Mayor Kevin Johnson announced STAND UP; a new initiative launched on Monday. A $500,000 grant will kick-start the first phase of the new nonprofit's development. It will focus on raising academic achievement and college completion rates by advocating, supporting, and developing excellent public schools. The seed money comes from a national philanthropy group, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.  Mayor Johnson said he's looking for a new education liaison; someone who will work with STAND UP. Rumors and speculation has Michelle Rhee, lightening rod Chancellor of Washington DC Public Schools as a leading candidate. Rhee a nimble leader, has played a major role in the Education Reform mo

Letter in regards to Sacramento Steps Forward Initiative article: With all my heart I wanted to read the article and only see the good. With all my heart I wanted to not write anything negative towards such a positive step for this city. But in all honesty the article raised deep concerns and to avoid writing a long post I'm writing my concerns here. Is this a Step forward? When will a community begin to Take Steps Towards Healing??? I feel as though sometimes we takes steps and then we step on a treadmill and no longer move forward. I've addressed youth violence for many years. I've seen many "steps forward" which ended in people walking in reverse or walking on a treadmill. I've watche

Give a man a fish, and he can eat for a day; teach him how to fish, and he can eat for a lifetime. Words to live by and appearing to be the motto of Sacramento Press.. Recently I read the article "Is the Sacramento Press Fostering Civil Debate -- Or Encouraging Hate Speech?", written by Steven Maviglio.. Maviglio writes, "There's some good back-and-forth, and we agree to disagree without name-calling or insults or questions about our motivation. It's free speech -- the kind of debate that is good for this website and good for our city." I agree. The "back-and-forth" without insults or questions about our motivation is good. It is dialogue -- if we plan to only eat for a day, but many of

Sacramento-raised painter David Garibaldi delivered a poignant speech at Wednesday's "For Art's Sake" meeting. The 26-year-old thanked Mayor Kevin Johnson and the city for its support and guidance when he was growing up in Sacramento. While Garibaldi was a high school student interested in the arts, the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission recognized his potential and sent him to California State Summer School for the Arts on a full scholarship, he said. Garibaldi credited this and his high school art program with helping him redirect a creative fire that led him to graffiti the streets of Sacramento, inspiring him instead to become a performance artist. The "For Art's Sake" initiativ

'People ask the difference between a leader and a boss.  The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert.  The leader leads, and the boss drives." -- Theodore Roosevelt -- I would love to give Mayor Kevin Johnson the benefit of the doubt and call him a leader. But as time goes by, I see less of a leader and more of a driver. Heck, with lessons, anyone can drive. With a GPS navigation system of special assistants, a campaign manager, volunteers and a spokesperson it certainly may appear the mayor is leading the way. But even with GPS and a car full of backseat drivers, people have gotten lost. A GPS navigation system can't prepare Johnson for traffic conditions, debris left in city

Mayor Kevin Johnson brought up the possibility of a new sports arena in Sacramento at a press conference Tuesday. Johnson announced his top-three priorities are public safety, education and economic development, the latter of which a new sports arena could positively impact. Johnson reiterated that a new arena would be crucial not only in keeping the Kings in Sacramento, but also in terms of creating a "world-class" downtown. Currently, Arco Arena holds more than 200 spectator events each year. "We got a wake up call with the NCAA when they said we are no longer going to hold big-time college basketball in Sacramento because [we] have an outdated arena," Johnson said. Last week, after

VSP® Vision Care partnered with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and former Sacramento Kings player, Bobby Jackson, to provide no cost eye exams, eyewear and school supplies to students at Herman Leimbach Elementary in South Sacramento this past Sunday, September 20th. VSP provided a fully-stocked 45 foot mobile eye exam clinic where volunteer VSP doctors conducted full comprehensive eye exams with students in the two state of the art exam rooms. “This event was a natural fit for VSP, Mayor Johnson and Bobby Jackson,” noted Cheryl Johnson, VSP’s Vice President of Provider Services. “Together, in the spirit of giving back to our community, we were able to help more than three dozen kids wit

Wednesday's For Art's Sake meeting at the Sacramento Ballet studios feautured a surprise visit from musician Wynton Marsalis. The nearly 100 audience members were treated with a speech from Marsalis, who Mayor Kevin Johnson had previously mentioned in June's For Art's Sake meeting. After the normally scheduled meeting, Marsalis entered the room to a standing ovation. He gave a 30-minute speech followed by a 15-minute question-and-answer session. Marsalis, a jazz educator as well as nine-time Grammy winner and Pulitzer Prize recipient, spoke of the importance of music education. "How can we get kids to our shows?" Marsalis asked the audience early in his speech. "We need to get kids to g

