ok i am trying the “blockquote” button, if it didn’t work, i am commenting on your “excellent (and irrefutable) points in my opinion” statement.i hope it comes out. did anyone listen to his campaign? i don’t remember him running on the “i am going to make friends” ticket. in fact, if memory serves me correctly, he ran on the opposite side. his modus operandi was to shake things up.

i guess we will have to agree to disagree on how he handles his relationship with the city council. i don’t want him to make nice with every councilmember. sure there needs to be mutual respect, and yes he could probably be more diplomatic with how he handles the council. but susie, if we can agree on the ineptitude of this council, i guess i am wondering why we can’t agree on how KJ handles the council. i want him to stir the pot and get them uncomfortable. expose their lack of progress. he ran on the anti-status quo, which included the city council and how it was run.

Susie sd: Another part of his pattern is his legendary inability to work well with others. His nearly 100% staff turnover rate at his schools should be a red flag. He has alienated the council by his behavior. He is not a good leader – he’s a good cheerleader and grandstander and self-promoter. That’s about it IMHO.

Excellent (and irrefutable) points in my opinion. It is what it is what it is. His patterns are well established and in my opinion he has done NOTHING to change them. In fact, I was SHOCKED when he rolled out strong mayor. I felt like a fool for supporting him. Here I thought he was going to go into city hall as a diplomat waving a peace flag and instead he comes in waving a sword. Astounding.

PS: when you want to quote someone, just highlight their text and click the BLOCKQUOTE button

Mark

to your point about KJ’s “ex(s)” most strong personalitied individuals will have that characteristic. you either love them or hate them. for me, the book is still out. in my opinion, the mayoral position doesn’t allow for such a quick judge of performance. in my opinion, there should be some time allowance for on-the-job training (since he hasn’t held a public office position before). also, he is working with a council that pretty much resents him.

The above quote makes me think of what Mark said earlier regarding KJ’s pattern of behavior. He is extremely predicatble because he has had the same pattern for years. People who adamantly oppose him do so because they are looking at his pattern of behavior with everything he does. He excites people, he promises, he’s visible – very visible- calling all these press conferences and town halls that make him look like he’s getting things done. Problem is, he’s not. He jumps the gun before he actually accomplishes things. Look at the homeless debacle for an example of calling the press before anything actually happens. Another part of his pattern is his lengendary inability to work well with others. His nearly 100% staff turnover rate at his schools should be a red flag. He has alienated the council by his behavior. He is not a good leader – he’s a good cheerleader and grandstander and self-promoter. That’s about it IMHO.

now as for the 9th district seat…as far as i can tell, you are correct regarding the mayor and maintaining his seat until the seat is created and that timeframe isn’t defined in the initiative. this is a concern, but for me it isn’t the smoking gun that will make be oppose the initiative. maybe to a fault i can’t stand this council. i think this council hurts this city more than it helps. they never debate anything, for the most part they vote unanimously on issues and there isn’t anyone who wants to stir the pot. therefore, the council’s accountability is pretty much non-existent. i go back to a point i made in an earlier post, shouldn’t the city council, as a group, be held accountable for things? i know each councilmember is, and their accountability is done on election days, however the best i can tell, the entire council isn’t held accountable.

to your point about KJ’s “ex(s)” most strong personalitied individuals will have that characteristic. you either love them or hate them. for me, the book is still out. in my opinion, the mayoral position doesn’t allow for such a quick judge of performance. in my opinion, there should be some time allowance for on-the-job training (since he hasn’t held a public office position before). also, he is working with a council that pretty much resents him. i think the first six months of 2010 will be telling about how much he has learned about dealing with the council.

also, i am looking down the road for the SMI. it would allow all future mayors to have these powers, which to me are important. it probably isn’t perfect, but its what is proposed and we will see how it goes come voting time.

I want to make it clear that I am not just guessing when I state something as fact. It is something I know to be true. In my research, I have read the the SMI, Gerald Walpin’s submittal to the US Attorney, Gerald Walpin’s report,Lawrence Brown’s accusations, Sens. Grassley and Issa’s reports, and the report clearing Walpin on Brown’s charges. I have also research St. HOPE through and though and know much about the gaming of the system they do there. This is how I’ve developed my opinions so I stand firmly by what I say. I have a couple of things I want to address about the SMI. 2112 says:

for instance, in the strong-mayor intitiative (SMI), as i am sure you have read, allows the mayor to propose a budget to the city council for approval. there are provisions for city council override of vetoes, currently the city manager proposes a budget, which is then debated openly, and then eventually passed. so why have a mayor?

Perhaps I am wrong, but this is how I interpret things in the SMI: if the council cannot agree with the mayor’s budget by the end of the fiscal year, his original submission of the budget goes through. So let’ say that he submits his budget. The council can’t agree with what he wants and they veto parts of it and send it back to him to revise. He doesn’t change anything or he changes things that still don’t sit right with the council and sends it back to them . So on and so forth this back and forth debating goes until the start of the fiscal year and his original budget goes through. This set up doesn’t encourage the mayor to work in good faith with the council because he knows he’ll get his way in the endif he just delays long enough. So I must ask you this, if the mayor’s original budget gets automatically passed in the end, so why have a council?

I also take issue with the lack of the 9th council district in the SMI. From what I gather, and again I could be wrong, is he would get to remain as a voting councilmember for the 9th district (until the district is established, etc which would take quite some time I would assume) AND he’d have veto power on top of that – so this would be like 2+ votes. This just seems a little ridiculous to me especially because just like the school board elections years ago, KJ is trying to put his supporters on the council. He’ll be able to control everything if his supporters get a couple of seats on that council. It could be very dangerous. With KJ’s incestuous professional relationships, it’s a huge red flag to add to all of the others that surround him. I have no problem exploring a strong mayor type of government for the next election. I do not feel it is appropriate for a sitting elected official to change their job description in the middle of their term based on signatures from people who may not know what they’re signing. He was voted in a weak mayor, so he should stay a weak mayor. That’s changing the rules in the middle of the game. I call that cheating. If he cares so much about the city, he should pull his measure, let the city have adequate time to draft their own proposal and put it on the ballot for the next election. That to me is fair and logical and doesn’t reek of self-interest.

susie, you may see me defend KJ on the sacbee site and on this site not because i like the guy, know the guy or any of that. i just know he came into a difficult situation, with a bulls-eye on his back (some of it self-inflicted) but he is the mayor of sacramento and i am willing to give him time to do the job he was elected to do. he as admitted mistakes in handling the council and we will see early on in 2010 if he will make adjustments with handling the council. but on the other end, will the council want to work with him? i hope that if the council is just as arrogant and closed-minded as you charge KJ to be, that you give them the same gruff that you give KJ.

On the topic of accountability….. the anonymous internet culture does not lend itself to personal accountability. I respect you and Rhonda and others who have never feared posting under your own name. Takes guts. You are an inspiration.