On January 7, 2012, Sacramento city staff held a public meeting about the newest proposal to change the city charter, the “Checks and Balances Act of 2012.” However, this public meeting was not announced to the general public—instead it was directed at a small group of neighborhood leaders. I found out about the meeting via the chair of the Midtown Neighborhood Association, who received an email on December 27: From: Raihane Dalvi Date: December 27, 2011 2:19:11 PM PST To: Raihane Dalvi Subject: Checks and Balances Act of 2012 Dear Neighborhood Leader, I'm writing to request your participation in an important discussion before the city of Sacramento. As you may know, a broad coaliti

Mayor Kevin Johnson’s strong mayor campaign has released a draft of Johnson's proposal and plans to pitch it to the City Council in July. The release of the new report marks a change in tactics for Johnson’s campaign because third-party attorneys — not the city attorney — wrote the draft. For weeks, Johnson’s strong mayor campaign has said that City Attorney Eileen Teichert should write the formal language for the proposal. But the City Council prevented Teichert from writing the draft in a 7-2 vote last month. The first strong mayor initiative was written by Thomas Hiltachk, a third-party attorney. That initiative was struck down by a Sacramento County Superior Court judge in January.

Less than 24 hours after the Sacramento City Council barred the city attorney from drafting language for Mayor Kevin Johnson’s updated strong mayor proposal, Johnson was expected to attend a fundraiser Wednesday night in East Sacramento to press for a strong mayor form of government. Shawn Callahan, who works for Johnson’s strong mayor campaign, said Wednesday that the fundraiser had been planned before last night’s City Council vote. Johnson is scheduled to appear at the fundraiser, which will take place in the wake of the council’s 7-2 vote to reject Johnson’s ideas, according to Callahan. Callahan said more RSVPs for the fundraiser came in after last night’s vote. “We’re happy to see

Democrats will carry some momentum into the 2010 elections, thanks in part to the party’s central committee, the Democratic Party of Sacramento County. The number of registered Democrats in Sacramento County has increased by 23,000 since 2008, while Republican registration has dropped by 3,000. “It was going up before 2008, too,” said Devin Lavelle, communications chair for the Democratic Party of Sacramento County. “It’s been pretty clear over the past decade that the Democratic Party lines up with most Californians’ values.” Lavelle’s group serves as a central committee for the party as well as an umbrella organization for other affiliated clubs in the area, including the Young Democr

In a day of twists and turns for the strong mayor initiative, the biggest event was summed up in five words: “Petition summarily denied by order." The 3rd District Court of Appeal earlier today published a ruling that prevents the measure from being placed on the June ballot. This means the Court of Appeal chose not to temporarily halt the Sacramento Superior Court decision that struck down the initiative. “I’m very disappointed by the decision, and that’s putting it mildly," Mayor Kevin Johnson said in a press statement. "At the same time, I’m inspired like never before to fight for the people of Sacramento. Today, citizens have been denied their right to vote and accountability has b