Court Rejects Hiltachk's Appeal

Read about the decision at the SAVE Sacramento website.

Much Ado About Nothing at the City Council

Strange discussion on strong mayor initiative tonight. It turns out that the Sacramento City Council really didn’t vote to place the measure on the June ballot – they just took a vote in August signaling their intent to do so. Now that a judge has declared the initiative unconstitutional and that ruling has been appealed, the court battle would need to be settled before the council could take action.

Plenty of concerned citizens stood up in opposition to the Boss Mayor plan. Kay Knepprath, representing the League of Women Voters, said that group had studied the city’s charter and come to the conclusion that a change to Sacramento’s governance structure was unneeded. Opposition to this back-room power grab continues to grow.

No Need to Rush Boss Mayor Appeal

It's likely that the Sacramento City Council this week will vote to take the Boss Mayor measure off the June ballot until all legal proceedings are halted, according to city sources. City Councilman Ray Tretheway has asked for a discussion of the strong mayor initiative at the council's meeting on Tuesday. Way to go, Ray! The action, of course, is prompted by Judge Loren McMaster's decision to halt the illegal measure from going forward.

Ethics Commission? Whistle-blower Hotline? How does that empower special interests?!?

The Sacramento City Council had an intense evening, including a very thorough grilling of some staff members regarding a development permit scandal in Natomas.

Through questioning from Councilman Rob Fong, the public learned that the city guy at the permit counter had to ignore a warning flashing on his computer screen decreeing that no permits could be issued because of a federal building moratorium. The same staff member then had to manually override the computer to allow him to issue 35 allegedly illegal permits to the developer. That same city staffer (a son of Councilman Robbie Waters) apparently undercharged the developer in question, and then kept a $61,000 check written for development fees in his desk for three months. Wow.

City Councilman Kevin McCarty said Sacramento – like many other major cities – should institute a whistleblower hotline so other such problems can be reported and investigated. And, he noted that the city is looking at the possibility of forming an ethics commission. At the end of the discussion, the council agreed to move forward on a more substantial probe, including other development department problems found by the City Attorney’s office, including possible “quid pro quo.”

The hotline and the ethics committee – and the continued investigation – offer more meaningful methods of improving transparency and accountability in the city than anything contained in Mayor Kevin Johnson’s extreme Boss Mayor initiative. And imagine – all without a constitutional overhaul.

And throughout this discussion, what leadership did his Strongness, Mayor Johnson, provide? He asked not one question. He simply moved on to the next agenda item.

Charter Review Commission: Boss Mayor Initiative Has a Problem

In the end, the Sacramento Charter Review Commission reported that it found one big problem: It could find no one big problem. The review commission, born in the wake of Mayor Kevin Johnson’s “strong-mayor” proposal -- that may or may not be on the June ballot -- said in a final report presented to the Sacramento City Council Tuesday night that a defined reason to change the charter never emerged. “The absence of such a clear statement was perhaps the greatest challenge we faced,” the report found. “Without a clear problem statement we found it difficult to craft a meaningful solution.” And then, a little jab at the Boss Mayor Initiative: “To avoid this problem, we would suggest there be more public engagement, early in the process, focusing on the specific problems requiring charter reform should further charter review be undertaken.” The Boss Mayor proposal, of course, was born in a back room without any public input. Without a clear reason stated for the plan, we’re left to believe that its objective was power -- power for Johnson and power for his backers. The commission also identified another missing element in the strong-mayor plan – ethics. In many cases where a strong mayor form of government is adopted, a form of an ethics commission is also put in place. Its absence from the Boss Mayor measure is telling. The Council then voted to direct staff members to report on a process to form an ethics commission. Councilman Kevin McCarty said it was good course for the city to pursue, no matter the outcome of the strong mayor initiative. Said McCarty: “There’s always lingering issues about how officials conduct themselves.”

The State of Downtown is … Denver?

The keynote speaker for this morning’s Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s “State of Downtown” breakfast was Denver mayor, John Hickenlooper.

His topic? Denver’s form of government.

Shocking to all, the mayor of Denver enjoys having more power than nearly any mayor in the country and he doesn't want to see his friend miss out on the fun. While that's sweet of him, we’re glad to see he’s not jealous of all of the extra power the Boss Mayor Initiative would give Sacramento's mayor.

Here are just a few examples:

1. Denver's Mayor can hire/fire 50 employees. The Boss Mayor Initiative would allow Sacramento's mayor to hire/fire 800.
2. Term limits, Denver's Mayor is limited to two terms. The Boss Mayor Initiative has no term limits. The fun never has to end!
3. Denver's charter provides for the election of an independent City Clerk and City Auditor. The Boss Mayor Initiative does not. None of those pesky checks and balances.
4. Denver's budget must be approved by the City Council. The Boss Mayor Initiative would allow the Mayor's budget to automatically become law after 30 days.

Imagine all of the fun future mayors of Sacramento could have with all of that extra power.

Does Sacramento really want our mayor to have more unchecked power than any mayor in the country?

Better question: Do we really want to find out what kind of mischief a future mayor might get into without checks and balances or accountability?

Hiltachk's Argument Called "Hogwash" by Judge

Sacramentans will likely have to wait until next week to learn whether a judge will make final his tentative ruling that the strong mayor initiative should be banned from the June ballot. Superior Court Judge Loren McMaster heard arguments from both sides Friday afternoon.

During the hearing, the attorney representing the Tom Hiltachk – the right-wing author of the Boss Mayor measure – made some perplexing statements and seemed hazy about the workings of Sacramento government. The weirdest contention: the Sacramento City Council has no executive power. Luckily, an attorney for the city was able to enumerate several executive duties of the council, including awarding large contracts, appointing charter officers and granting licenses and permits.

McMaster, a no-nonsense kind of guy, made it clear a few times that Hiltachk’s attorney had broached credulity. When the lawyer griped that voters were being kept from their democratic right to decide on the issue (even though it’s likely the plan is unconstitutional), McMaster snapped. “The argument that I’m depriving people from a vote is hogwash.” Well said.

Other interesting tidbits: the City Attorney’s office is tellingly not bolstering the strong-mayor initiative, saying it will take no stand on the legality of the measure. Also, the public learned just how much Mayor Kevin Johnson’s power grab will cost taxpayers -- $104,000 for the election.