Published: 1 years 364 days ago
Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is still full speed ahead on trying to change the way City Hall operates.
The mayor, the city police union and powerful business interests are pushing to get a scaled-down version of Johnson's strong-mayor initiative on the November ballot. They say the new measure, which hasn't been written, is the result of months of debate and input.
"For anyone to say there hasn't been enough input, that would not be true," Johnson said. "Ultimately, I think those people would be proponents of the status quo."
Opponents of the measure disagree, saying they don't want to rush an initiative onto the ballot. They said there are other serious matters the city should be dealing with, notably a $43 million deficit.
Either way, Johnson is expected to push for a City Council discussion on the topic as early as June 10.
The council would then need to approve the language of a measure no later than July 13 to give the city clerk time to move the initiative on to the county board of elections.
It's a tight time frame, but Johnson is confident.
"It would be hard for me to believe that my colleagues would not be willing to put something on the ballot," the mayor said. "Whether you're super enthusiastic or not, this is an opportunity for the citizens of Sacramento to cast their vote on whether they think we should modernize our city government."
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/23/2770378/kevin-johnson-presses-again-for.html#ixzz0ojZjdi1m
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