it a little close.
I didn't see too many petition takers in the most recent drive. I saw them at the supermarket once but that was about it. Maybe that fundraising drive at Morton's wasn't very profitable, or maybe the rumors about the last batch of petition collectors not getting paid got spread around?
This whole move seems calculated to afford this mayoral clown unprecedented authority he has so wantonly pursued throughout his post-basketball career, to the point of overreaching and abusing the authority granted him already over a teeny tiny little nonprofit organization he ran into the ground. City Attorney Teichert's analysis was comprehensive, and frightening, and subject to the disdain of both Johnson and the lawyer fronting for SAG, Mr. Hiltchak, whose firm also figures in some pretty scurrilous defense work involving GOP electoral lapses and dirty tricks -- an interesting predicate to this local drive.
I'm also sure this power grab is intended to circumvent any effort by the legitimate Charter Review Commission which is doing what government ought to do -- gather information, analyze, and report -- instead of merely obeying the demands of a mayor whose past is prologue to corruption.
I think KJ's 'support' is waning, even as evidenced by just how many of his initial kitchen cabinet of 'volunteers', who weren't volunteers at all, but rather paid representatives of those same interests that brought him to office, who have fled City Hall for greener pastures -- and no doubt there is backstory here that would make for a fruitful and compelling read, if not a grand jury investigation.