A new "strong mayor" discussion at Sacramento City Hall may be just around the corner. Mayor Kevin Johnson’s office wants to present the draft of a new strong mayor proposal to the City Council in early June, Johnson staffer Kunal Merchant said Monday night. Johnson’s office is aiming for a City Council vote on the proposal in mid-July, Merchant said at a town hall meeting on the proposal. The proposal’s backers hope to gain City Council approval in mid-July in order to place the plan on the November ballot. A draft of the proposal has not been completed. At this point, the plan is an outline which can be read at the campaign’s new website.  In the proposal, the mayor would be the cit

The Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento’s voter forum on the Strong Mayor Initiative served as the unofficial kickoff to the 2010 June Election season. Monday, over one hundred Sacramentans listened as the pros and cons of the Strong Mayor Initiative were debated and the majority and minority perspectives on the Charter Review Commission’s report were discussed. “I’m ecstatic about the turnout. It once again shows Sacramentans are committed to civic engagement," Stonewall President Chris Moore said. "Far too often very substantial changes to public policy are made via the ballot box without appropriate vetting. Tonight we’re trying to give more opportunity for folks to conside

Twelve Sacramentans who attended Wednesday's Charter Review Committee town hall meeting at San Brannan Middle School did not come to debate the "strong mayor" initiative. They said they wanted to have their questions answered so they could better understand the proposed changes to Sacramento's mayoral authority. Committee member JoAnn Fuller led the meeting and presented an overview of the recommendations of the Charter Review Committee. Each attendee was provided a handout describing the eight tentative recommendations with illustrations that depicted Sacramento's current system of mayoral authority and how the system would change under the strong mayor initiative and under the recommend