Strong Mayor Has New Look

Katy Grimes: Sacramento’s Mayor Kevin Johnson is back on track with another push for a ‘strong Mayor’ form of government. Calling this strong mayor campaign the “Sacramento Checks and Balances Act of 2012,” Mayor Johnson’s Press Secretary Joaquin McPeek, sent out an email today making the announcement.

Citing a coalition with “broad support for new proposal to modernize city charter to create increase accountability, checks and balances, ethics, and transparency at City Hall,” The Checks and Balances Act “is a proposal to update the City Charter, the city’s constitution and guiding document,” stated the email.

Plan components include:

· Transitioning the city to new “executive mayor” form of governance common in large cities like San Francisco, Oakland and San Diego
· Creating new checks and balances to limit the power of individual city officials
· Proposing new ethics and transparency reforms
· Establishing a new independent redistricting commission to determine boundaries for Council districts

Johnson and strong mayor supporters plan to place the proposal before city voters in June 2012, but will need support from the City Council to place the measure on the ballot by next February.

The Sacramento Checks and Balances Act of 2012 proposal is available HERE, and is on the Sacramento 2020 website.

Ask me how I feel about this new proposal after the January 17th City Council meeting. Sacramento’s City Council is one of the most dysfunctional political bodies I have ever witnessed. This proposal should make them squirm – and squirm they should.

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