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 Hal... KathleenHaley teacherofmath comment-10523 2009-07-10T17:26:41Z 2009-07-10T17:26:41Z KJ wants to change the charter the way that he and his supprters wants it to be changed. That way he can do what he wants. Dont forget it is about him, not the city of sac. teacherofmath 2009-07-10T17:26:41Z bbbbmer comment-10022 2009-06-30T05:50:12Z 2009-06-30T05:50:12Z Yeah, he had 'strong support' among the real estate developers and corporate interests that brought this ridiculous SAG group into being and continue to fund its existence, and among some of the idiotocracy that voted for him last November, thinking he was Barack Obama. But even that seems to be drying up since the SAG group's initial financial boondoggle has dried into a trickle. 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. bbbbmer 2009-06-30T05:50:12Z Oracle comment-9938 2009-06-28T20:45:03Z 2009-06-28T20:45:03Z Despite what you read from the small but vocal anti-KJ posters, the mayor has very strong support . He won by a huge margin and continues to be very popular with voters. He'll get his strong mayor status despite the bitter Fargoites and Sacramento will greatly benefit. Oracle 2009-06-28T20:45:03Z William Burg comment-9925 2009-06-27T22:32:32Z 2009-06-27T22:32:32Z I went back to look at the articles discussing the "strong mayor" petition from earlier this year. Steve Maviglio mentioned "74,000 signatures" a lot, referring to the total signatures for the two "strong mayor" petitions: the actual strong-mayor petition, and the petition that would make city auditor an elected petition. He used the number several times, referring to the combined signatures on both petitions, but there wasn't much clarity about how many had signed each. 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? William Burg 2009-06-27T22:32:32Z Tony Sheppard comment-9923 2009-06-27T20:44:34Z 2009-06-27T20:44:34Z "more than over 45,000"? - that's a LOT! ;) Tony Sheppard 2009-06-27T20:44:34Z