Strong Developers' Initiative

Is the quickest way to the mayor’s office through the Strong Mayor campaign?

Consider the case of Republican mover-and-shaker Jon Bagatelos of Sacramento, who until recently was relatively unknown at City Hall. Bagatelos, along with his relatives and his family’s commercial glass businesses, has been particularly kind to Kevin Johnson – including sponsoring fundraisers and doling out $15,150 in contributions to his mayoral race. When Johnson launched his strong mayor power grab, the Bagatelos clan once again was generous, handing out $10,550 to the effort in December 2009.

In January 2010 – a month after those strong mayor contributions -- Johnson smiled on Jon Bagatelos and made him a city planning commissioner.

And now Bagatelos is back, part of a development team vying to redevelop K Street. Will Johnson smile on Bagatelos again?

On March 4, the city revealed four teams competing to revamp the blighted 700 and 800 blocks of K Street. Heading Bagatelos’ group is Bridge Housing, a firm from San Francisco. (Bridge spokesman Randy Schaber is also a strong mayor donor). Also on the team is Saca Development, unfortunately best known for its failed twin condo tower project on Capitol Mall.

While Bridge and Saca have established development records, Bagatelos’ experience is unclear. Little can be found about his company in public records – he hasn’t even registered the development firm with the Secretary of State’s office.

What is part of the record is Bagatelos’ long-standing activism in Republican politics – starting as an intern for Gov. Pete Wilson. In 2000, Bagatelos was co-chairman of the Sacramento County Bush for President campaign, according to The Sacramento Bee.

In 2002, Bagatelos made a stab at the political limelight, running to represent District 10 for the state Assembly – a sprawling area that includes parts of Lodi, Rancho Cordova, El Dorado and Amador counties. The Bee reported Sacramentan Bagatelos didn’t even live in the district, but rented a friend’s Carmichael apartment to establish residence. He raised lots of money – donors included the likes of tobacco company Phillip Morris -- but he was shellacked by other Republican primary contenders. It’s believed he still has political aspirations.

Even back then, Saca and Bagatelos were linked. Saca contributed to Bagatelos’ campaign, and Bagatelos threw a fundraiser for Gubernatorial-hopeful Bill Simon at Saca’s home.

Somehow, this staunch Republican in 2008 found his way to Kevin Johnson.

During the mayoral campaign Bagatelos and NBA star Charles Barkley threw a swanky fundraiser for Johnson at then-Mason’s restaurant. Bagatelos also was part of a group of local heavyweights who sponsored a Johnson fundraiser at the home of mega-developer Angelo Tsakopoulos.

Bagatelos and developer Mark Friedman are now at the heart of the strong mayor campaign, sources said. Look for the pair to become co-finance chairs for the power grab campaign and step up the pressure on the City Council to place the initiative on the November ballot.