Say what you will about Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, but at the very least he is persistent...or to be more precise, he is persistent about pushing forward once again a "strong-mayor" initiative after facing rejection last year. Johnson wants more power over appointments and the budget and has contended for awhile now that the city needs such a governing structure to stay competitive; however, Johnson has been a bit of a lone ranger on the issue with the council pushing back that no one else is clamoring for the change except the mayor. Johnson has been unable to convince council members on the necessity of a strong-mayor system and few have found his case sufficiently persuasive. Nevertheless, Johnson is reportedly setting his sights on the 2012 ballot, either in June or November. The Bee reports on the next steps and how the latest proposal stacks up to 2010’s effort:
“That proposal is a somewhat watered-down version of the plan Johnson got on the 2010 ballot through an initiative signature drive. A judge eventually tossed the plan off the ballot, ruling it was a full-scale charter revision that could not be proposed through the initiative process, but only by an elected body such as a City Council or charter commission. If the latest plan is determined to be less far-reaching than the first, Johnson and his aides said there are two ways it could be placed on the ballot: through another signature drive or by the City Council drafting a plan to place before the voters.”
The mayor will likely need thousands of signatures from voters if the issue is to move forward since the council is probably unwilling to offer its support. The mayor’s staff is currently considering whether the general election in November would be more advantageous vote-wise or if the primary in June (when Johnson is up for re-election) would be worth the gamble. Based on the mayor’s eagerness, June is a distinct possibility.
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