An executive mayor, an independent redistricting commission and new ethics and transparency guidelines were the highlights of a new plan to reform city government introduced by representatives from the mayor’s office Wednesday. “This (proposal) represents how to fundamentally restructure how City Hall works,” Kunal Merchant, chief of staff to Mayor Kevin Johnson said Wednesday. Merchant said the new charter reform proposal is based on previous reform ideas and represents three years of discussion with members of the public and city and community leaders throughout Sacramento. The proposed legal language was prepared by Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni – a local law firm that sp

What with the excitement of Sacramento city council and county supervisor races – competition, deals, drama, controversies, strong/weak mayor, and the like – and even some interesting regional and statewide races, who really has time to study and vote intelligently about the propositions that also are on our ballots? Once again Sacramento voters are faced with the usual array of statewide propositions this year: five on the June ballot and another three qualified for November, three pending at the Attorney General’s Office, signatures filed for seven, the Legislature considering nine, 24 gathering signatures for topics like taxes, abortion, pensions, human trafficking, redistricting and r

Life. It's good, but it hasn't exactly been all rainbows and butterflies, what with the failing economy, record unemployment, escalating gas prices and health care 'reform'---oh, and lest I forget, Tax Day, which is mere hours away. Nevertheless, no matter how bleak the headlines read with my morning Fruit Loops, I rely on my nightly glass of  'vinous panacea' to ease the sting of the bureaucratic fingers digging deeper into my shallow pockets. Until now, that is. Adding insult to my fiscal injury, a couple from Southern California have proposed an initiative which would levy a massive 12,675% tax increase on alcoholic beverages. No, this is not a belated April Fool's joke. Kent and J

Sacramento residents can read the new lawsuit challenging the strong mayor initiative here. Bill Camp, executive secretary of the Sacramento Central Labor Council, is the plaintiff who is suing the city government, the City Council and Thomas Hiltachk, the attorney who wrote the strong mayor initiative. Mayor Kevin Johnson, who leads the initiative campaign, would have many new responsibilities if voters approve the initiative. In a strong mayor position, Johnson would attain the responsibilities of the city manager and create the city’s budget. The city currently uses a council/manager system. City Manager Ray Kerridge’s many powers include the ability to draft recommendations for the

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

http://sacramento.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=8&event_id=74 Tomorrow, the Sacramento city council will discuss the "Strong Mayor" initiative. The workshop will include a summary of Sacramento's past charter changes, a comparative analysis of the "Strong Mayor" initiative compared to charters in the ten largest California cities, and the legal means by which the City of Sacramento may change its charter. A staff report for the meeting on the "Strong Mayor" initiative can be found (in PDF form) here: http://sacramento.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=8&event_id=74&meta_id=169120 The meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 3, at 6:00 PM. It takes place in New City Hall,

Sacramento citizens gathered, at the South Natomas Community Center, to oppose the proposed costly mayoral power grab. Joan Bryant, co-chair of the grass roots coalition "Stop the Power Grab", was joined by former Sacramento Mayor Anne Rudin, to speak to the crowd. "We are here today as a group of ordinary citizens who want to keep the doors of city hall open and accessible", said Rudin. "I applaud this group of citizens for coming together to do the right thing to stand against this." Bryant announced that the formation of this coalition, "Stop the Power Grab", is intended to make sure that the voice of the people is not shut out of city hall. "This measure is an unnecessary power grab",