Sacramento Voters Preparing To Decide On City Hall Power Shift
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Sacramento voters are now six weeks away from deciding whether to change the power structure at city hall and give the mayor more of it.
The Land Park Community Association sponsored a forum on the controversial issue Wednesday, moderated by CBS13's Steve Large. The public policy debate was discussed pandemic-style, over Zoom.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg successfully placed the issue on the November 3rd ballot by getting an eleventh-hour council approval.
READ MORE: Sacramento City Council Passes 'Strong Mayor' Ballot Measure
"The fact of the matter is the city of Sacramento is governed by a non-elected city manager," Yes on Measure A speaker Chet Hewitt said.
"Zero analysis from staff, no review from the city's law and legislation committee," No on Measure A speaker Craig Powell said.
In the past two months, Steinberg's supporters have raised more than $200,000 in campaign contributions, seven times the amount of the opposition.
Steinberg supported Kevin Johnson's 2014 strong-mayor campaign, but voters rejected it. It was the fourth and final attempt by Johnson to gain strong mayor power.
"We've seen in elections that if you go back and you ask voters and they tell you no. And you go back again and you ask them and they tell you no, that you really have to do a hard look at are the voters just saying no to this idea or do I really have something substantive I could change, to get them there," Region Business CEO Josh Wood said in July.
Wood has run several city-wide political campaigns in Sacramento, including the arena vote and Johnson's failed strong-mayor campaign. He is skeptical a strong mayor campaign can be successful now.
"And especially given in this time, a council that will as of November be a majority-minority council," Wood said.
Another strong-mayor campaign in Sacramento. Voters will decide again if they want a city hall power change during the pandemic.
