Longtime Sacramento journalist and City Hall newcomer R.E. Graswich has harshly criticized Mayor Kevin Johnson, going so far as to describe Johnson as a “power-hungry pol” in a Jan. 28 column published by The Sacramento Press. Now that Graswich is working for the mayor’s office, how does he explain his move from Johnson critic to Johnson advocate?

Graswich made the “power-hungry” remark in the context of the debate over whether Johnson should take more power as a “strong mayor.” But Graswich told The Sacramento Press in an interview Wednesday that he also questioned Johnson’s ability to lead the city.

“I wasn’t also sure, frankly, in January, that Mayor Johnson could be mayor,” he said.

But after watching Johnson’s performance as mayor over the last several months, Graswich said he is now certain that Johnson has what it takes. “He’s a visionary,” Graswich said, adding that Johnson is one of the remarkable men in Sacramento who come along “once every 20 or so years.”

Graswich completed his first week Friday in his new job as special assistant to Johnson. He spent all but two years of his 37-year career in local journalism at the Sacramento Bee. Most recently, he worked as a co-anchor at KFBK and commentator KOVR CBS 13.

At City Hall, he will have roles in the areas of policy-making, media communications, community dialogue and communications between City Council members and the mayor’s office. He said he is taking a pay cut for his City Hall position, which has an $80,000 salary.

Johnson and Graswich have known each other since Johnson was 17 years old. Their reporter/source relationship has had tense points. Still, Graswich’s love for the city and willingness to fight hard for it were the reasons why he was selected for the special assistant job, Johnson said.

“He didn’t always write and say good things about me,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday. For example, Graswich didn’t believe Johnson could make it to the National Basketball Association, Johnson said.

“But he’s a man who deeply loves Sacramento,” Johnson said.

More recently, in the Jan. 28 column for The Sacramento Press, Graswich challenged the mayor’s goals to change the city from its current council/manager format to a strong mayor system. In a strong mayor government, Johnson would have more authority than he does in the current system. Graswich came down hard on Johnson in the column, writing that the strong mayor push could have been Johnson’s undoing.

“The drive to give Kevin more power and rewrite the city charter with an off-year ballot suggested arrogance and irresponsibility on Kevin’s part,” Graswich wrote. “Indeed, it could have been grounds for removal from office.”

But Graswich said earlier this week that he has “changed his tune.”

Referring to his earlier description of Johnson as a “power-hungry pol,” Graswich said: “I certainly believed that as I wrote it. And I think we’re all able to change our minds on things.”

Graswich said he objected to the strong mayor campaign because he thought the budget-crunched city couldn’t afford a strong mayor election this year. “In this economy, it would not have been right for the city to do that,” he said. “I was hoping to do whatever I could to stop that momentum behind that.”

While the strong mayor initiative is not going on the ballot this year, it will be on the June 2010 ballot.

As a reporter for the Bee, Graswich covered Johnson’s high school, college and NBA careers. “I knew [Johnson] was an overachiever,” Graswich said. “And I knew he was tenacious. And I knew that you could never underestimate the guy.”

Graswich also said he admired Johnson for returning to Sacramento and for the work he's done with his nonprofit organization, St. HOPE. At City Hall, Johnson is showing tenacity and leadership, he noted.

The former journalist’s move to the mayor’s office has drawn criticism from some quarters. Graswich said that journalists told him he had gone to “the dark side.” There has also been speculation and criticism about Graswich on the “Joe Sacramento” blog. Joe Sacramento, who declined to provide his true name, said it was a “flip-flop” for Graswich to go from harshly criticizing Johnson to praising him as a leader.

“As recent as six or seven months ago, Graswich was lambasting Johnson on your site, and now he suddenly thinks Johnson is the ‘greatest Sacramento leader in the last 30 years'?,” Joe Sacramento wrote in an e-mail. “Really? On what grounds is Johnson a ‘great leader’? Because he has rallied a bunch of college kids to intern for him? Because he wants more power? How do those things make him a great leader?”

But Graswich’s fans include journalist R.V. Scheide, the news editor at the Sacramento News & Review. “I have always admired R.E. Graswich, especially after he said nice things about me once in his column,” Scheide said. “We also both shop at Swanberg on J’s, which has the best Hawaiian shirts in Northern California.”

Scheide also observed that Graswich’s move to City Hall is one of several major career changes. “Throughout his career, Graswich has demonstrated an almost chameleon-like ability to transform himself: from sports columnist to city columnist to radio personality to KJ spokesperson,” Scheide said.

What will Graswich do at City Hall?

As Johnson’s special assistant, Graswich will have several jobs to do at City Hall. His roles could change, he said, but there are a few key duties that have so far been set aside for Graswich.

He said he will be an “emissary” in negotiations and discussions between the City Council and Johnson. Graswich will work with the public, but he said the specifics of that role haven’t yet been ironed out. He said he will also weigh in on media communications issues and strategies, while noting that he is not the mayor’s press contact.

On the policy level, Graswich will work on K Street issues and public safety matters. He said he would work with City Manager Ray Kerridge’s office, developers and the community on K Street policy. “Anything we can do to make K Street whole, I’m here,” he said.

For his public safety assignment, Graswich will work with Kerridge’s office, Police Chief Rick Braziel’s office and Fire Chief Ray Jones’s office. Graswich noted that public safety was one of Johnson’s campaign goals and promises. Between the police and fire departments, Graswich has participated in more than 100 ride-alongs, he said, adding that he gained insight into the departments. While he is not a police officer or firefighter, he is an informed civilian, he said. “In other words, there aren’t civilians that can match me on that front."

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.