SAVE Sacramento Coalition Announces Lawsuit Against “Strong Mayor” Initiative

We apologize for the late posting. Bossmayor.com will return to action early in the new year to keep Sacramentans up to date and better informed on this flawed initiative. Happy Holidays, everyone!

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The SAVE Sacramento campaign held a press conference today to announce the filing of a lawsuit against Mayor Kevin Johnson’s Government Accountability and Charter Reform Measure – commonly known as the “Strong Mayor Initiative,” scheduled for the June, 2010 ballot.

According to campaign chair Matt Kelly, “We believe this poorly conceived and badly written measure is not only bad public policy, but is an illegal power grab that exceeds the bounds of what is allowed under the California Constitution.” The coalition believes that the initiative is a drastic revision to the city charter that is not allowable by initiative under California law.

The lawsuit was filed by Bill Camp as an individual resident. Camp is also Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Sacramento Central Labor Council. In announcing his participation, Camp said: “It is not right for a small group of people – behind closed doors – to draft a measure that makes such fundamental revisions to how the city will be run, with no public input. I’m very concerned about what this measure will mean to the hard working families who live in our city and who would face a system where political cronyism could be rewarded.”

The measure gives Sacramento’s Mayor more power than any Mayor in the state, with one of those being the power to hire and fire between 500-800 managers and supervisors, no matter what their record of performance has been or how long they have served the city.

The ballot measure also specifies that the City Attorney, City Clerk, Police and Fire Chiefs, and City Treasurer would serve at the “pleasure of the Mayor,” thereby eliminating the independent voices that make city government better.

Another major flaw is that the measure creates a new City Council district, without specifying any details about how or when the boundaries will be created or an election will be held. A serious voting rights violation may exist because the measure says the Mayor will also serve as the 9th District Councilmember until an election is held.

Appearing with Kelly and Camp were:

Lance Olson, Partner, Olson Hagel & Fishburn LLP

Joan Bryant, Stationary Engineers Local 39

Joe Goeden, former West Sacramento City Manager

Genevieve Shiroma, SMUD Ward 4 Director

Anna Molander, Chair, Democratic Party of Sacramento County

Anne Rudin, Former Mayor of Sacramento

Bernard Bowler, Former Chairman of the Board, Sacramento Chamber of Commerce

Juanita Carranco, Treasurer, Gardenland Northgate Neighborhood Association

Howard Lawrence, Active Member, Area Congregations Together

For more information about SAVE Sacramento, go to www.savesac.com