A new "strong mayor" discussion at Sacramento City Hall may be just around the corner. Mayor Kevin Johnson’s office wants to present the draft of a new strong mayor proposal to the City Council in early June, Johnson staffer Kunal Merchant said Monday night. Johnson’s office is aiming for a City Council vote on the proposal in mid-July, Merchant said at a town hall meeting on the proposal. The proposal’s backers hope to gain City Council approval in mid-July in order to place the plan on the November ballot. A draft of the proposal has not been completed. At this point, the plan is an outline which can be read at the campaign’s new website.  In the proposal, the mayor would be the cit

Sierra II in Curtis Park was the location for the ninth and final Town Hall Meeting of the City of Sacramento Charter Review Committee. The crowd of approximately 45 people was on the Baby Boom-plus end of the generational scale. It included members of the public, neighborhood representatives and former, current and candidate public officials, from the Central City, Curtis/Land Park, Oak Park and the South Area. The City Charter legally and procedurally defines the City of Sacramento and its operations. Kevin Johnson's Strong Mayor Initiative, which would dramatically change the City Charter, will be on the June 2010 ballot. Sacramento was founded with a City Charter in 1858. In 1921, d

Approximately 40 Sacramentans attended the Charter Review Committee meeting held at Sam Pannell Meadowview Community Center on Wednesday.  The committee drafted a report that recommends changes to the City Charter Committee. Committee members William Edgar, JoAnn Fuller, and Chester Newland presented an overview of the committee's purpose and tentative decisions reached, and took turns answering questions from the audience.  Handouts were distributed, delineating Charter Review Committee procedures, focus areas for review, and a time line for their work plan.   "The City Charter Committee was appointed by City Council in response to the 'strong mayor initiative,' Edgar said. "We were not

Two weeks after taking office in December, Mayor Kevin Johnson launched a ballot reform initiative to expand the executive powers of the Sacramento mayor, suggesting that enhanced executive powers would make city government more efficient and accountable. It would also make him one of the more powerful executives in any California city. Throughout its short, tumultuous life, the so-called "strong mayor initiative" has been praised or criticized by citizen groups as either a democratizing modern reform or a gateway to tyrannical government. Last Friday, the primary group promoting the change, Sacramentans for Accountable Government, presented City Hall with a petition to put the initiativ

The ambition of local leaders and city crises are two reasons cities choose to give their mayors more power, an expert on city governments told a Sacramento committee Monday. The Charter Review Committee is analyzing the rules in the city’s charter. The city charter is similar to a constitution. The 11-member committee is researching the idea of changing city government to a “strong mayor” format that would give the mayor new powers. The committee is examining both the “strong mayor” system, and the city’s existing “council-manager” system. Mayor Kevin Johnson backs the campaign by the Sacramentans for Accountable Government group to bring a “strong mayor” system to Sacramento. Committ

A committee tasked with examining the city government’s structure and functions is starting to address the contentious issue of whether Sacramento’s mayor should have more power. Sacramento’s 11-member Charter Review Committee, which began meeting last month, is studying the rules in the city’s charter. The charter is similar to a constitution, the city explains. One of the items on the committee’s list is the idea of changing city government to a “strong mayor” format that would give the mayor more responsibilities. The committee will contrast the "strong mayor" format with the city's existing "council-manager" system. JoAnn Fuller, a committee member and associate director for the gro