Published: 1 years 333 days ago
Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson's latest pitch to bolster his office with new powers was turned away Tuesday night, as the City Council voted 7-2 against the mayor's request to direct the city attorney to draft a November ballot measure for his strong-mayor proposal.
"I don't think the case has been made that there's something wrong (with how the city is governed)," Councilman Rob Fong said.
Councilmember Robbie Waters and Johnson voted for the request.
The vote came at the end of more than three hours of debate, complete with lengthy reports by city lawyers and the testimony of more than 50 members of the public.
Hours before the council session, a confident mayor had predicted the council would vote overwhelmingly to direct City Attorney Eileen Teichert to draft the measure.
He described council colleagues who would vote against his plan as "obstructionists" intent on landing a "slap in the face to the public" that wants to see a written version of his proposal.
That confidence was still apparent as Johnson introduced the City Council discussion later Tuesday night, saying the council was "on the brink of doing something very historic in the city of Sacramento."
But after council members said how they planned to vote, Johnson said he was shocked.
Under a draft outline of Johnson's plan, the mayor proposed the city budget, appoint and fire the city manager, assistant city managers and department heads, and have veto power over some council actions, including budget items.
Johnson's supporters argue the proposal would also make the City Council strong. Operating with its own council president, the council would have final say over the budget and mayoral appointments, would hire and fire the city attorney, clerk, treasurer and budget analyst, and have veto override authority with two-thirds votes.
Those who supported the drafting of a measure included former Sacramento County Supervisor Muriel Johnson, Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce president Matt Mahood and Betty Williams, president of the Sacramento branch of the NAACP.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/23/2842017/sacramento-city-council-debates.html#ixzz0rgsyLpxS
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