New Foundation for Sacramento's City Hall
Saturday, September 20, 2008
By Katy Grimes, SacUnion.com
Kevin Johnson is holding eight town hall meetings in Sacramento neighborhoods, four of which are already completed. I attended one recently. Johnson was on message. He exuded a compelling, strong personality and one of leadership. The meeting was all his.
He introduced his mentor Fritz Brown, a local businessman who Johnson worked for during summers as a teen. Johnson said that when he visited Brown at his home in Land Park, it was like being the “Fresh Prince of Land Park,” harking back to the Will Smith early-90s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Johnson is an Oak Park kid who found great success through his hard work, values, ethics and at the knee of his grandfather, as well as a bevy of mentors.
A Matter of Character
So, why does any of this matter? Because character matters. Character is something voters have been overlooking for at least two decades—on both sides of the aisle.
In our current national election, values are painfully evident or lacking in the candidates.
Locally, many voters are weary of hearing about special interest groups taking precedence over individuals. Issues that are not even local or city issues are bantered about as diversions: the “right to choose,” gay marriage and the war in Iraq.
What does affect individuals locally is rampant crime, demanding labor unions, outrageous taxpayer-funded pensions, private cars and drivers—and politicians taking advantage of the citizenry, every time we turn around.
Local politicians have been caving in to special interests’ demands for years, instead of making some of their own demands.
Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo has been running a filthy campaign, while she tries to maintain her distance from the antics. While she feigns innocence and ignorance of the attacks, innuendo and mud-slinging, she has been gratefully letting her high profile, hired gun Richie Ross (Sacramento’s political kingmaker) do the dirty work behind the scenes. There is a staunch group aligned with Fargo, looking the other way, but more citizens are appalled by her behavior as her credibility is questioned. Her put-on folksy, friendly demeanor is cracking as her real, abrasive and moody personality shines through.
Johnson reminded neighbors at the town hall meeting that he pledged to run a clean campaign from the start. Thus far, he has succeeded.