Tuesday morning, Mayor Kevin Johnson was joined by a handful of Safe Ground supporters for a weekly press conference inside City Hall. After reiterating his goal to end homelessness in Sacramento, he invited Sister Libby Fernandez and Greg Bunker, the respective executive directors of Loaves and Fishes and Francis house, as well as a homeless man named Thomas Jackson Ashmore III, to speak. Johnson spoke about his meeting over the weekend with campers at the recently vacated 1220 C St. campground owned by Mark Merin. At the camp site, Merin had also been involved in a property dispute over the land with the neighboring Pedro and Gracilla Hernandez residence. Johnson mentioned that a compr

Upon Mayor Kevin Johnson's invitation, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan came to Sacramento Thursday to discuss his views on charter schools and education reform. He also met with Sacramento legislators, students and teachers, before answering questions in a town hall forum. A little after 5 p.m., Johnson introduced Duncan to a public audience who gathered inside Sacramento's Central Library. In a five-minute speech, he outlined Duncan's resume as a Harvard graduate and superintendent of Chicago's Public Schools. "I'm more excited about the state and the potential of what we can do in this country with the leadership of President Obama and U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan," Johnson said.

The third monthly "For Art's Sake" meeting held Wednesday morning at Capitol Public Radio had a big announcement. Over 100 people stuffed into CPR's conference room to hear the news that $100,000 had been raised for the For Art's Sake initiative. In addition to the financial support, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced a more active web presence. The initiative has a live Facebook page, and a website is in the works to be launched in the next month, Johnson said. Familiar faces filled the audience which included the likes of Sacramento Ballet artistic director Ron Cunningham and Sacramento's poet laureate Bob Stanley, as well as new faces such as Keith Ochwat of the Documentary Foundation and

Wednesday morning Mayor Kevin Johnson held his second "For Art's Sake" meeting, which saw an increase in attendance over last month. More than 100 people crowded into the Verge Art Gallery on 19th and V Streets. To open the meeting, Dennis Mangers, senior adviser for Senator Darrell Steinberg, summarized the previous meeting. Afterward, Johnson took the podium to lay down his vision for the arts initiative. "What is our vision? What are our goals? Who do we want to be as an art community? Those are things we are going to start answering ourselves," he said. "Over the next 11 months, we're going to create a sustainable arts community." He mentioned that as a whole, an estimated $100,000

It was a veritable who's who of Sacramento artists, arts organizations and art supporters inside KVIE Public Television's offices Friday morning. Nearly 100 invitees gathered to listen to Mayor Kevin Johnson's remarks in a meeting entitled "For Art's Sake." "Performing arts, visual arts and literary arts -- we need all three to reach the potential of what Sacramento can be," Johnson said in his speech. "Our commitment: We are going to promote the arts in a real way." The mayor stressed that the arts community doesn't just use city money, it creates revenue for the city. Therefore, the relationship is a reciprocal one. He then introduced Sharon Gerber, founder of arts and event planning

When the Seattle-based Starbucks Corporation decided to shutter its Oak Park store on Stockton Boulevard, it sent shock waves throughout the neighborhood. The Oak Park coffee shop is more than just a place to grab a cup of Joe; it's a community hang out. Civic groups meet there, art lovers visiting the 40 Acres gallery next door linger during Second Saturday, and it's one of the few places in North Oak Park where neighbors can get together. Vice Mayor Lauren Hammond, Mayor Johnson, and community activists have been in touch with Starbucks to ask the company to reverse its decision. So far, the corporation isn't budging, saying it needed to close the store (along with more than 400 nation

Here is a link to the Initiative Measure to Amend the City of Sacramento Charter to Change the Structure of City Government. It can be found on the Sacramentans for Accountability website, and is the same link provided by Mayor Johnson in the previous article's conversation. To view the previous article, click on the "storyline" tab to the right.

Monday marked the kick-off of Mayor Johnson's unprecedented campaign to transition the mayorship from a weak mayor to a strong mayor. The campaign needs over 32,000 petition signatures by Jan. 16 to make the change. Sacramento has previously operated under a "weak mayor" type of city government. The city council operates as the executive body as well as the legislative and the city manager - an unelected official - acts as the city's Chief Executive Officer. The mayor serves only ceremonial duties. A "strong mayor" type of government gives the mayor a wider range of political independence and authority. The city council functions solely as a legislative body while the mayor retains his e