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Friday, February 10, 2012
Mayor Johnson learns from trip to New York City
by Rob Small, published on March 31, 2010 at 12:00 AM
Storyline: Mayor Johnson
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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson advice on what makes other cities successful at a meeting in New York City.
Johnson also met with NBA Commissioner David Stern and Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren.
"You have to be responsive to the needs of your city," Johnson said that Bloomberg told him. "You have to not only prioritize, but you have to be able to implement, execute and actualize whatever those happen to be."
Johnson listed public safety, education, job creation and economic development as the city's top priorities. There are other issues that Johnson will be looking at.
"Then he said that (there are) things that aren't your priorities that you should be thinking about," Johnson said. "In Sacramento, we've been hit pretty hard by the foreclosure crisis. So, how are we as a city responding to the needs of people in Sacramento, who are losing their homes?"
When Johnson met with Lundgren, the Macy's CEO assured that he supports his store in the Westfield Downtown Plaza mall.
"We had a frank and very straightforward conversation," he said. "He's very committed on the vision we have for the Downtown Plaza. I let him know that we value Macy's and we're committed to making sure his stores are successful."
Johnson called the downtown mall "an embarrassment and an eyesore." The mall recently lost an iconic landmark, the Hard Rock Café. He said that changing the mall's format from inward-facing to outward-facing is an idea that is floating around.
When he said that he visited Stern, he had nothing new to report.
"It was really an update on the arena and the entertainment and sports complex in the railyards," Johnson said.
He did bring some good news home about what Stern said about the city and its team the Sacramento Kings.
"He said this time and time again: that Sacramento is an attractive market to the NBA, and that is why they're committed to being here. He is committed to the Kings being here, (and) he's committed to doing everything that he can to make sure that we're successful."
Click here to watch Mayor Johnson's press conference.
Photo by Rob Small
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Mr. Bloomberg is posing for a 2012 run against Obama after having merely eked out a third term in office with growing angst about his incumbency, particularly his intervention into schools and his charterization efforts merely gutting the public out of public ed. Diane Ravitch's new book on America's schools INDICTS Bloomberg's efforts at merely painting a picture of success instead of actually improving education in any way... THIS will be the issue on the horizon as public school advocates and the teachers who face these issues day after day now have ammunition to return the fire of NCLB and RTTT programs which perpetuate blaming teachers for what are more structural failures in public ed across the nation...
As for DTPlaza and its Macy's anchor, an answer will have to grow organically amid the changing marketplace and the decline of the malling of America... This issue is no doubt more than this mayor can grasp and I pray he didn't just appear foolish before the far more sophisticated and erudite retailer...
While KJ may be intent on retaining Das Kings, movement abounds undercurrent that suggests that the franchise and its superiors may be forced to consolidate in some yet to be specified way -- but the team's owners are heading into new treacherous territory where their interests are concerned, especially with regard to a massive re-setting of commercial real estate valuations that could impact the feasibility of even remaining in Sacramento altogether, let alone successfully...
Lord, I hope this mayor's term is up soon -- he's just so much fluff and strut, all hat and no cattle... Surely Sacramento deserves better...